My Two Cents: Carpe Diem
"This was his opportunity to step up, but he didn't."
I was talking to my friend Sal recently about an NBA playoff game that we had watched the previous evening.
"This was his opportunity to step up, but he didn't" Sal agreed.
The National Basketball Association is currently in the middle of playoff season and so far the games have been exceptional; both highly competitive and entertaining.
Being sports fans, Sal and I have developed an early morning ritual in the office where we do our version of 'ESPN' sports analysis.
The other morning our conversation was specifically directed at one basketball player and his "performance". Let's just call him 'player X'.
An exceptional athlete with uncanny skills, 'player X' was brought onto his team to play a key, but a supportive role to the teams two 'super stars'. But in last nights game the 'super stars' offensive efforts were stopped by the opposing team's defense and someone else had to step up and score.
"He could have made the difference and they could have won" I complained.
It reads like an old and familiar story, doesn't it? We've all experienced it in the games that we watch or we play:
When given the open opportunity, will you choose to step up, or not?
When given the opportunity to show up, will you be the difference?
And when given a second chance?
A couple of days later, over the weekend, I tune in again to watch 'player X' and his team in the next round of play off games.
And again, the opposing teams' defensive scheme is concentrated on the 'super stars' --
but this time, 'player X' refuses to hold back.
What happened to that player I had just watched the other day?
I just sat back and decided to enjoy 'player X' step up --
all the way to a win and the right to play in the NBA Finals.
That's my two cents (for whatever it's worth),
Auguste Roc
auguste@danaroc.com
