Psychology Of Sports

I cannot repeat this enough times. Off field preparation is the key to all areas of on the field performance. Simple as that.

Tackle Damien Woody, who played for two Super Bowl champions with New England, said great preparation relieves pressure by inspiring confidence. “With our preparation and the way our practices have been going, I think we’re a very loose football team,” he said. “Maybe guys might be jittery a little bit. I’m jittery before every game. But if your preparation is right, you don’t have to worry about being all nervous.”

If anyone says the Giants were a good football team this year they need a check up from the neck up! Oh my gosh were they bad. It does not take a rocket scientist to see the needs of the team, so I won’t waste space on that here.

Beyond that I have a few thoughts about their inconsistent play.
1-This falls squarely on the coaches. It is the coaches job to prepare the team to play each week. The Giants had poor game plans against a lot of teams. Especially on the defensive side of the ball. If they retain Bill Sheridan I would not be surprised but I cannot see how they could given the level of play and the game plan.
2-This was an unfocused and unprepared team far too many times throughout the season. The amount of mental mistakes was beyond tolerable.
3-Inconsistent play is also often reflective of players who have not as yet mastered the skills that are necessary to play their positions. In essence they are in the process of learning. They have been taught and are trying to put it into use.

Beyond all this you are what your record says you are. Simple as that. They were medicore at best.

Met fans have been miserable and complaining about the Mets lack of free agent signings, and of course their abysmal showing in the 2009 season. And they should be–the Mets were horrid last season and disappointing for the last four. The acquisition of Jason Bay will quiet the fans for the moment, but only for a moment. And this is the way it should be.

When I speak with fans and non fans alike I think the one thing they fail to understand most is that the Mets are trying their best, as are all professional teams in all sports. When I say this I get the most incredulous looks and varied emotionally intense responses.

Let me tell you why I think this happens. I would suggest that fans are often rabid and emotional by definition and very involved in the day to day machinations of their teams. When they are in these states of mind, they can lose sight of the obvious.

Let’s step back for a second.

What makes you think that the Mets are any different than any other business or organization? Short of a major conspiracy theory–why would Omar Minaya or Jeff Wilpon for that matter not want to do well? It makes no sense for them not to do well. Omar Minaya wants to keep his job, and Jeff Wilpon wants to make more money. They are no different than the rest of us.

Isn’t your business trying to improve itself and do better? Is your business or organization filled with the most competent people in every position all the time? Does your organization or place of employment keep people employed that are not performing optimally? Maybe you should take a look in the next cubicle or down the corridor for your answer. Or just ask your fellow employees!

Beyond that, fans tend to endow players and executives with abilities they may or may not have. Or wish they had. Just as we often do with our own employers. That is why in part fans and employees are at times so disappointed.

In my opinion the gap in abilities between highly sophisticated fans and the people that run the teams is not as big as it used to be. There are also many employees who think they know more than their supervisors—there is no shortage of these people out there. Trust me.

So sports fans keep in mind Omar Minaya does not want lose his job. He may not be doing as good of a job as you would like, but I can guarantee you that he is trying his best!

Beyond all this– rooting for a team allows one to be an arm chair general manager or quarterback. And if you really want to get involved, fantasy sports leagues are the rage. Why not? It is all part of the fun!

The Tiger Woods story has calmed down for the moment, but trust me just for the moment. I was interviewed for the Woods story and a plethora of bloggers responded—to what I am not sure to this day! But hey they have to make a living at it so I understand. My wages don’t depend upon this post— thank goodness.

Celebrities and their lives are the new reality shows of our time. They cost very little to cover compared to the production of television shows and require a lot less thought than say developing thoughtful, creative pieces. Why we would we do that? And the public can relate a whole lot better to someone who is just like them in real life than say, to a thoughtful fictional piece.

The media and the public can cover Woods and make money on it as well. What could be bad? In fact I think they did a great job as I told one journalist. I had no interest, but I see a whole lot of people did!

Tiger Woods is human and he thought that he only had to answer to those around him for his transgressions. He made the mistake of thinking that he had a private life and a right to his privacy. Perhaps that was his biggest mistake