Patience. That is the first thing that I can honestly say that I really learned about while broadcasting in college and playing basketball now and in my teenage years. When playing basketball you have to be patient and wait for plays and other opportunities to open up, and sometimes when you try to force something that isn’t there, you turn the ball over. This is a critical lesson in life, and it can apply to anybody. In life, there are many things that are out of our control for the time being, and all we can really do is wait, and sometimes things will open up, and we will realize that it was all for the better. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, but we always hope and try to have faith that something good can come out of any situation. As one of my former teachers tells his students, “90% of success is not what happens to you, but it’s how you react to what happens to you”. That is an amazing quote, and it rings true that no matter what happens in life, basketball, or anything else, always keep moving forward and focusing on becoming better. Other times in life things will open up quickly, and we need to take advantage of it fast, or else the chance will be gone. Much like driving in an open lane on the basketball court, but if you hesitate for even a split second your shot can get blocked. So always remain patient, and know when to take your chances, and when to relax and wait.
The second big thing that I learned about was teamwork. Before basketball, the most organized sport that I played was 2 on 1 or 2 on 2 football, and in that situation there is only so much that you can do with only one more option on the field, other than yourself and giving the ball away to the other team. When I started playing basketball, I had to learn about my teammates and how they played the game and what their strong suits were and whatnot. This gave me the best chance to help my team, by getting it to the right players at the right time. Unfortunately that player wasn’t me, even though I thought it could be going into open gym tryouts on the first day. Looking back at it now, I’m really happy I stuck with it because I see how much better I’ve gotten, but my goodness I was terrible out there when I first started. Anyways, back to teamwork. It takes all 5 guys on the court on your own team contributing, in order to have the best product out there as possible, giving your team the best chance to win. Broadcasting is very similar to this as well. Everybody always gives the broadcasters the credit for being so talented in their delivery and in the ways that they tell us about the game and what is going on. However, there is so much more than that going on behind the scenes. There is a board operator, without whom nobody would be able to hear the broadcasters calling the game, a halftime reporter, and everybody else who puts in the work so that the broadcasters can be connected to the radio waves and to TV signals. Everybody plays a crucial role in life, and sometimes the best game plan is to work together, even though it can be a bit of a struggle sometimes.
This next one is more personal to me, but for me it is very true as well. Though it may be tough, try not to get your hopes up when the outcome of a situation is in the hands of another person, and not your own. Many people may disagree and say that is negative, but in my eyes, the only time I will be very excited about an opportunity is when it is my responsibility to make it happen, and not somebody else’s responsibility. My reasoning behind that is this. If I were to take a situation, say a game winning shot in a pick up basketball game for instance, I would much rather myself take the shot than somebody else, because if I take the game winning shot and miss, then I have nobody to blame but myself. I take the loss, learn from it, and move on. Now if the ball was in somebody else’s hands when the game was on the line and they miss, I will often think about what would have happened if I had the last shot. That may be selfish, and I realize that, but I don’t like trying to put an outcome like that in the hands of another, even though essentially, that is what they are doing if I take the last shot. I suppose I should stick with one on one basketball in that case. Don’t get me wrong though, I do have faith in many people, but it’s finding out the people that you can put your faith in that is the hardest. Take an interview for a position for instance. I try not to get my hopes up for things like that because I can only do so much to sway their decision, and at the end of the day, it isn’t in my hands. Sure I’m always confident that I can do the job well that I’m applying for, but that isn’t the same as having confidence in the interviewer to see the same things that I see in myself. The way I always look at it is that it isn’t my loss. I did what I could do, I know that I would’ve given 100%, and at the end of the day, I still believe in myself and my abilities just as much as I did before that interview. So having given my reasoning, that is why I don’t like to get my hopes up when the outcome of a situation is in the hands of another person.
Those are just a few things that I have learned through these past years of my life through basketball and broadcasting, and I will continue to try and learn and grow in every situation that I am placed in.
Those were just some thoughts that were weighing on me, so just had to get them off and out there. Thanks for reading if you made it this far.
