In or Out
During the US Open in 1979, Năstase was defaulted from his match against John McEnroe. The umpire previously docked Năstase a point in third set and then a game in the fourth for arguing and stalling. A near-riot followed as the crowd disagreed with the umpire’s decision, throwing beer cans and cups on court. And the baton of poor sportsmanship was handed over to John McEnroe. One might argue they were both hell bent on turning the classy game of tennis into a free for all. Yet McEnroe was able to turn up the volume on a sport known for its quiet elegance and he took no prisoners. Tennis played in sedate clubs on grass, clay and varied forms of hard court was known for its sportsmanship of apologizing for winning a point accidentally and second chances when serving if the ball touches the net. John McEnroe brought a different kind of attitude. Known for his signature “you can’t be serious,” McEnroe was obsessed with lines.
In tennis, the lines are everything. It is where the pros aim and the amateurs avoid. Being able to see where a ball lands at over 120 miles an hour is the task for the referee. Arguably, it is harder than calling a strike in which the pitch on average reaches only 100 at top speed and rarely occurs in a game. That was, of course, until technology took over the game. (At this publication, baseball has not yet incorporated the technology that would more precisely and consistently call strikes and fouls.)
However, before technology took over this responsibility, McEnroe made his reputation on arguing whether a ball was in or out. Hawk-eye did away with the opportunity for players to argue the call. You can’t argue with a machine. The effects of arguing a call and what is a makeup call will be addressed in chapter x and the role of sportsmanship in chapter y. The difference in tennis between the ball being in or out is a point and if that point is at a critical moment it could be game, set and match.
Yet, each sport handles the line differently. In football the line is out. In soccer the line is in. In basketball the line is out. In baseball the line is in. In tennis the line is in. That is where we walk a very fine line. The line is what defines what is part of the field of play and what is beyond it. Some sports, obsesses about it, like tennis while other sports it’s rarely ever argued like in soccer. While other sports it is important and sometimes makes a difference. In tennis there are just so many lines.
Lines are not just boundaries, we find them in the playing field as well. In many sports there are plenty of lines that have a significant impact on the game but are never out of bounds. The blueline and the red line in hockey, the basepath in baseball, the service line in tennis and the half court line in basketball each with a significant message.
- In hockey the blue line is where the game turns from (a) offense to defense. The redline is the line you cannot hit the puck beyond or (b)you have gone too far.
- In baseball the basepath is the place the runner must remain and in track the runner must remain in their lane.
- In basketball the (a) foul line is where penalties are made right. And (b) the three point line is where we recognize something special. While the (c)half court line says once you go beyond this point you can’t go back.
- In tennis the service line says this is the place that keeps things fair.
- In football the 1st down line and the line of scrimmage is always moving
Some live near the line, some over the line, some below the line, some push the line. Some draw lines in the sand and some speak of the redline. Lines are how we construct our lives and it is how we define our society.
So let’s take the lessons one by one.
- In hockey the blue line is where the game turns from (a) offense to defense. The redline is the line you cannot hit the puck beyond or (b)you have gone too far.
1a. Changing from defense to offense. In hockey the skill set of the athlete is amazing and skating backwards seems easy to do. But like most sports the game can be won and lost in transition from one to the other. How fast you are able to pivot from defense to offense is critical. Life requires the same. Sometimes we feel as though we are going backwards and sometimes we feel as though we are making progress. Sometimes we feel defensive and other times we feel more in control. How we handle the moment in between is critical. Whether it is between careers, between relationships, between school and work, between living in one’s parents home and living on your own. It is how we handle this liminal moment that can often define us. Do we panic or can we find a way to remain calm? What is the internal dialogue and how we behave is the message towards those around us? And even if this is a solo sport, is there a team a person can rely on?
1b. In those moments of transition there is a tendency to go too far. People swear off working in the industry in which they were burned. People promise never to date or marry again after having suffered at the end of a relationship. The tendency can be to overcompensate, rather than take stock and realize not all is lost. In the moment of transition from offense to defense there is opportunity for a turnover and restart. Yet we sometimes over do it and do damage we could have most certainly avoided. The hurt we inflict and the hardship can be on others, on people we love and it can be equally done to ourselves and that is where the irreparable injury occurs.
- In baseball the basepath is the place the runner must remain and in track the runner must remain in their lane.
2. Staying in your lane. Originating from track, the idea is to make sure everyone does their best without interference from someone else. In baseball the idea is to stay within a certain path in order to not to interfere with another player. Yet there is so much more to this. The line in baseball we call the runners’ path is clearly demarcated from home to first and third to home but it is imaginary from first to second and second to third. This is the extraordinary lesson that some lines are imagined and some are clearly able to be seen. Some of the lines are plain to see and some are created by others for us. Sometimes they show us the best path is a straight line and keep us safe, while at other times they help prevent us from doing harm to others.
