There are several different kinds of pressure. There is a kind where you have to do well in order to get what you want, to lead your team to victory. Then there is the kind of pressure that you feel when you know the circumstances favor you, and you have to do well. Anything less would be a disappointment.
Just a handful of the city’s best bowlers come together during this one match. Every man for himself. But it’s Manhattan, not Staten Island. The standards to qualify aren’t that hard. Top three bowlers in the tournament with the highest scores qualify to play in the city’s biggest individual tournament of the year.
My average misses the qualifying mark by a few pins, but Coach pulls some strings along with the fact that there aren’t enough participants to make up a tournament. I stand among the worst bowlers in the competition. The pressure to do exceptionally well is higher than ever watching all those gutter balls go down the drain.
My first two games I finish with 170 and 168, putting me into 5th place in the match. If there was one place I didn’t want to finish, I didn’t want to finish 4th and just miss the cutoff to go for the biggest event of my athletic life.
A couple of throws in, I’m heading for around the same score. I step away from the lanes area and head into the bathroom, trying to calm my nerves down. Splashing cold water onto my face, I keep telling myself, “Come on, dude, this is your chance! Take it!” After staring at myself fiercely for a good minute, I head back out, slightly more motivated than before. I become more methodical with my approach. I make sure I take the correct amount of steps, and slide with the perfect timing and strength. Striking out from the 8th frame, I finish strong with a 194, stealing 3rd place in the borough of Manhattan by five pins and earning my first bowling medal ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment