Onward
We had this conversation before tryouts."You have to be the best goalie at tryouts, and they may still not take you," I said. "I'm getting a funny vibe from this coach."
"Me, too," Eli 16.10 said. "I think the decision may already be made, and it won't matter how I play."
"As long as you're the best, I'm strangely okay with that," I said.
He laughed. "What do you mean?"
"If you're the best, and they don't take you, it's on them," I said. "It will just be a ripoff. I'd rather have that happen than you wondering about what else you could have done."
"I get that," he said. Then he proceeded to be the best goalie, easily, in tryouts, and got ripped off.
We talked again the afternoon that they posted the team.
"I'm going to use a timeless bit of wisdom that I learned from Major League Fishing," I said (seriously, we watch that show every week, and it's hypnotic).
He laughed.
"Remember last week when the guy was fishing a stretch of water, and he wasn't getting much action and probably should have moved, but he was still getting a bite here and there?"
"I do," he said.
"He said 'I know I ain't doin' it right, but I'm doin' just enough to keep doin' it.' That's exactly how I felt about this program--they weren't quite the right fit, and it wasn't the best development environment, and they didn't really appreciate you, but--"
"It was just good enough to keep doing it," he said.
"That's right," I said. "So now we can't keep doing it. Now we get to find something better."
"I like that," he said.
"So do I," I said, "and we're only going to only focus on two things: an environment where you can get better fastest, and a place where you'll genuinely be appreciated."
"Agreed," he said.
"This hurts right now," I said, "but it's the best thing that could have happened for you."
What was he doing when he got cut? He was at the rink, working out with his trainer.
Did he stop his workout once he found out? I think you know the answer to that.
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