Regardless of who you are or what the score is, the path to victory in any ballgame is the same.
Put the Ball First.
Playing sports has always been my greatest teacher. I was blessed with an incurable thirst for knowledge since I was young. I know most of the prototypes include either jock or nerd but, I've always been both. I've always loved being outside, chasing any ball there is, against any opponent I can find but, I am equally comfortable in the classroom, or in the computer lab, or in the kitchen, or on the ranch. There is not much that I am not interested in learning how to do, if I haven't already studied it well enough to make a respectable go at it.
There's debate around some quote that goes along the lines of "Jack of all trades. Master of few." It implies that if you run around trying to be good at everything, you can never be a master of any one in particular. While I will concede that there are some things that I have not mastered, yet, I take that notion as an insult. I respect that other quote about "10,000 hours" being the only way to master a skill but again, I was blessed with a strong desire to understand everything interesting to me at a molecular level.
My gifts have benefited me a lot of dirty looks and resentment from total strangers for most of my life. Luckily, one of the skills I was reluctant to master was that obedience to mediocracy. If I enjoy the way something happens, I want to understand how it works, replicate it, and see if I can't revolutionize the way it's done, and much of the time, I do. I know you've probably attached a voice to this piece that you already despise. If I didn't know me, I would assume that the writer of this was a total self-centered, delusional, egotistical prick. In most cases, you are correct. People that dare to speak this way are often ridiculed, pressured and found to crack, just like everyone else. However, that has yet to happen, here.
As cocky as this may come off (almost comically so), another skill I've attempted to master is that of humility and I ask you to forgive any preconceived thoughts you may be having about me and trust what I'm about to share with you. I'm a ball player before just about anything I can call myself. I'm a good cook. I am a talented musician, songwriter, and sound engineer. I am a photographer, video producer and a film maker. I can ride, rope, hammer, and paint. I should have been a cowboy. I've mastered certain video games so well that they have developed an isolation tactic to save the players they want to be the best in the world from being undone by me, again. I don't like being in front of the camera but, I could act if I found the right team. Law and Accounting bored me to tears like nothing before but, I could do it in a pinch. My sister is a literal physicist so, I may have to defer some of the more technical stuff to her but, I can handle some arithmetic if I needed to, as well.
Before any of that, and I assure you, I haven't finished, I think it is accurate to say that at the root of all of that mastery, has always been a ball player. Sports gave me some of the most valuable information anyone from any of these fields could ever achieve. It showed me exactly who I am. The thing about athletics is that there is no middle ground for fact. The ball will tell you exactly what you are capable of and what you are not. The beauty is in its simplicity. You either catch it, or you don't. You hit the target, or you miss. There is very rarely a grey area. If there is, it is usually attached more to the human element, such as the opinion of an umpire an obstruction call, or wether or not a hand ball in the box was intentional. It's the human argument that everyone clamors to but, the ball adheres to its own principles.
Before I get to far, you should know, that this Ball First thing is closer to a religious principle than it is to a "typical sports intensity metaphor" ever will get. I'm serious. I play (and think) sports at a metaphysical level. Yes, it is played with the body, and the main reason most people enjoy watching them at such a high level is because you can literally have every advantage on paper but, you still have to play the game to truly find out the result. Even if the whole world knows exactly who is going to win, up until the final whistle, anything can happen. In a close game, it often comes down to a fair amount of luck, even. Some unforeseeable circumstance can completely destroy your bracket, right? A simple weather delay can turn your fantasy team upside down and you had it all figured out just a hours ago, you know? More on that unknowable element, later.
Ball First is about selflessness.
At its core, the intention for this... I don't know, philosophy? (I'm actually developing this...thing as we speak) is that true dynasties, the most successful teams, the legendary athletes have all tended towards one similar principle. This is my attempt to gather all of that wisdom into one solitary ball, if you will.
Around 2010, I discovered a few significant books about philosophy and spirituality. That started me down a path of self-reflection, and when you take good hard look at someone like me, you will always get a good look at a ball player. Every major breakthrough I found had it's root in something I had already learned in a ball game. As I mentioned, sports can reveal you to yourself in ways most of life cannot. However, if you can get a handle on that, and learn enough about yourself, you can look up and begin to see it revealing information about the world around you. That admittedly audacious list of fields I could easily excel in from earlier in this piece, most of that information was revealed to me from a ballplayer's perspective.
That's when I realized, we don't watch people do great things because of the people themselves. Sure, we idolize our athletes and entertainers for what they can do but, everyone is always spending most of the match hyperfocused on one specific element. Yea. The ball. The ball holds all of the answers. Not just to your current at bat, not just to the holes in the defense to be exploited but, all of the answers. More often than not, the ball is round (sorry hockey, rugby and football but, this will apply, anyway.) A sphere is a perfect shape. It contains the entire universe within, and from it's center, the entire universe expands from that point. Think about it. From the vast, unknowable distances of outer space and the tiniest atomic ions within, can all be connected through this one point, and you are throwing it, kicking it, chasing it. You are playing it behind a defense, switching the point of attack, curling it into the corner. The universe.
I know, I know. I don't expect you to wrap your entire head around the concept. It's sort of impossible. You're only human after all but, doesn't that give you some perspective? When I notice players getting overwhelmed, worried about potential negative outcomes, worried about a facing a potential opponent, I notice one thing. They seem to be stressing about all of the unknowable information attached to that ball but, once you've made peace with not knowing completely what will happen, you can begin to imagine what is equally possible to happen in your favor. From there, a ballplayer that is "in the zone" is one that begins to dictate the outcome. They are willing the ball in the net, leading the opponent in an already ordained dance. That player has embraced the entire universe within the ball.
Again, it's okay if you don't quite follow me. Some of you never will, and that's okay, too. Some of you just aren't ready, yet. That's fine too but, I know there is someone reading this having an epiphany. Somebody is understanding themselves, the game, the ball, in an entirely new way. Something just clicked and you can't wait to get a ball out and see what happens. You're a champion.
I have more thoughts about sports, philosophy, and even spirituality. This won't be a typical sports blog. I'm not that interested in statistics and probability. I can see the value in preparation but, there will always be that immeasurable factor no algorithm can account for. "You can't play with a calculator in your pocket," and no, I won't be swayed by your argument for wearable technology or a smartphone on the field. I guess I'm just old school in that fashion. I'm glad the tech geeks and accounting nerds have found a way to love our games but, I will always love the human element more than the technology we use to talk about it after the fact.
I won't push any gambling sites, cover the spread picks, or ratios. I won't dig for drama and storylines. I'm not going to craft passionate pleas to trade or fire coaches and players. I don't do click bait. This is going to be a sports philosophy project. Maybe this is the first chapter of a book, I don't know. If you would like to join the conversation I might even consider a guest blog or two. We'll see.
Check out more Sports content from myself at BallFirst
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Sincerely yours,
Joshua Lucero
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WriterJoshua Around the Web
