Gold Medals…What Are They Really Worth?
I recently moved houses and I’ve been working today on unpacking and organizing the last of my stuff. I came across some notebook pages from last year’s softball playoffs. Tomorrow I will play in this year’s playoffs (with a team whose final record was -1 and 17, ask me how that’s possible). In these pages I found something I had written during last year’s championship game between Budapest and Szentendre. I have to admit, it was pretty cool to read this after spending the last year getting to know these women as a part of this program. I know it’s a year later but I wanted to share it with you anyways. Here it is…
Today I spent my day at the National Softball Championships in Hungary. While that sounds impressive it’s really not that big of a deal. I was there as a scout for the National Team. It was a pretty typical day really. Me, sitting in my chair, freezing to death (because it’s October after all) watching game after game of softball. The gold medal game came down to Budapest (my once strongly disliked rivals who turned out to be pretty awesome girls) and Szentendre (the one team Érd beat this year). Both teams already have several girls on the National Team, including the pitchers from both teams. Csiga, a very fast and strong pitcher, and Madzag (Alexandra), not as fast but very good. This story is ultimately about Madzag. Madzag is, like I said, a very good pitcher. She struggles with mental toughness though. If things start to go bad she tends to fall apart. This was in danger of happening today. During a rough inning Madzag hit two batters in a row with two consecutive pitches. Never a good thing. The crowd, mostly made up of the other two teams in the tournament, and all people who love Madzag, jokingly began to boo her. Unfortunately, this was not something Madzag was prepared for. As I watched from my perch above the field her face began to flush and her lip began to quiver. Immediately, Petra (the catcher), called time out (she’s a smart girl). After a lengthy chat at the mound Madzag seemed a little better. Here’s when something cool happened. Bates, a player for the other team and one of the batters Madzag had hit, trotted in from second base. She spoke quickly to Madzag and within moments Madzag was laughing! She quickly got back to business and got out of the inning.
In the cutthroat world of competitive sports what I saw today doesn’t happen very often. If the opposing team’s pitcher is falling apart in the Gold medal game, most people are going to let her do it! That’s what makes softball here special, I think. These women ultimately love each other and want this sport to succeed. For them, it’s not about the trophy or even the title “national champion.” It’s about friendship and helping each other get better. It’s things like this that make me so grateful I’m a part of softball in Hungary.
