Attention to detail and focus is more vital now for all 64 teams in the NCAA than it has been at any point this season. All teams are faced with a challenge in which elimination is inevitable with one error or lackluster effort. That is why this time of college basketball is called March Madness.Every team has a single and equal opportunity to prove itself as the champion of college basketball. Each individual athlete in the tournament will do whatever it takes to get the best effort out of himself.
Some will spend countless hours meditating in front of lockers while others will bounce around building adrenaline from personal iPods containing their forms of inspirational music. In essence, all realize the importance of the games.
Musician Eminem has lyrics that state, “You only get one shot do not let your chances blow, opportunity comes once in a lifetime, you better lose yourself in the moment.”
Opportunity is a special privilege that rarely visits one’s lifetime. I have found that opportunity seems to create more apprehension than it does optimism. I often found myself quite nervous early in my athletic career, but became ready and eager to seize any opportunity at success that I was given later in my career.
Self-confidence, self-preparation, and a positive outlook are always the first and most important battles to achieve when faced in a challenge. Too much energy is often applied in doubting and expounding on the what-ifs and the possible negatives of an opportunity, and before we realize the same opportunity is gone for someone else to pursue. A courageous and resilient approach is necessary in order to seek and conquer opportunities.
To be claimed champion of the NCAA tournament, a team must win six consecutive games. One loss will end any team’s goal and opportunity of being a champion.
There is no time for hesitation or intimidation of the circumstance. Pressure is common in conquering opportunities, but it is up to whomever is involved to either overcome or succumb to it. For teams like Binghamton, Robert Morris and Cleveland State, opportunity does not matter if you are the underdog to success. Opportunity wants to crown someone a champion that cherishes what is at stake. Vince Lombardi was a legendary NFL coach who won five championships and believed in the value of seizing opportunities. The team that becomes champion of this special opportunity must buy into Lombardi’s famous quote. “Winning is not everything, it is the only thing.”
Indeed the pressure of opportunities may seem overwhelming, but it is the success and thriving of it that makes the feeling much sweeter. I witness and hear of great achievements by people like Barack Obama and Michael Phelps, and note that I, along with everyone else, is not immune to such achievements. Opportunity success is merely a possession of potential that we choose to express or ignore. The teams in the NCAA basketball tournament have no choice but to cherish this opportunity; hence, opportunities do not come often.
