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The Hot Corner
Every month Sports Media Challenge discusses at least one incident or issue in the world of sports news. Most will be case studies or commentaries prompted by exposure in the news. We especially welcome ideas and comments from sports professionals including athletes, coaches, executives at all levels of sport including professional, collegiate and other amateur ranks. We will periodically include your comments and observations.
Latest Update -- January 23, 2001:
Previous Topics
January 23 , 2001
How Much Is Too Much? Too much Money could equal too much Pressure
If Alex Rodriguez was not a household name prior to the end of the year, the 2001 season should put him in the same league as Harry Potter- but possibly not as well liked.
A-Rod is an upstanding guy, a talented shortstop and now the richest man in the history of baseball - but is he the luckiest?
After signing a 10 year-$252 million dollar contract, he may have just agreed to the greatest weight of scrutiny and expectation in the history of American sports. He now has to live up to the question both whispered and shouted since signing day, "Is he worth it?"
Rodriguez is a great athlete, but he is also a human being - a human being who makes about $45,000 each time he steps up to home plate. The reality is, he is just a baseball player. A 25-year-old guy that will be expected to live the life of Mother Teresa and play ball like no other.
So what happens when he strikes out, when an errant ground ball accidentally goes through his legs, if he misses the seasoned base stealer when he slides safely into second - and if the Rangers end up with a loosing season, because the Rangers - if tradition holds true - are not the best team in major league baseball?
Rodriguez, the multi-million dollar man, will be held not only responsible - he will be called the most expensive mistake in franchise history. How's that for pressure? And who put the pressure on? Was it the team owners? The media? How about Rodriguez himself for allowing the bidding to get that high?
Regardless, he will now be living life in a fishbowl - albeit a nicely decorated one- and everyone will be watching; waiting to see if he will sink or swim.
Though Alex Rodriguez has put himself in a highly unique situation - this is not the first time that an athlete has been asked to deal with an unusual amount of stress. That "mental toughness" that is always talked about can translate into an exorbitant amount of pressure that no one seems to notice until the athletes themselves begin to crack. It’s imperative that along with mental toughness; coaches, administrators and even franchise owners equip their athletes with stress coping mechanisms.
So how much is too much? There are seven basic fundamentals for dealing with pressure and the resulting mental and physical stress:
Being realistic in a world with unreal salaries piled on top of unreal expectations is probably the most difficult stress buster to adhere too. Athletes, coaches, administrators, media and fans need to not expect the impossible but embrace the attainable.
So with spring training on the horizon, A-Rod will enter the most significant season of his life. If he remembers to take charge of himself, makes sure he has support, accepts that he will make mistakes, takes time out to relax, and keeps it real he might be able to overcome the intense public pressure. The fact that he makes over $500.00 every single time the pitcher throws the ball - now that's a different story!
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