The team is down two. I was just fouled taking a three. There’s zero time left on the clock. I’ve scored 50 of the teams 100 points. I swish the first one.
A ‘la Darius Washington Jr., I miss the next two. The team loses.
The next morning, Stephen A. Smith is yelling at the top of his lungs on First Take that I choked while Max Kellerman is saying the team wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for me in the first place, so they can’t complain.
That never happened to me. But it’s a well known narrative that I experienced it first hand on Monday at our bowling league.
Game 3 came down to the anchors in the 10th frame (Tom was absent so I took his spot). Our team was up 5 pins. My opponent went first and threw a strike. I needed a strike to keep us in it. I did not strike. My opponent struck out in the 10th and I went six – spare – strike for a 234.
234 is 40 pins above my average. But in this case, the game came down to me throwing a strike, and I threw a 6. How do I not walk away feeling liked I choked?
Any good teammate in that situation would naturally say “It’s not your fault, your 234 was the only reason we were in it!“.
And I think they’re also right. I can simultaneously be the only reason we were in it and still be the reason we lost, right? It doesn’t have to be one or the other. So I can feel good that the 234 kept us in it, and bad about myself for literally losing the game in the final throw.
I believe in the clutch gene. But there’s also a measure of experience. Yes, I choked there. But I will be better next time in that spot!
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