Sixth Man Part 1 (maybe)

So I was trying to put into words a title that represents a philosophy of athletics that is both honorable before God and yet indicative of a desire to perform at peak potential. My wife came up with Sixth Man. The Sixth Man is the player you want to be if you sit the bench. I sat the bench sometimes and would think to myself..."Self, it would sure be nice to just be the first guy off this bench into the game. I mean, the starters have to tire sooner or later."

Take the NBA for instance. Manu Ginobli off the bench? Or in Orlando, Hedo Turkoglu off the bench? Whatever man, those guys are starters masquerading as bench players. The Sixth Man brings energy though and lots of it. If you're the Lakers, last year the bench mob was like a sixth man of sorts. Jordan Farmar, Rony Turiaf, Sasha Vujacic and whoever else they mixed in with those guys played like they were shot out of canon.

What's the point? The Sixth Man should give you the depth you need to assume a position of advantage in a contest. So then figuratively speaking, the sixth man for any athlete or person, for that matter, is ... drum roll... "CHARACTER". Character is forged from myriad characteristics like courage, poise, integrity, preparation, faith, devoutness, genuine piety, humility and about a thosuand other things. Here's a ready example. You are UCLA playing 18th ranked Tennessee in your home openeer. We're talking football now. If you lose, so what. If you win, wow, you did it with your third string quarterback and a brand new head coach. So the sixth man is integrity and an insatiable desire for perfection. YOU DECIDE that it would not honor God if you didn't give your best effort and you resolve to expose the fact that Tennessee is not playing like a ranked team tonight. So you abandon whatever excuses you were going to make, play defense and win in overtime when the Volunteers miss the field goal to tie. The Sixth Man won that game for UCLA and it wins games for you when you understand that there is always an advantage. The sixth man is perspective and wherewithal. It is housed in the realization that you need others as much as they need you and that you cannot excel alone. It is also defined by taking your eyes off obstacles and analyzing the task in front of you. Do you have sixth man?