Lessons from summer softball

Last night was a perfect summer night for softball. Beautiful blue sky, warm temperatures that cooled slightly as the sun went down. Local rival teams played a double header. One team (the visiting team) perennially loses to the other team, (the home team) however tonight was different. About half way through the first game, the home team was being out matched by the underdogs. Most likely not used to being on the losing side, the girl’s faces started to drop. The first game was tight, ending in a one run difference. Unable to shake off the errors, they simply could not get their groove back.

What I noticed last night, was less about what happened on the playing field and more about what was happening in the stands. Fans loaded both sides of the field, cheering and encouraging each player. About half way through the first game, there was a distinctly loud voice behind me. The fan was convinced that the home team was not doing enough and simply not trying. Perhaps some of this was true. After all this was one of their first losses of the year. They had obviously started to get down about the entire situation, not yet having learned the process of working through these sort of things. The fan began a tirade against the team, with special attention given to one player in particular, the catcher. The louder this fan grew, the quieter the rest of the fans became. She ranted about the inability of the catcher to play her position, and to get out of the slump. The louder the critic, the more errors occurred. The more errors, the more insults, and the more silence from the fans. The negative seemed to silence the positive... (more tomorrow)