A Guest Post by Jack Squat…an athlete and avid reader of CoverGround.ca who just has a lot to say!
So your number one! The big fish in the pond! You need to check your ego at the door, because waiting in the wings is the next Jordan, LT, ( insert name here), that is just itching to replace you.
Check this, you rush for 200 yards in a game, you start to get noticed. Next thing you know people roll up to you because now they know your name. You start to feel good, your chest starts to swell up, and you got a little bounce in your step. You start playing in that zone of ” I can’t do anything wrong, your next few games are sick!
Whoa, whoa, what’s this! “Who’s callin’ for an interview? Newspapers, TV, recruiting blogs and schools are ringing your phone off the hook, all proclaiming your the “NEXT”. Now you are definitely the man!
Soon your entourage is singing your praises, the girlies are coming out of the woodworks. You can’t go anywhere without being stared at or whispered about. You start to believe that you can do no wrong! Your healthy and you PR’s are dropping like change in a wishing well. You look in the mirror and say ” I’m the man “! You finally start to believe your own press.
Wait for it,….wait for it.
Remember, somebody is out there training harder than you are. Being a big fish in a small pond produces false expectations. You will become plankton in the sea of life fleeing from that whale shark looking for it’s next meal. When you end up at the U of Sharks, you better believe your are nothing but chum if you don’t produce,or get hurt so you can’t produce. Do you really think your groupies will be around you then?
The world is littered with stories of child start that end up imploding! It’s nothing new, check the trail of number 1 draft picks, and record holders that are no where to be found! Yet the the low round pick or undrafted free agent has a multiple year career.
You will perform poorly, you will get beat, you will get hurt, and you will be alone again.
Are you man enough to rise from the basement when it does happen, or are you going to be known as ” Whatever happened to …….”?
JS
(original image by Shenanigans in Japan)
