Low-key on High Performance

Hyped as the golden boy of ice hockey, the national game of Canada, Sidney Patrick Crosby was expected to bring glory to Team Canada in its quest for the Olympic gold medal. Called “The Next One”, a reference to succeeding the Canadian hockey icon Wayne Gretzky, the 22-year old was skating at three, scored goals at four, featured in a newspaper at seven and had to transfer school at age 15 as rivals were jealous of his sporting talent.

Crosby became a prized player in the junior league and when he graduated from high school, he became the number one pick in the National Hockey League. He led his professional team, the Pittsburgh Penguins in taking the championship trophy in 2009, becoming the youngest captain to make such feat. A documentary film, Pond Hockey, released in 2008 tells of his experiences in playing hockey. Thus, in the Vancouver Winter Olympics, he carried on his shoulders the incredible task of getting Team Canada to the top.

Yet, Team Canada struggled through the preliminary games, losing a game to Team USA, the latter making itself a strong contender for gold.  Game after game, Crosby failed to deliver as expected; and soon critics sniped at him for not being up to the challenge. During the final game that concluded on the final day of the Winter Olympics 2010, Team Canada led Team USA (2-1) until the dying seconds when an American player hit a goal. The game was even; and a sudden death in the 20-minute overtime would determine the winner.

During the overtime, Sidney Crosby took a difficult shot that hit its mark, causing the people in and out of the stadium to roar in triumph. Crosby delivered when it counted the most. Subsequently, Team Canada stood in the podium to receive its gold medal.

When others would have boasted, Crosby remained humble in victory: “You dream of that moment a thousand times growing up. But it could have been anybody else, it could have been any other guy in that team.”  Asked if he was born to make the winning goal, he responded: “I don’t know. I dreamed of this moment. It’s pretty incredible.”

Each one has a dream of achieving and such can only happen if a person “run(s) with purpose in every step.” (1 Corinthians 9:26)  God sent us His Son at the perfect time. “When the right time came, God sent his Son.” (Galatians 4:4)  So He puts our victories at the right time at the right place. “I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him...Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.” (Psalm 62:1,5)

Crosby did not respond to criticisms on his average output in the preliminary games; he simply did the best he could under the circumstance. And when he made his mark, still he remained low-key about his performance. “As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” So humble yourselves before God...Let there be tears for what you have done...Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” (James 4:6-7; 9-10)

by Mel Libre