The Fifth Player
November 1, 2001 found my team at a local pub that was new to the league. The people from the team were not really new to us but the pub itself was different. The team we were playing was probably the worst team in the league. We, however, have proved that we can play to the level of the team that we play against. We play great against good team and pooorly against bad teams.
Once again we were living up to this characteristic of our team. We came in hoping for the best and even so we were winning we were not playing well at all. So we were winning but each of us were playing far below of our capabilities. Of course winning the games were nice but we like to play to our own level. Game after game we had won at the end but with the team we were playing we should have been blowing them away right from the beginnning of each game. Lonnie and I had lost, what ended up the only losing game of the night, and that should not have happened. The games we won were at the last moment or we just stayed a little a head of the other team. We were not happy or having fun playing the game. That is the most important part of playing, having fun. It is hard to have fun when you play so far below your level. It is one thing to lose to another team that is better than you, it is another to win but doing it in an ugly manner.
It was during, I think, the fifth game of the night that I asked for help. Now only Lonnie knows of this sense I game him a ride home and told him of what I did. I asked God for his help. I said, "I know you have much more improtant things going on than our dart game, but if it is something you wish to do please open the door and help us to play as we can. If you don't want then please slam that door shut and I would surely understand." Now sitting in a bar I could surely understand if God wanted nothing to do with my call for help but to my pleasure the next dart thrown hit the mark and the rest of the night went well. It was not just my throwing but the team as a whole. Not all dart hit the marks we aimed at but we threw more like ourselves and I saw a definate improvement of our attitude. We were hitting our marks and more importantly began having a more enjoyable night. So I wish to tell our team that we had a fith palyer this evening who helped us to start playing the game we can and helped us to enjoy having a good evening.
Eleven out of twelve games is a good night and we began to achieve at our abilities, so good going team. For now I will wish all the readers a good night and come back soon to find out how Lonnie started out throwing darts at an old lady and then began to help her retreave her darts. Nice job Lonnie.
Hit the Bulls Always,
Dave