Passionate Players Make Sports Writing Fun

Column from the Sunday News

It has been a very productive season thus far for the El Dorado Lady Cats. Two tournaments have produced six victories and two championships. El Dorado has been successful six of the eight times it has taken the floor.

Last Saturday in Searcy was not one of the bright spots. The Lady Cats made the three-hour trek up north and played their worst game of the season in an embarrassing 47-36 loss.

El Dorado shot just 25 percent in the game and made just 1-of-23 from 3-point range.

Sunday afternoon, just a few hours after the disappointing loss, Kristian Tester, El Dorado’s sophomore guard, was back in the gymnasium. That’s not a big deal for Tester, who was also in the gym the next day after El Dorado’s win over Watson Chapel earlier in the season. Tester is in the gym pretty much every Sunday.

This time, however, it was a little different. The team had just lost a game. Tester is not used to losing games.

She picked up a basketball and began to shoot. She shot and she shot and she shot. She shot free throws, 3-pointers, right- and left-hand layups. She replayed the game in her mind and worked on all the shots she had missed. She thought about all the plays she could have made and all the plays she should have made.

For two hours, which was longer than the game itself, she was in the gym shooting the basketball, replaying the game.

She would eventually get tired. Her legs were still sore from the game the night before. Her vision was blurred because she had kept her contact lenses in too long. And, she was getting a little hungry.

Still, she stepped to the free throw line. She could not leave before she made 8-of-10 free throws. Shooting 80 percent at the line is her rule for herself. Two times she made seven, just missing her goal. She would slam the ball down, then shoot 10 more. Finally, she made her 8-of-10 free throws.

Still, she could not leave. Now, she had to make 10 3-pointers. Again, this is her rule for herself. She moved around the circle, draining shots from all over the court. She got hot and began to call out the threes before they went into the basket.

After making a couple in a row, she released the next one, holding her left hand in the air and announcing, “that’s number nine,” moments before the shot tickled the twine. She quickly hit her 10 3-pointers, and then shot a few more just for the heck of it.

Finally, she put the ball back on the rack, turned off the lights and walked out of the gym.

I write this column not because I think everybody should be in the gym two hours every Sunday. The Lady Cats had played a hard game Saturday night and did not get home until very late. They would no doubt have a very hard practice on Monday with an angry coach cracking the whip.

Taking a day off might have been a wiser thing for Tester to do.

But you know, there are a few athletes who are so darn stubborn, they don’t know when to say when. They don’t know they need to rest. They think they can play all day.

I write this column as a salute to all of those athletes who love to compete. I write this column as a salute to all the athletes who are too small, too slow, too un-athletic and yet are too determined, too competitive and too proud to realize it.

In the sports world today, the main topic is of the overpaid athlete. But what about guys like Troy Aikman, who just want to play one more year despite everyone telling him he should retire? What about guys like Emmitt Smith, who wants to win so bad, he cannot bring himself to walk away after a losing season?

I write this column as a salute to all the youngsters and oldsters in this area who inspire me. Just when I think my passion for sports and sports writing is starting to go away, I see something that makes me remember why I do what I do. I see someone alone in a gym, shooting a basketball until their legs are sore and their eyes ache. And even then, they still have to shoot, “just a couple more shots.”

Those types of people are the reason I love sports. People with a passion for the game, who play just to play, are what make my job fun. Those people are a throw back to my generation. That’s why I used to play.

I guess that’s why whenever Kristian Tester cannot find anyone else to shoot with her, she calls me. I guess that’s why, no matter how good the football game I’m watching is, I end up at the gym rebounding the ball and throwing it back to her.

The passion never dies. Even when the legs are sore, even after a disappointing loss, even when you’re old and fat, the passion remains.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, thanks. Thanks to all of the people who make my job fun. Thanks to all of the coaches, who pour their heart and soul into every game. Thanks to all of the fans, who support the schools. Thanks to all of the student-athletes, who could be doing something a lot easier.

And, for Kristian Tester, who turned to me and said, “thanks for coming,” as she headed home Sunday, I say, “No, thank you.”

(Tony Burns writes columns from El Dorado.)