Joe Dimaggio was one of the all time great Yankees. One year, late in the season, he’s playing a meaningless game; the team is already assured of playing in the post season. Joe is playing outfield and the batter shoots a rocket past him. He runs like a demon and makes a fantastic leap to make the play. One of his team mates asks him why he’s playing so hard when the season is over.
“Someone in the stands traveled here and paid good money to see me play. This might be the only time they see me, and I want them to be able to say that they saw Joe DiMaggio at his best.”
Love the attitude! Though IME, a lot of the time boring matches don’t happen because the players don’t put in effort, but because of the teams’ tactics (e.g. because both teams are playing defensively).
Anecdote.
Joe Dimaggio was one of the all time great Yankees. One year, late in the season, he’s playing a meaningless game; the team is already assured of playing in the post season. Joe is playing outfield and the batter shoots a rocket past him. He runs like a demon and makes a fantastic leap to make the play. One of his team mates asks him why he’s playing so hard when the season is over.
“Someone in the stands traveled here and paid good money to see me play. This might be the only time they see me, and I want them to be able to say that they saw Joe DiMaggio at his best.”
Love the attitude! Though IME, a lot of the time boring matches don’t happen because the players don’t put in effort, but because of the teams’ tactics (e.g. because both teams are playing defensively).