Category Archives: Sport

May 5, 2020 · 2:04 pm

He’s Out! – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

dVerse Poets – Quadrille

Lillian at dVerse has invited us to write a quadrille (44 words) on – silly.

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Photo: Found on Flickr

I played cricket at school and club cricket for a short time, backyard was my best game 🙂 The photo shows a fielder evading the ball, for good reason! The fielder is at silly mid-on.

Rough notes: An over is six consecutive deliveries bowled to a batsman. A maiden over is an over where the batsman makes no score. A googly is a deceptive delivery (off-spin instead of leg-spin). Stumped means the batsman is out by means of the wicket-keeper claiming the wicket while the batsman is out of his crease or safe zone. Slip is a fielding position behind the batsman. Square leg is just behind where silly mid-on is shown in the photo, sometimes known as suicide position.

 

“I understand cricket – what’s going on, the scoring – I can’t understand why.”  Bill Bryson

He’s Out!

The man with the ball
was exemplary,
bowling a maiden over,
the batsman was stumped
when he missed the googly,
the man at silly mid-off
was battered and bruised,
like the few in the slips,
while the one at short leg
cried, he’s out!

©Paul Vincent Cannon

Paul, pvcann.com

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June 11, 2018 · 3:26 pm

Stay in the Game

Crestfallen – Word of the Day

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(Photo: radiotimes.com) Andy Murray not winning Wimbeldon.

One of Murray’s comments: “It’s not the end of the world to lose.”

Losing a game can leave us crestfallen, disappointed, whether it be tennis, soccer, Zelda or Monopoly. A natural response if you’ve invested everything on winning your game. If you aim at winning, if you want to win, and you lose, then disappoinment is a likely outcome, otherwise you really didn’t invest very much in winning in the first place. Unrealistic expectations, perfectionism, overconfidence, fear of failure, can all lead to disappointment too.

There are different types of disappointment. I’ve already mentioned losing, then there’s getting what you want and not enjoying it, and there’s the not knowing what you really want.

You have to get back in the game.

If you stay in that place of feeling crestfallen you will be miserable. If the feelings aren’t acknowledged and owned there will be little movement forward, and depending on the disappointment there may be periods of anger, grief, sulking, despondency, depression, self-criticism, blaming (all the usual supects) … If you respond passively you’ll give up.

Andy Murray won the Men’s Singles title at Wimbeldon in 2013, and did it again in 2016, which shows that if you persist and reorient, you can achieve your goal. If you fall off the horse you need to get back on and have another go. However, if there’s no horse handy then:-

  • Acknowledge your feelings (talk to someone, journal, reflect).
  • Adjust your expectations (make changes, consult, revision).
  • Revise your plans (rechart your approach).
  • Have a contingency or backup plan.
  • Be mindful in your responses (meditate).
  • Acknowledge that disappointment is normal and can be a time of learning.
  • Above all be kind to yourself.

Some quotes I really like around the subject of disappointment:

“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Friedrich Nietzsche

“Life is like phtotography. We develop from the negatives.” (motivational-well-being.com)

And, from Elena No Brainer:-

Paul,

pvcann.com

 

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