Sunday, April 20, 2008

Wisdom in the 3-Dot Lounge

Bruce Jenkins is my favorite sportswriter. He's been writing for the SF Chronicle since I started reading the paper (20+ years). His signature Saturday column, The 3-Dot Lounge, is a morning pleasure that helps me get out of bed. You can find him every Saturday here.

This column, on the SF Giant's prospects this year, had a nugget of life truth that resonated with me. I've played baseball then softball my whole life and I think the game of baseball is one of the great teachers. Here is Bruce Jenkins take on it. I agree with every word.

Among its many fine qualities, baseball is a teacher. There's a lot of real life to be witnessed out there, offering lessons in comportment, style, resilience and performance under pressure. What the game teaches us now is that there can be beauty, even pure excitement, within the realm of lessened expectations.

The young Giant's are going to learn things about failure, resiliency and what it takes to succeed this year. Many of the same things I learned my senior year when I went 0-10 with 10 strikeouts. You read that right, I didn't hit a ball fair all year. One of the best growing experiences I've ever gone through.