The Pressures Of Playing In A Big Market City
There are so many challenges that come with being a goaltender, especially when you are playing in a city that is a big market one. Usually there is a deep history with the club, and the people in the city often have a lot of experience in judging each and every soul that passes through:)
With society ever changing with the world of the internet and social media as the main source of communication, this is only amplified 1000X over. It has become all to easy to plaster your thoughts and disaproval of something or someone and get it out to not just one person anymore. And with that recipe, people’s views can change in an instant. One minute you are the best thing that has happened to the team, and the next minute you can actually be the worst. And as everyone knows bad news travels WAY faster than good news, it’s just how it is.
Back to the world of the big market team….
I haven’t talked about my good friend Jack Campbell and his season this year in public, but I’m going to now.
Jack has been through a lot the past couple of seasons, actually, he has battled through so much for many years now. And as I look back to the years we were in LA together and see how far he has come…. man, it is inspiring. There isn’t a more deserving person to have his or her life be everything they would like. But through our time together, he has learned that the bumps in the road will always surface from time to time. He also knows now, that none of the down times that come from these bumps, determine who he is as a person. I believe that he knows how good he is as a goaltender, and I also know that he knows how good he can be. Also, over time he has learned and continues to learn how to deal with these ups and downs.
Having said that, we are all human and have slips and lulls. Even the best in the world have these challenges. The margin that separates the great from the good is really quite small. It’s just that the great ones have really figured out how to manage and deal with the down times, allowing them to bounce back quickly.
I truly believe that these ups and downs that Jack has had to deal with, is going to be a great learning tool, and is going to make him even stronger. But I’m not gonna lie, dealing with and learning from these challenges can be ultra difficult when you play for a big market team. Well, at least this what we tell ourselves.
The truth is, yes, it can be a bit crazy in some of these big market cites, but we are the ones that put the value on what people say about us. Whether it’s one person’s comment on Twitter, or if it’s 500,000 comments, we have the power to decide how it affects us. I like to call this outside s**t White Noise:) And I remind Jack and others that that is all it is.
In closing, to all the people that jumped off the bandwagon after Soupy had a bad month or so… Soup is still the same person as the Vezina candidate/All Star that he was midseason. He is just doing his best to figure it out, straighten the ship and get back to flashing’ the leather the way I know he can. If you are truly die hard fans, I think it would be awesome for you to stay on board and support your goalie, cause I know he’s gonna give it everything he’s got.
Hell, I’m even rooting for the Leafs, cause I want to support Soup! ;)
Peace to you all!
Dusty Imoo