It's not that easy

Mastering a sport is not the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. A person has to have some athleticism, depending on the sport and has to have the confidence to make improvements on a day to day basis. They sometimes have to block out negative comments from fans, opponents as well as their own and sometimes coaches.

Think about the things you would need to master the game of baseball. The really good major league hitters bat around .300 which means that for every ten times at bat you’ll get three hits and make seven outs. Realistically, a majority of the players are closer to the .250 range or two and a half hits for every 10 times at the plate.

In order to make up for that a player should be a good fielder because defense can make up for a lot of shortcomings. On the flip side some good hitters may not be the best fielders.

I’ve seen enough games where the worst hitter on the team gets three or four hits and the best hitter goes 0-5. But even though the bad hitter has a good night and the good hitter has a bad night doesn’t mean that the confidence for either one will change that much.

You’ve no doubt heard about the pitcher that threw a shutout or no-hitter in one game then had problems getting out of the first inning in their very next start. I’m sure that you have seen a basketball team’s leading scorer get flustered and clank easy shots off the rim in one game yet hardly miss against another team. Or a career 90 percent free throw shooter may miss two in a row when you’ve hardly seen them miss one.

In football a great receiver will be making unbelievable catches all night long and what seems to be an easy grab will go through their hands. This is sometimes called running without the ball since the player sees the ball but before it is secured they look away to find an open space and the ball falls to the turf. Quarterbacks have their bad days as well. Even a simple hand off can look bad but it is when they miss wide open receivers or throw the ball to a defensive back that will drive a coach and fans to go nuts.

All athletes have one thing in common and that is they are human. The one thing that all humans do is make mistakes. They don’t want to admit that they make mistakes but they do.

Opposing coaches try to do everything they can to make life miserable for their opponent. Sometimes it happens and sometimes those game plans don’t work very well. As fans we need to understand that there is a fine line between winning and losing. Good teams typically have good athletes that are in great shape and are healthy.

Sprained ankles, fingers, knees and sore shoulders may not be that easy to see but they have an effect on how well an athlete performs. Throw in the flu with a 102 degree temperature or a stomach virus and chances are you won’t see the best performance out of the best player.

But each game matters in the final standings and wins are an important part of the success or failure of the season.

It is sometimes hard to know why a team is having a lot of success and why they appear to play flat for a whole game. I think we all want to see at team win. Have you ever asked yourself when you aren’t feeling up to par if you are going to give your best at work that day?

I know that I have gone to work at times when I really should have stayed home but something needed to get done that day and three or four Advil later and a couple of strong cups of coffee I made it through the day with the finished assignment taken care of. I hope I did a good job!

Athletes have a tendency to not want to take a day or night off either because by doing so they figure they are letting their teammates down. They will battle through as hard as they can hoping for a victory to make things better. But it isn’t always that easy and as fans I hope we understand that just because they are trying to do their best they may not be feeling their best.