A good miss

I love big sporting events. The Olympics, the World Cups, the Championships, the Grand Slams, the Masters… you name it! But I enjoy just as much the smaller events and qualifying rounds which lead up to them. It is often in these preliminaries that I find my favourite players and teams to root for. And they have one quality in common – they make more good misses.

 

What do I mean by a good miss? Of course, I want my favourite players and teams to score better than the opponents and win, so I do not want them to make any misses. But they are humans and cannot make perfect shots all the time. In fact, I find that in most sports the majority of shots are misses. I define a good miss to be a failed attempt to score, but with the best of efforts and intentions. In other words, a good idea that just did not manifest.

 

I like seeing good misses just as much as successful shots.

Maybe because I see something special in them – they could be a result of something no one has ever thought of doing, a breakthrough which could change the way the game is played.

Maybe because I see a huge potential – they could be a result of talent in development, and in time I will see the level of game brought up to a new height.

Maybe because, even without anything special and prospective, I see good faith – they could be a result of their passion for the game and their persistent desire to be better at it.

 

I think that, if the majority of shots are going to be misses, the players and teams with more good misses will more likely be the winner. After all, a win is a win, no matter how ugly it is! But even if they lose, I am certain they will have more to take away from their loss. Good misses remain in the memories of fans and opponents, with hopes and fear, respectively, that they will not be misses the next time.

 

So, as I watch the smaller events and qualifying rounds leading up to the big sporting events in the coming months, I look for good misses in players and teams. And at the same time, I ask myself, have I been making good misses in my life? Because the chances are, if I am not getting to the big events of my field, I am not making enough shots that I can define as good misses.

 

Best of luck to all of us who make good misses!