Three strikes
Three strikesThree Strikes
Anyone, who knows me well, knows for a fact that I have a short temper on the tennis court. Last spring at the boys tennis league tournament this short temper became clearly evident in a quick flash of primal rage. I had made it to the second round of the tournament and discovered that my next opponent was someone who had been a long time rival of mine, his name was Jason Woo.
I took a long look at the tournament draw sheet, which was a list of all of the players and the matches. I soon realized that if I were to beat my rival Jason, I could easily breeze my way into the fourth round, thus qualifying for county tournament. The match started off well, we were both evenly matched. I won my serve and he also held his. Finally I was able to break his serve and bring the score to 6-5. All I needed to do was hold my serve in the next game, and I would win the first set. Unfortunately I lost my serve and two games later I found myself in a tiebreak for the first set. I had been getting caught on the left side of the court and had pushed four returns out of bounds. During the tiebreak I played like I was blind. The pressure really started to bother me, and I was missing shots that I normally make easily. I lost the tiebreak for the first set 7 – 2, a pathetic performance for a match that had been so close in the beginning. The second set started with a quick loss of the first two games. I was now down 0 – 2 in the second set, and was starting to lose my concentration. My two hundred-dollar racket had been thrown to the ground at least twice, and my mother was ready to kill me. One last serve from Jason was all it took to turn me into an irrational beast, much like the incredible hulk. I threw my racket into the fence and shouted “FUCK” at the top of my lungs. I was given a warning faster than the speed of light from a coach who was standing outside the fence. My usual retort to being issued a warning is to smile and snap snide thank you. But for some reason this time was different. The pressure of the situation and my rage overcame my usually sane thought process. Instead of the smile, I turned around whispered “BITE ME” under my breath. Little did I know that my whisper wasn’t much of a whisper, and the coach quickly gave me another warning, this was my second warning. This meant I had lost a point, but this was the last point in that game so I ended up losing yet another game. I turned to the coach who had given me the two warnings and sarcastically shouted “THANK YOU.” I was then given a third and final warning. Once someone earns their third warning the player automatically forfeits the match. Even though the match was now technically over, Jason requested that I stay and finish playing with him. Needless to say I lost the second set thus losing the match.
My anger in this situation was to an extent necessary, but my reacting in the way that I did was totally uncalled for. I let the pressure get to me, and at the time I didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with it. In thinking about it now it was absurd of me to react the way I did. I was obviously too immature at the time and needed some way to vent my frustration. Getting angry is the only method of venting that I could think of.
Anger is something that may be necessary on certain occasions, but only under certain circumstances. Trivial things, such as sporting events, school work, and not getting your way, are among the many popular situations that many people get excessively angry over. However all of the above situations, could have been prevented. Anger is necessary only when an individual has no control over the circumstances. Wars, theft, murder, terminal illness, and natural disasters are all things that I believe someone can become rightfully angry at. Anger accomplishes nothing, it only serves to cloud the mind and cause someone to act without thinking of the immediate and long-term consequences.
Looking back on my behavior during the tennis match, I realize that I must have looked ridiculous and immature. Had I been able to calm myself down, I might have come back to win the match and win my way into the counties. I now understand my mistakes and am working hard to calm my on-court temper. Maybe one day I will be put in the same situation and this time emerge from it successfully.