Focus Friend
Twisting and turning,
Sweat falling like rain,
They move and they drill,
Ignoring all pain.
No complaints or whining,
Or showing up late,
The battle cry...
To go to the "State."
The windows are fogged,
The heat rising high,
I hope I make weight,
I pray for a bye.
I picture the glory,
My hand held up high,
I run to my coach,
My mom breathes a sigh.
Shook from my daydream,
My partner jumps in,
Train hard and get focused, friend,
Or I'm going to win!
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t;
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost;
For out in the world you’ll find
Success begins with a fellows will.
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise;
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.
- Author Unknown
When a wrestler walks onto the mat, he stands alone. No one will run interference, no one will pass him the ball when they are under the net. No one will catch a deep fly ball if he threw that slow change-up high and outside.
In other sports where individual scores are kept, the contest is determined in time, distance and height. In wrestling, the score is kept on a grappler's ability to overcome an opponent in a hand-to-hand contest where any second, at any time, can mean a loss or a win. If an opponent gains an advantage, there will be no help, no substitutes; there will not be a time out and all can be lost in a second. Yes, the wrestler stands alone.
From the spectators standpoint, attention is focused on two competitors; not from 100 yards away, as in some sports, but, in most bouts, just a few feet away. Every move can be seen, every act detected. A failure in endurance, in technique or a lapse of concentration will be spotlighted. There is no place on a wrestling team for the lazy, the showoff, the half-hearted or the poor sportsman. When the whistle blows, wrestlers put their ability, determination and courage on the mat.
Wrestling is a tough, hard sport, and like life, it is survival of the fittest. The athletes that enter and stay with wrestling know this. The wrestler knows that when his match comes, he shakes his opponent's hand and the whistle blows . . .
By Milt Sherman
