Great moments in Sports Psychology...

What's all this buzz-i-ness? Or, what's everyone talking about, the "Breaking News!" du jour? A lead-in to a "Sports Psychology" talk I gave recently began with a crowd catcher (see the tie-in to b-ball already?)...the story of a twelve-year-old girl who indicates that..."I sacrificed quite a bit, deferring some social activities with my friends but, as a result, was able to, after some preliminary rounds, end up on ESPN Live!" Guesses ranged from gymnastics to tennis and the more relatable to this mini-series..."Little League World Series!" -- good guess, given that particular year featured a female pitcher, often dominating from the mound, over male peers, peering out from the plate...

Truth be told: A scene that rivaled that of an earlier series entitled "Wide World of Sports" whose buy-in line "The thrill of victory...to the agony of defeat..." was that particular year, while found while dialing into ESPN Live! featured a different venue altogether..."The National Spelling Bee Final!" Being an avid watcher of this annual rite ("is there an alternate definition, pronunciation, language of origin...😕?" queries the participant of the perennial picayune person judging them...) I came to first understand, then appreciate what the pre-teen referred to, what it took to get all the way here, having actively repressed (big verb, action in psych. field) the word I spelled incorrectly that got me bounced out (starting to see how action packed, all the verb forms...?) after just a few rounds in my local school...and why, it ("Scripps....") scripted this to land on ESPN (which has also been aired by CNN, ABC, most recently, 2024, "ION")-- given all the thrills, spills, twists and turns, rule changes over the years (which now have us seeing some highly nuanced attempts at finger writing on the back of their identifying contestant number)...aspirations, perspirations (the latter more by the parents in audience😓)...reflecting many relatable "mainstream" sports experiences as well as those that are only featured every four years...

Trials and Tribute-nations: So similar in tone and emphasis...the outtake of the 12 year-old who..."despite all the sacrifice....preparations....came up short" but went on to..."wouldn't change it for the world, no regrets...." In just a few weeks this scene will play out both way out west as well as in the mid....do I have to spell it out for you...

O-l-y-m-p-i-c Trials: I can hardly wait for the (above ground) pool to be unveiled (more or less, depending on the weather in Indy, given the retractable roof in Lucas Oil Stadium) and to see the perspiring "track and field" Olympian aspirants (any coincidence how many antiperspirant, body spray commercials also make an appearance?), the ones that the Brits still collectively refer to as "Athletics", the trials of which will be held, almost simultaneously with all the "different strokes for different folks" in the pools -- there will be a two practice/"warm-up" pools almost adjacent, further veiled from most viewers by a tarp almost adjacent to the ten lane Olympic competition pool -- residing in the middle of the (football) field...whereas the "Athletic athletes" will also compete in an outdoor stadium, Hayward Field, situated on University of Oregon's campus. Who are the most qualified to represent our country just about a month after is still anyone's guess, but at least we, the viewing audience, will not have to contend with face-to-face arguments about whether surf or turf produces the most proficient athletes, thanks to the those charged with arranging, organizing, and choreographing such trials...

"Try Me" As in "Did ya' know...?" Fun OT fact, other-wise nice co-incidence, given my interest in "The Trials" as well as my ongoing mini-series on b-ball...that baseball first appeared as an "Un-official" sport in the Paris Games in 1900, becoming "Official" in 1992...there you have it... 

A-waiting: The results from the trials? Well, in the meantime, I'll return to how this b-u-z-z business, came to Bee...as well as the two-sided definition of what sure sounds the same (homonymous-ly speaking): "Spelling rules"😕 


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