The student television season started this week and thus my show, MT Sports Live (9 pm CST on MTTV!), did just that, went live. About halfway through the show we were discussing the weekly football press conference when I remembered a particular question that had really bugged me when it was asked of every player and coach. "Does the mindset change going from a conference to non-conference game?" I proceeded to go on a mini-rant (and for the record my co-host Zac Defrancesca, a fellow former athlete backed me up) about how this might be dumber than asking Bill Belicheck for an injury report. Its a question you've heard asked a million times by media members and the answer never changes: it's always no. This is why I now present to you the fans and all my fellow media members an explanation of why, so that hopefully we can never hear this ridiculous question asked again. So come with me, as I take you on a guided tour inside the mind of an athlete!
The modern athlete is trained in media speak, and most of them have learned how to answer many questions put forth by us in the media in a simplistic answer that really doesn't provide any new information. This is why its such a breath of fresh air for me as an interviewer to interview someone like MTSU starting point guard Chelsia Lymon, who simply tells it like it is. However to say this stale, mundane routine of obvious question leading to obvious answer is the athletes and overprotective coaches faults is ridiculous. Its our fault in the media too. Many media members are former athletes who couldn't make it on a higher level (this is not an indictment as this includes me) but still have a love for sport and want to stay as close to it as possible. However it seems like many of these people forget what its like to be an athlete as soon as they cross over the athlete/media line. The question in focus here "does your mindset change now that we're in conference" is a perfect example.
As soon as an athlete steps on their particular playing surface it's game time, no matter who the opponent. It doesn't matter whether MTSU is stepping on the field versus North Texas, Maryland, or Texas, for each individual player, they are just playing football. Does that mean they don't adjust based on who they're playing? Absolutely not. If you're playing Alabama you're probably not going to run right at Mt. Cody in the middle of the defensive line, but it has nothing to do with the name on the front of the jersey. Unlike an athletes attitude, game planning has nothing to do with the name on the front of the jersey, it's all about the names on the backs.
The modern athlete is trained in media speak, and most of them have learned how to answer many questions put forth by us in the media in a simplistic answer that really doesn't provide any new information. This is why its such a breath of fresh air for me as an interviewer to interview someone like MTSU starting point guard Chelsia Lymon, who simply tells it like it is. However to say this stale, mundane routine of obvious question leading to obvious answer is the athletes and overprotective coaches faults is ridiculous. Its our fault in the media too. Many media members are former athletes who couldn't make it on a higher level (this is not an indictment as this includes me) but still have a love for sport and want to stay as close to it as possible. However it seems like many of these people forget what its like to be an athlete as soon as they cross over the athlete/media line. The question in focus here "does your mindset change now that we're in conference" is a perfect example.
As soon as an athlete steps on their particular playing surface it's game time, no matter who the opponent. It doesn't matter whether MTSU is stepping on the field versus North Texas, Maryland, or Texas, for each individual player, they are just playing football. Does that mean they don't adjust based on who they're playing? Absolutely not. If you're playing Alabama you're probably not going to run right at Mt. Cody in the middle of the defensive line, but it has nothing to do with the name on the front of the jersey. Unlike an athletes attitude, game planning has nothing to do with the name on the front of the jersey, it's all about the names on the backs.
I am about to crush a longstanding mathematical anomaly in sports, and that is no athlete plays 100% all the time. This is because it's impossible unless you want to be dead by the end of the first quarter of your game. There is also no such thing as 110%. Once again this is because it's impossible this time not because of physical limits but because of mathematical ones. Athletes play at about 85-90% for most of the time than elevate their games as they see fit. The great athletes, or at least those with superior mental makeup (you don't always get the superior athletic ability with the Michael Jordan mind, trust me. I know because I got the brain and a 5'11" body that runs a 4.8), are able to tell when it is time to elevate their game better than the standard athlete, and they are also able to sustain it longer. This has nothing to do with mindset going into a game, its simply reading the game as it comes along. Kobe Bryant doesn't go into a game knowing at the 8:48 mark of the 4th quarter its go-time; he assesses the game is it progresses and chooses his time to jump. This is also why I can become unguardable in many pickup games despite rarely being the best athlete on the floor. I see its go-time and turn my game up to 100% while everyone else is playing at 85% and at that point its as Lee Corso would say, goodnight sweetheart!
The same is true on a football field. In football when the ball is snapped you go and then the whistle blows so you stop. In theory you would go 100% for that time, but anybody who's watched a football game knows that's not the case. No, not because the tackle got beat by the defensive end on a particular play (someone has to win every battle). However, the evidence lies when about once a game a guy gets blown up on a block because he didn't keep his head on a swivel, or a receiver gets leveled over the middle because his quarterback left him out to dry. Paying attention is part of playing 100%, and in football the result of not playing at 100% is typically quite devastating for you or one of your teammates.
As Herman Edwards would say, "you play to win the game." This doesn't necessarily mean you play your hardest. You have to play better than the person opposite you. That's it. No matter how hard they play you have to play better. If you're 50% is better than your 100% than why play your best? It's wasted energy. If you have that much of an advantage than you play well enough to win decisively and that's the end of it. Does that sound great? Of course not. If a player admitted that to the media would his coach have a fit? You better believe it! However that's the truth and now you have to deal with it.
The important fact out of all of this though, is that it is not determined before a game how much effort a player will put in. Sure a player or a team can start on fire because they've preached putting forth the extra effort but eventually its the same game you've played all your life and you play it as such. The goal of an athlete is to maximize his or her abilities for the entirety of the game and it is up to them to figure out how to do that. "Leaving it all on the field" does you no good if you've left it all by halftime. Remember, a game is a game is a game is a game and a play is a play is a play is play is a play, no matter who an athlete is playing. So now that we have this understanding can I PLEASE never hear the ridiculous conference question again?
Alright that's enough, rant's over. And now that I mention it, so is your tour. Watch your step on the way out. Oh, and tips are gladly accepted!
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