Mental Changes

Every once in a while, I think a player has a mental change that can drastically affect their game. A sort of "Eureka!" moment for sports. I remember a few:

Spring Break - 3/4?/03
Partially in relation to seeing how hard my teammates were working, partially due to personal events in my life regarding a certain girl, I realized how rewarding truly committing myself to something could be. I soon cut back on many things, using, hiking, climbing, basically anything other than relationships, friendships, the team, and school. Sean was there for this, and I think I drunkenly told him all about it.

NC State vs Pitt - 3/15/03
The first time we faced a Nationals contender. A realization of how a good team plays and uses its strengths. Also, one of the first times in my career that intelligent cutting wasn't enough to get open, and I actually had to sprint as hard as possible. I discovered that when pushed I could be much faster than I thought I could, and that sprint training truly does have incredible rewards.

Bucknell vs Pitt - 4/20/2003
Our first advancement out of sectionals. We didn't win the tournament, didn't even take second, but it was the realization of how advancing in the College Series can be even more thrilling than winning regular tournaments. It was the first time heads turned for us and people came to watch us even out of pure curiosity.

JMU and American vs Pitt - 3/20/2004
A zone point and a hanging huck made me realize exactly what Brody was always talking about. He'd refer to pure force of will and rage on the field. That he might not jump the highest or run the fastest, but there were times when he'd decide that the other team simply wouldn't get the disc. A missed switch resulted in an open Hellfish deep and a hanging huck which I somehow managed to get from across the field and far away, and an inexperienced D line having to play zone offense resulted in me being the only popper doing crossfield sprints trying to create some offense. This was the realization of how mental toughness can bring about incredible efforts in people.

Spring Collegiates - 2/26-27/2005
Possibly my worst performance at a tournament in my career. I forced throws, dropped discs, got beat, it was awful. But I did come to the realization that my teammates could lift me up, and if I was having a bad day or tournament, it would be ok. I don't think I've gotten into my own head since then. I stopped trying to be the hero on a team after this tournament, and started trusting my teammates more.

At any rate, the reason I decided to reflect on my career and list some Eureka moments is that I had another one on Sunday. I'm not going to pull any punches, I wanted a Regional Championship. That was thwarted, but I think the combination of not being injured any longer (first time in a few years) and first the desire to be a Regional Champion and then the possibility of an early end to my career made me understand what Sean means by playing with a sense of urgency. I played harder in those two games than I can remember playing ever. Several people told me it was the most inspired play they've seen out of me. To be honest, I kept going off the field after O points thinking "Man this pain in my shoulder hurts. I don't know how long I can keep this up. Karma's going to come around and get me." But every time I'd decide to go out there I'd find one more gear, to pick it up for Vatz when he went down, for Brent when he said he was running out of gas (which I don't believe he ever did, the kid isn't human I swear).

I don't ever want to go back to not playing that way. I want that sense of urgency in every game from here on out, even at Mars (which makes me think even more that I need to find a new team). I'm confident that this team is going to bring it at Nationals, and we'll make the noise that makes heads turn.