All The Field's A Stage


(Randolph-Macon College yearbook 1979)

 


     "And all the men and women meerely Players". Thus begins a monologue in Shakespeare's As You Like It, and so shall this exposé on what it feels like to be an athlete in front of a crowd. 

     I've tried and failed to convey this conflicting sense of fear and power, of agony and jubilation, of mud and magic in various fictional stories, interest usually lost at the moment of describing a game situation, something inscrutable or even insufferable to the uninitiated. The posts that follow will shift the narrative to the inner dialogue of someone who's played several sports at all but the professional level. 

     The stories will walk, no run the reader through the stages of a game from an athlete's perspective:  

  1. The sensual entry onto the playing field; 
  2. Pre-game rituals culminating in the start of play; 
  3. Creation of a mantra to narrow focus to the play at hand;  
  4. The mundane back and forth until an advantage emerges; 
  5. An explosive shift in momentum hinging on a single thrilling play; 
  6. The stubborn and often clever attempt to keep a lead; 
  7. And the moment of awareness that winning is at hand. 

     These seven acts of a player's experience will be forthcoming in a weekly blog, and as in the bard's soliloquy:

     "...have their exits and their entrances;
     And one man in his time plays many parts,
     His acts being seven ages."



Comments

  1. OSweetNatureAugust 15, 2021 at 7:50 AM

    Looking forward to reading each post as the excitement builds! Should be a great series, both entertaining and enlightening!

    ReplyDelete
  2. David BeattyAugust 16, 2021 at 5:22 AM

    That's the plan, Stan.

    ReplyDelete

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