Six Seconds

     Over Christmas break, I was watching one of the less exciting college football bowl games: the Liberty Bowl. The game ended in a 31-24 victory for the Cincinnati Wildcats over the Vanderbilt Commodores. Something interesting that had caught my eye was a hand signal that was used by the players, coaches, and fans of the Commodores. They held up the middle finger, pointer finger, and thumbs of both hands in the air. One of the commentators proceeded to explain that this hand gesture was to represent six seconds, the average time a football play lasts. The signal was a reminder that the players just had to focus on the next six seconds.
     A further explanation can be seen in a quotation by Vanderbilt's first year head coach James Franklin, who came up with the "six seconds" theme around the Vanderbilt football program.

"Visualize yourself making successful plays. Don't save anything. This is the last one. At the end of the game you should be exhausted. Leave it all out on the field. Let's play with poise, let's outwork them, and most importantly, let's out-execute them. Let's play smart, sound football. Focus on Vanderbilt, six seconds at a time. You don't have to be great for 60 minutes, you have to be great for six seconds at a time. The best football you got." 

      This idea of "six seconds" has been a theme in the Benedictine College football program as well. In each of the meeting rooms of the football facility, there are two signs posted. One of them list the four goals for the team bottom line, the second of which is "BE A 6 SECOND COMPETITOR". The second sign reads the following: "1 play at a time. All your energy, focus, and concentration on that one play. After it's over, you have 100% focus on the next play."
     This is truly one of the best advantages of being an athlete. We are able to focus all of our effort and energy on one thing, then after that play, being able to focus all of our effort and energy on the next thing. This does not necessarily pertain to sports. Athletes can use this in many aspects of our lives. For example, let's look at everyone's favorite time of year: finals week. Using these beliefs in this time, we are able to study as hard as we can for one test, and after that test, we reset and focus on the next test, and this process continues until they are finished.
   This is the catch of using this theory: no outcome is guaranteed. Just because one uses all of his or her effort and energy on the upcoming challenge or test does not mean that it will be successful. That being said, if one puts ALL of his or her effort and energy into whatever you are doing, success will be the result more often than not. If we all try as hard as we can at something, especially in a way that serves our Lord, there is no way we can fail.