Lemme just get this out of the way right now. The reason that I went into music, is that I STINK at sports!! Ok, boy do I feel better! Can I get off this couch now!!!
In my brief, ineffective childhood career in little league, I actually learned a couple of lessons. One is, you can’t play in little league unless you know how to play baseball, and you learn how to play baseball by being in little league…..except…they won’t let you play if you can’t play. Right now envision my 210lbs mastiff Angus chasing his tail. Good. Ok, I’m back on the couch.
Johny Bench, catcher for the world champions Cincinatti Reds
I however did get to do a brief stint at catcher. I loved the catcher position. My catcher hero was Johny Bench. What a stud!
My little league coach taught me that I needed to be “Batblind.” This means that you catch the ball whether the player hits it or not. In other words, you ignore the batter. Pretend that he’s not swinging. It’s really hard to do, but it’s vital for a catcher, otherwise, you’ll get hit with a baseball!
I got the idea for this post actually while playing drums in Fargo, ND, at the Fargodome, playing for Reba. She was singing a very tender and quiet song, and this guy holding a beer was yelling at her. “I love you Reba!!!!” She was literally singing through this overzealous fan, and not allowing him to distract her. She’s a master of this. She doesn’t ignore the crowds, she generally responds to them when appropriate, but when she’s singing, she’s focused on the song. She won’t stop for every scream and yell. She’s batblind.
I love this metaphor because in our daily pursuits we have a lot of distractions. They are like gnats around our face. Have you ever taken a nice walk through the woods and you have this one bug that makes it his number one goal to fly into your eyeball? AAAHHH!!!!! Infuriating!
Pursuing anything meaningful in life is going to require long term focus and determination. In my own life, I had so many opportunities to quit. (Fortunately, I’m not qualified to do anything else!) At many times, I would have been quite justified in throwing in the towel. But something kept me Batblind. Life swings at us like a crazed medieval warrior. Things that want to distract you, to discourage you, and to make you quit. I’m determined to catch the ball regardless of whether the ball makes it to the glove.
Are we determined to follow through, or are we going to flinch and give into the gnats? Could I cram anymore metaphors into this post? Maybe 1 more college student into the vw bettle. Stop it!!!
So be batblind, or your going to get dinged by a 96mpg pitch! Ouch! That’s about the most sports talk you’ll ever hear come from me. I won’t even get into my high school wrestling career. pathetic.
