On "seizing the moment" in sports

"That's why they play the game," Chris Berman of ESPN often says after an upset, suggesting that all the pre-game analysis (based on existing empirical data) might just as well be shoved aside.
A team can sometimes dip into a mysterious well of focus, inspiration and intangibles, becoming a "team of destiny" and rendering irrelevant the statistical and scouting data.
Marv Meyer used to talk about "seizing the moment." The Morris Area cross country coach knew that when his runners were on the doorstep of a particular accomplishment, they simply needed to step it up. Marv is retired today and living in Willmar. His own running was impeded toward the end of his career - injury circumstances intervened - meaning he had to "will" his runners along rather than physically push them. So the mental component took over more than ever.
The importance of the mental component in sports? Why, one can hardly say enough about it. So Marv would probably have a Cheshire Cat grin watching the current overachievers in the National Football League: the New York Jets. Rex Ryan is the proud, prodding coach of the Jets and his grin at press conferences of late has been most Cheshire Cat-like.
The Jets "seized the moment" last weekend, during the Wild Card Weekend of NFL playoff games, beating the Bengals on the road. The Jets were seeded modestly at No. 6. They owned a most pedestrian regular season record of just over .500. The Jets seized the moment in undaunted fashion, putting behind them their horrible rating in the passing game - the phase of the game getting prime accent by the game's architects today. (Wasn't it spellbinding on Sunday watching the Packers and Cardinals play a pinball-style game that seemed like Arena League football with its constant passing and scoring?)
Is coach Ryan, son of NFL defensive genius Buddy, a dinosaur with his more conservative orientation to the game? Could he push back against the more "pinball" style teams? We'll find out more this coming weekend, but the Jets made a statement and set an example with their performance at Cincy which was a "seize the moment" exhibit 'A'.
The Jets were 31st in passing offense in the NFL's regular season. The betting line for the game at Cincy was the Bengals by 2 1/2. Mark Craig of the Minneapolis "dead tree" newspaper picked the Bengals by 7.
The best-ever example of a sports team "seizing the moment" might be the 1987 Minnesota Twins. Minnesota sports fans were starry-eyed at the end of that episode, pinching themselves to see if they were dreaming after our "Twinkies" won it all.
We may have forgotten just how delirious we were with that dose of success, largely unforeseen, that wiped away memories of the Twins' 1965 Series setback (in seven games vs. the Dodgers, outdoors at Met Stadium).
Whitey Herzog was pinching himself to be sure. Herzog is an exemplary person and professional but was Darth Vader in the eyes of the Minnesota sports public in '87 as he managed the opposing Cardinals of St. Louis.
Whitey's character traits come forward with a flourish in his biographical book "You're Missin' A Great Game" (a takeoff on the old shout of derision vs. umpires). I consider this one of the most underrated baseball books ever. But it was written by a guy whose career was in the Midwest (i.e. Flyoverland). A book by Roger Kahn focusing on New York would be more palatable to the media mainstream.
The '87 Series pushed the east coast media snobs to the side, albeit for just a blip of history, and it was really something for us knaves of the tundra to celebrate. I celebrated with a tear in one eye, realizing that the '87 Twins would forever upstage the gallant '65 crew in historical annals. And in '91 the same magical path to the summit would be followed by the "seizing the moment" Twins. What moments they were!
But in '87 we were all losing our virginity, so to speak. And it sticks in Whitey's craw. He states vociferously that the Twins lacked the credentials if not the pedigree to claim the world championship. No one can argue that in '87, unlike in '65,the Twins had a particular home field advantage. Whitey might say "home floor" 'cause the Twins had moved indoors to the Metrodome.
I remember an embittered Herzog, saying into a TV microphone immediately after his team's '87 setback, that the Twins "do well in this building." I haven't noticed this quoted in the media since but it spoke volumes for me as an exhibit on the perverse qualities of the Dome.
For someone with memories of pleasant August breezes wafting through the fan assemblages at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, that quote ought to sting.
The Metrodome ("Minnesota's Rec Room" as dubbed by former "dead tree" scribe Doug Grow, now writing for the online "Minnpost") helped propel the '87 Twins. Its peculiarities buoyed the familiar home team and baffled visitors. The Cardinals were from the National League and getting their initiation there. They must've felt like "Alice in Wonderland."
Herzog wrote: "The '87 Series showed that it's unfair to play for a title in a hall of mirrors. It also showed how easy it is for mediocre teams to get that far in the first place. That cheapens baseball."
Herzog documented his opinions convincingly. Teams in those days played a balanced schedule, he explained (i.e. everyone playing everyone else the same number of times), so the regular season records were quite the barometer for judging.
You might want to put your Homer Hanky aside for a moment, or use it for nose tissue, as you realize that the Twins had quite mortal qualities for most of the '87 summer. They posted an 85-77 record. In the Eastern Division, there were four teams that did better: the Tigers, Bluejays, Brewers and Yankees.
Herzog notes: "In other words, Minnesota was not the best team in the American League. They were not the second best team. They weren't even the third-best or fourth-best team. The Minnesota Twins were the fifth-best out of 14 teams in the American League in 1987. And they won the World Series."
What the Twins really did, Whitey, was "seize the moment." Consult with Mr. Meyer please.
I remember interviewing a local person who attended the '87 Series (when I was a scribe for the "dead tree" media in Morris). This individual was Steve Van Slooten, manager of the Morris radio station at the time. His main point was that regardless of what you wanted to say about the Twins either not belonging in the Series or deserving the title, "hey, we did it!"
The historical record will show we came, saw and conquered, so pop the cork on the champagne, Mr. Van Slooten said in effect. (I really wouldn't know if he endorsed alcohol.)
Herzog wrote that in '87 - can you believe, over 20 years ago? - the Twins lost 52 of 81 away games (a .358 success percentage) - "rotten even for a mediocre team," Herzog writes.
Herzog was nicknamed "The White Rat" but it's affectionate. He's a consummate professional and gentleman, obviously with sobering memories of '87 tucked away. And as author he can use this license for some zingers directed our way like: ". . .the Homerdome, where baseball met science fiction". . ."like a biodome on Mars". . ."I call it the NBA World Series (i.e. with home team having big edge)". . ."Every pop-up is a flight to the Bermuda Triangle."
The Ugly Duckling Twins seized the moment, underscoring coach Meyer's wisdom, demonstrating that in sports where all kinds of fleeting variables come into play, you simply must "go for it."
This is what the New York football Jets will attempt to do this weekend. Their quarterback, Mark Sanchez, will strive to put behind him his most pedestrian regular season passing performance and try to perform like he's at USC again. His USC coach Pete Carroll seemed miffed at the time Sanchez declared for the NFL (prematurely as the QB had eligibility remaining). The coach and the QB were together at a press conference and Carroll seemed not to be OKing his protege's decision. But Sanchez, even in this moment, was "seizing the moment," following a credo that in sports seems to have paramount importance.
Coach Meyer, you should write a book too. Title suggestions welcomed.
-Brian Williams - Morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com