On the Adrenaline Rush

As I’ve talked about countless times, I was born and raised on competitive sports. I was playing tee ball as soon as I could throw and I never looked back. I spent an unbelievable amount of weekday afternoons all over Southern California playing baseball. The thing is, I don’t think there was a single second where I or anyone I played with looked like the kind of kid who could one day make the major leagues (or even the minor leagues). It didn’t matter though, because good, bad, or terrible, when you stepped into that batter’s box or onto the mound, with the team behind you and the game on the line, you felt the same rush that any MLB player does in that situation. It’s a feeling I’ve searched for in everything I do, and I think I may have finally found it as an adult.

Yesterday, my dad and I played in our very first golf tournament together. We both knew that our odds of winning were low. Even though neither of us is a bad golfer, we somehow got placed into the top flight, which meant we were playing with guys who were infinitely better than us. “Oh well,” we thought. “That just means we can play free and easy,” we told ourselves.

The day arrived and wouldn’t you guess it, we were both sick. I was on the last legs of a cold and poor Steve was right in the throes of that same cold. “Maybe this could be our Michael Jordan flu game,” I thought. We got there early to warm up…only to find the driving range closed for Monday maintenance. Okay, no problem. Everyone else is dealing with the same thing. Thankfully I had a weighted club thingy called an Orange Whip that’s perfect for warming up…that is until two swings into my warmup, the head FLIES off it and into the tree next to me disappearing forever. Definitely not an ominous sign…definitely not.

Our playing partners teed off first and being the seasoned pros they were, didn’t have the slightest hint of nerves, although the 9:50 am beers might have helped them with that. Steve hit next and put one right next to the fairway. That just left me, with the rest of the group watching, along with the starter, and the tournament organizer, and no warmup swings, and a nose full of snot, and lungs full of phlem.

When I tell you my heart started pumping over this tee shot that meant almost LITERALLY nothing… I cannot stress how important my nervous system thought it was. That feeling though, that rush of adrenaline, when something is on the line, even if it’s just pride or made-up points or a few measly bucks, it came roaring back, and OH how I missed it. You better believe me when I tell you that I absolutely smashed that drive right down the middle and pretended like I wasn’t the slightest bit nervous.

I wish I could tell you that from that point on, we channeled the powers of two sick-Michael-Jordans and tore through our competition like wet paper…but we didn’t. In fact, we came in dead last place! But god DAMN did I have a fun time doing it. And I’m looking forward to doing it again soon!

What’s something you do or have done that gets your adrenaline flowing and that feeling of RUSH going?