Team Chemistry

The Cougars played in two matches last night and were awarded silver medals in each.  You might assume the Cougars would be happy just to make the medal stand.  

Not so.

In a study completed in the 1990's, psychologists showed that athletes who won the bronze medal were much happier with their success than those athletes who won the silver medal.  The middle medalists were more frustrated because they had missed the gold while the winners of the bronze were just pleased to be honored.

Really?  Bronze isn't even on the element chart.  It is just a mixture of copper and tin.  The bronze medal is basically recycled tin cans and obsolete pennies.

Because there were only two teams on the field, it seems the psychologists' math would indicate that we would have been happier had we not played at all.  

Not true.  We love to compete and channel our inner Zeus.

In our doubleheader, we were competing against the teams with the two best records in the league.

The evening could have easily become the Laff-A-Lympics.  

Instead, the Cougars knew it would take a Herculean effort and we came out battling like Greek gods.  While we lost the opening contest 16-9 to Miller Time and we were defeated 16-12 by Timeless in the nightcap, what the final scores don't reflect is that in each game we kept it tight and even held the lead for an inning or two.

Like the current gymnastic Olympians, softball is a team sport that is performed individually.  A team sport that is won and lost together while individuals strive for their personal best.

The most important thing a team needs is chemistry.

In fact, with the playoffs starting next week our laboratory will be on the diamond.  We are going to make an electric charge up the periodic table and grab the AU once again.