I'm Just Sayin'

Have you ever been a starter on a sports team? You know what I mean, one of the "original" five on the court, or just part of a team that played for years together? I was. When I was in the third grade I started playing city league softball with a group of girls. We all attended the same elementary school. I played on that team until my sophomore year in high school. That's when I realized I couldn't run track and play ball during the same season, although I gave it a shot. That's a long time to play on a team that was pretty much the same players, seven years.

I played outfield...because I threw the ball from the middle of center field into homeplate once and it sailed over the backstop. Hey, I never said I always had great control! That's another story though...Anywho,my point is when you are a part of something like that there is a cohesiveness, a "oneness" that just seems to grow. And the longer you are a part of that team the stronger that gets. Being the "6th man" on a basketball team is almost the same as being on the starting five...but not quite.

You sit and watch the other players run the plays, pass the ball, make the shots, steal the ball...all of it. And you know you know how to do that, maybe as good as or even better in some ways than any one of the others out there on the starting five. Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason to how the starters are selected, or for that matter, who gets the sixth man spot.

But what happens if someone on the starting team isn't able to start any longer? Maybe they get hurt, out for the season, or move away. They just aren't out there in their natural place anymore...the place everyone else on the starting lineup is used to seeing them. Feels kind of bad for the "new" player. Why? Because everyone else is going to be watching, scruitinizing every move that player makes. How fast they get down the court. How crisp, sharp and accurate their passes are, how much they hustle on defense, if they have quick hands to steal the ball, good vision on the court and you can shoot. And no matter how well they do 90% of the time, 75% of the time or even 50% of the time...when they make one mistake that's all everyone else can see.

I don't like being the sixth player. It's not any fun. And it doesn't really matter to me what the fans think...they don't carry much weight. Oh sure, the coach. Yeah, the coach put me in there. For some reason, right? Thought I could do it, thought I had what it takes, thought I deserved the opportunity, thought I could make a difference for the team as a starter. That's great...but if the other starters never accept me as a starter on their squad...well, you get the point.