I am an avid baseball fan, particularly of the AZ Diamondbacks. Last year, just days before the 2007 season started, I found myself on the phone with Christy Walker, my good friend (and fellow D-backs fan) speaking about our excitement about the coming season for our team. She mentioned that she participated in "Fantasy Baseball" and that they were holding a draft at her house that very evening. She told me that their league was full, but that there might be opportunity for me to manage a team in 2008. A couple of hours later, I received a last-minute call from her stating that one person had backed out, that a spot had opened up for 2007, and that they were beginning to draft their teams in 15 minutes.
Many of you may not be familiar with fantasy baseball. In a nutshell, you can join a public league or create your own with a bunch of friends, and you compete each week, head-to-head against another manager and their line-up. During the draft, you may select your team from both the NL (National League) and AL (American League (boo)), and the object is to pick your best team (aka. "fantasy team") and to manage your line-up in offensive and pitching categories. You score a win by having better stats in each category than your opponent. Standings are then determined by your win-to-loss ratio against the rest of the league. Just as in real baseball, managers can drop or add players and can negotiate trades with other managers to help their team improve.
I added that explanation above, because when I received the call from Christy I had NO IDEA what the object was or how to select my team. In fact, as a fan of the National League and specifically of the Diamondbacks, I hadn't ever heard of most of the professional baseball players out there. Without any guidance from Christy (because she clearly just needed a warm body and wanted me to lose), I turned to my best friend, Google. In the search box, I entered "fantasy cheat sheet" and the rest is baseball history. I (humbly) dominated the entire season, beating my opponent 87.3% of the time. By the time the playoffs came, I had an unsurmountable lead over the league, and my team had lived up to the name I chose for them at the beginning of the season: "Shock and Awe".
Then the playoffs came.
During the first two rounds, all appeared to be on track, but half way through the semi-finals my guys stopped hitting, stopped pitching, stopped producing entirely. Fortunately, my opponent during that week had a worse team so I beat him and made it to the finals.
Then the finals... I was poised for an epic battle against my friend, Christy. The "Christyville Sluggers" were 23.5 games behind me in the standings, and I had beaten them steadily all year. I felt pretty confident that I could continue my total domination and crush her team once more. It was my Samson vs. Philistines moment, and I, like Samson, was blissfully unaware that "the Lord had departed" from me (see Judges 16:20). How's that for dramatic?
Four of my best players got hurt and went on the DL (Disabled List for injured players), and, with my limited line-up and with trading closed during the playoffs, I was forced to ride out the season to its bitter end in defeat. Christy beat me. No excuses. I lost.
The point is... It doesn't matter how you begin the race, but rather IT'S HOW YOU FINISH THAT COUNTS. This is especially true in our walk with Christ. We're called to persevere in the marathon we run. This is not a sprint.
It might be said by some that I tend to be a little on the competitive side. Others will not be so reserved and will tell you that I am ultra-competitive... I hate to lose.
Fast forward through the off-season of "smack talk" I received frequently from Christy to today, during the 2008-09 season. Having learned (I hope) a lesson in humility (and losing... new to me), I have refined my strategy (which I cannot divulge for fear Christy will steal it), and have won 8 of the first 9 weeks of the season against my opponents. I currently rank #1 in our league and am ahead by 4 games over the only manager to beat me this year.
This week, I'm matched up against none other than... you guessed it... The Christyville Sluggers, and am hoping that I can continue my run in first as I plow right through her to victory. How's that for transparent?
