PLAYOFF MODE LIFESTYLE? MANAGE YOUR LOAD

What is playoff mode and why haven’t I heard it before this year’s NBA Playoffs?

Is it a mindset, a reminder for professional athletes to make a better effort?

Or, is it a marketing scheme by the league and networks to bring back viewers disappointed with ‘load management’ during the regular season?

The real question from boomerpdx: How do we manage our load?

When I was coming up in high school varsity sports the mantra was, “Play every minute like it’s your last.”

My teams weren’t very good. They had plenty of players who wished it was their last minute.

I was one of them.

There’s something about being on losing teams with unmotivated people that got to me.

I was ready to quit it all, but I took one last shot in a new sport.

Wrestling.

I was the first in the family to hit the mats.

If wrestling didn’t get the stench of losing off me from bad football and basketball teams, I was done.

Wrestling turned into my personal playoff mode.

It’s been a guiding light since my first preseason practice.

You could call it a playoff mode lifestyle. I do.

Lifting Others Lifts You Too

This is Eddie. We were sports buddies in the 1980’s.

He was a 49er fan, I cheered for the Cowboys.

We made bets on games, betting a run of Wild Turkey in airplane bottles.

He won more than I did. Thanks Danny White.

We also went to games.

The Dodgers played the Mariners in the Kingdome. We were there.

He’d seen the Dodgers when they played in Brooklyn. I got a kick out of that.

He was from Louisville and remembered seeing Cassius Clay as a young kid running around town.

We saw each other every day since we worked at the same place. His sports trivia game was strong and everyone knew it.

One year the staff gave him a birthday gift of Blazer tickets.

Blazers v Bulls with Michael Jordan. We went together.

What if that was a game Jordan didn’t play in for load management?

You’re laughing right?

Jordan didn’t miss many chances of sticking it to other teams.

This night was no exception.

Since Eddie was in his seventies, we usually left games early to avoid the rush. Besides, the game looked in hand for the Blazers.

We made our way out to the shuttle bus in the parking lot and heard the rest of the game on the driver’s radio.

Jordan and the Bulls made a comeback and won at the very end. While we sat in the bus.

Our playoff mode was winning the sports fan game, which meant not getting trampled in the mix.

Playoff Mode Every Day

As a blogger, a baby boomer blogger, every day is a playoff for finding readers, of trying to move people enough to leave a comment I can run with.

And every day is a personal referendum on the last and whether people can’t find me, don’t care to, or simply can’t read.

I’d get more traffic here if I were an insulting shit-slinger, but those aren’t the readers I seek.

In playoff mode, like now, my ideal reader sees a challenge and takes it up.

For example, yesterday I wrote a post aimed to motivate readers toward better fitness awareness.

A nature walk is one small step for man, a giant step for whoever needs it.

And, dear reader, we all need it.

But there are hurdles and distractions to getting out.

That’s where focus comes in.

What’s the difference between a nature walk and exercise? Can it be both?

I hear criticism for the way I walk: Head down and plowing along in stride, with pace.

Whether outdoors or inside on some treadmill, my focus is the same: hit the marks whether it’s time or distance.

Since it’s easier and more relaxing to find a comfy chair to park in, that’s the first obstacle.

If a body in motion tends to stay in motion, a body at rest is the same?

Americans walk less than people in any other industrialized country, preferring to sit in cars to get around. And at the end of the day, 80% of Americans don’t get enough exercise, according to the CDC.

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No one likes to think of themselves as fat and lazy. No. One.

Even if you’re fat and lazy, that’s not how you see yourself. Ask me how I know.

Is it fair game to attack people based on their looks? How about not attacking anyone for anything. Let’s start there.

Instead, find a way to work it out.

You’re unhappy with your life? The solution is Playoff Mode.

Job sucks? Playoff Mode.

Your health took a turn for the worse? Playoff Mode.

Reset your time priorities to include more activities.

Being more active, getting outside, exposes you to new things, new people, and maybe, just maybe, a little fun.

Do you remember fun? It’s spelled ‘F. U. n.’

If you look in the mirror and think, ‘F. U.’, go ahead and add that ‘n’ at the end.

“But, Dave, my life is such a rollercoaster that it’s all I can do to hang on.”

To you I say: A rollercoaster is a ride that’s supposed to be fun. That’s what we buy the ticket for. It’s also terrifying, spectacular, jarring, all of it in two minutes.

Your life is a rollercoaster, an octopus, and rock-o-plane. Guess what, so is everyone else’s.

Instead of hanging on with a death grip, why not surrender to the thrill and let the new ride sensation shake the doldrums out?

Winning In Playoff Mode

This is Nike:

Nike is the Greek goddess of victory, both in regards to war and friendly competition. She is often associated with Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, and Zeus, the king of the Gods.

Due to her close relationship with both, she became their divine charioteer and is often depicted as such.

My takeaway? Nike drives the bus, not just a passenger.

Like you and I and everyone you like spending time with, Nike has her hand on the wheel.

But we forget we can change directions, change course, as we hurtle through each day.

We take comfort in saying, “that’s just how things are, how they’ve always been.”

Do you take comfort with that, or do you see something else?

I see Playoff Mode for you. For you, and the people who look up to you.

Now you say, “But Dave, no one looks up to me.”

I say you’re wrong and looking for a reason to stay put.

Last word: I was in Paris with my wife walking around town like a good tourist. We looked at everything in front of us, behind us, beside us. It was exhausting in a whole new way and we kept at it.

The highlight was when someone asked my wife for directions as if she were a local.

And she knew right where they were going and how to get them there.

It was a little thing to be thought of as a local, but it confirmed one thing to me:

My girl was driving the bus. Does that make her a goddess?

Yes it does.