The straight line is usually the best route from point a to point b. While that might seem logical and preferred we tend to make life more difficult by taking a circuitous route. We complicate things unnecessarily. Staying in your lane is so obvious, sticky to our strengths and not doing something someone else is better is usually best. Yet we never leave things well enough alone.
K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid is or as William of Ockham (1285–1347/49) said “pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate – plurality should not be posited without necessity.” Or in plain English, the most simple explanation is usually the best explanation. We complicate things. We make things harder than they need to be.
- In basketball the (a) foul line is where penalties are made right. And (b) the three point line is where we recognize something special. While the (c)half court line says once you go beyond this point you can’t go back.
3a. In life people make mistakes and with mistakes comes anger, resentment and guilt. In life working through the complexities of these difficult emotions can be difficult and the longer they remain the more difficult they become to resolve. Sports says, when an infraction occurs the result must be immediate. It doesn’t allow the anger to go unpunished and remedy is agreed upon. The greater the foul the greater the punishment. In soccer, yellow cards and red cards and they accumulate until at some point it is clear that person can no longer participate. There is a line beyond which a player cannot go. There are people who say offensive things and they are taught to speak more kindly. However, there becomes a point when one person’s toxicity can not be tolerated.
3b. People ought to be rewarded for doing extraordinary things. When a person takes a skill to the next level there ought to be a way to reward them for their contribution. Like the three point line in basketball, not everyone can sink that basket and therefore, it is worth more. In a day and age in which everyone gets a trophy, those people who excel are left to the same reward as everyone else. Unfortunately, that only encourages mediocrity and doesn’t reward excellence.
In football there is the opportunity after a touchdown to go for one point or the more difficult two point conversion. Extra effort is rewarded with extra points. But there is a chance that they won’t be successful. Taking chances is integral to life. It comes from courage and ought to be rewarded. A person will not be successful all of the time, that is what makes taking the chance exhilarating.
3c. “Over and back” is what it is called in basketball, once you bring the ball past the half court line you cannot go back to the other side. If the other team hits the ball and it goes back then you get to start over. However you cannot willingly just go backwards. Life requires progress. It would be great if we could just stay where we are, never change, never move forward. We get comfortable where we are. In football, there is a forward pass and a lateral pass. Sometimes we make lateral moves in order to go forward but it still requires movement. In soccer and hockey it is perfectly acceptable to go back and reset. Therefore, we have to know what game we are playing. We have to know when we need to go back and reset.
- In tennis the service line says this is the place that keeps things fair.
The service line means that the ball you will have to return will at least be within reach. People seek to grasp the golden ring all the while hoping it is within reach. Children often say, “that isn’t fair.” Adults respond, “life isn’t fair.” Yet, society continues to try to make things equitable. Education is supposed to be the silver bullet and is not even considered an entitlement in the most political of terms. It is the way our society says everyone gets a chance at making it. Generations came to America for a better life and they made sure their children received the best education they could. And if it is true of education, it is true of the other entitlements, healthcare and social security.
- In football the 1st down line and the line of scrimmage is always moving
There is a joke that in marriage, once you learn the rules, the rules change. While in chapter x we will look at how rules change and what the implications are for perfecting the game and by extension our lives. Here the point is about achievement. Tim MInchin once said, “Be micro-ambitous.” As Admiral William McRaven taught in his commencement speech at University of Texas, Austin in 2014, “make your bed everyday.” It means you will have accomplished something.
Rarely does the hail mary pass work. More often than not it is not caught and nothing is achieved. However, small incremental moves forward eventually build up to greater progress. The screen pass, the rush from scrimmage, the quarterback sneak usually don’t amount in a huge gain but it gets you somewhere and somewhere is better than being no where.
In chapter x we will look at the role of momentum, here the message is about not being overwhelmed by the ultimate goal. The tennis player down two sets must look to the next point.
Parents tell their children, “don’t bit off more than you can chew” what they don’t say is, “that is a recipe for choking.” Little bites get you there with less risk. There are more stories of people who worked their way up from the busboy to owner, from mailroom clerk to CEO, from starting in their garage to creating a multi million dollar company, then thoe who leap frog into success. Inch by inch, step by step accomplishes the goal.
No doubt, there will be unforseen obstacles in which the line changes, fouls occur. Life happens and it will take tremndous will power to just get back to the line of scrimage, but it is doable. Then again, you may have to punt but then refer back to 3c and reset.
The only line that matters is the finish line, the goal line. And we all get there.