Chip Shot
December 5, 2020 at 12:14 a.m.
Chip Shot
By Chip Davenport-
What else could I have added? Did I leave someone’s notable accomplishments in my brain without putting it to print? Ugh! The feeling when something clever just came to mind, but it’s too late! *sigh* The presses are already printing.
I used to stay up until 2:00 a.m. or even later waiting for the on-line version of my work. I’d read it, then my neurosis set in. I would tear it up in my head. My word count is too high. Coach had a great quote that would have punctuated my paragraph… and as the K-Tel guy used to say, “…and much, much more!”
I pour my heart into an article whether the deadline is tight or loose, but I hate it milliseconds after I hit “send”!
I’ve given up alleviating the issue because I’ve done this all my life among all my endeavors. I’m 56, and I can’t remember not feeling the wit of the staircase, feeling some other sort of inadequacy, or feeling I could have done something better than I did it. So here I am adding more to my already-full plate, freelance writing for a little more than a year now after a 38-year break from it. Just throw another log on the fire, right?
I am, additionally, in good company at the sporting events I cover by night!
I share a common bond with the high school coaches I interview. I’m in a leadership role in the daytime. They’re in a leadership role, too. They don’t listen to fans’ coaching advice (or else they will eventually be sitting with them), and I concentrate on the strokes and strikes I get from the lions I feed, and from the team I serve nearly 260 days per year.
I think some of the most successful coaches I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to meet have some level of neurosis. Postgame interviews afford me an earful of things coaches strongly feel should have worked better fresh off the gridiron or hardcourt. Sometimes they will say, “I’m not trying to be negative here, but….” I type all their recorded quotes on a separate page when I prepare an article, so I see it clearly.
Do they know I’m in the moment with them? Do they know I’m thinking, but not saying, “Dude, I’m just as neurotic as you are! I totally get it!” Maybe I should say something.
Oh Heaven! It rears its head again, the wit of the staircase. This time, however, I’m glad I never said it.
I think I’ve shared enough with you right here, instead of broaching this issue in the heat of postgame interviews, and consequently killing the moment. The coaches and I will just collectively keep doing our jobs and rationalize our shared continuous improvement mindset.
I hope you’re enjoying my finished product as much as I hate it milliseconds after I hit “send.”
What else could I have added? Did I leave someone’s notable accomplishments in my brain without putting it to print? Ugh! The feeling when something clever just came to mind, but it’s too late! *sigh* The presses are already printing.
I used to stay up until 2:00 a.m. or even later waiting for the on-line version of my work. I’d read it, then my neurosis set in. I would tear it up in my head. My word count is too high. Coach had a great quote that would have punctuated my paragraph… and as the K-Tel guy used to say, “…and much, much more!”
I pour my heart into an article whether the deadline is tight or loose, but I hate it milliseconds after I hit “send”!
I’ve given up alleviating the issue because I’ve done this all my life among all my endeavors. I’m 56, and I can’t remember not feeling the wit of the staircase, feeling some other sort of inadequacy, or feeling I could have done something better than I did it. So here I am adding more to my already-full plate, freelance writing for a little more than a year now after a 38-year break from it. Just throw another log on the fire, right?
I am, additionally, in good company at the sporting events I cover by night!
I share a common bond with the high school coaches I interview. I’m in a leadership role in the daytime. They’re in a leadership role, too. They don’t listen to fans’ coaching advice (or else they will eventually be sitting with them), and I concentrate on the strokes and strikes I get from the lions I feed, and from the team I serve nearly 260 days per year.
I think some of the most successful coaches I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to meet have some level of neurosis. Postgame interviews afford me an earful of things coaches strongly feel should have worked better fresh off the gridiron or hardcourt. Sometimes they will say, “I’m not trying to be negative here, but….” I type all their recorded quotes on a separate page when I prepare an article, so I see it clearly.
Do they know I’m in the moment with them? Do they know I’m thinking, but not saying, “Dude, I’m just as neurotic as you are! I totally get it!” Maybe I should say something.
Oh Heaven! It rears its head again, the wit of the staircase. This time, however, I’m glad I never said it.
I think I’ve shared enough with you right here, instead of broaching this issue in the heat of postgame interviews, and consequently killing the moment. The coaches and I will just collectively keep doing our jobs and rationalize our shared continuous improvement mindset.
I hope you’re enjoying my finished product as much as I hate it milliseconds after I hit “send.”
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