Some People Only Want the Shirt

Our company has a slow pitch softball team. That's not unique, but I've found the dynamics of the team interesting and wanted to share some thoughts.

There were lots of guys sign up. You have to have 9 for a team and ten players can take the field. It looked like we'd have no trouble fielding a full team. But signing up and showing up are two completely different things. Sound familiar? When there's a great, fun project at work that is going to attract a lot of attention, everybody wants to be on the team. But when there's heavy work to do, or when the team gets bogged down in minutiae or details, or politics, all of a sudden there aren't so many show up at the meetings.

There have been a few games where we didn't have a full complement of company employees to take the field. Fortunately, we've had husbands, cousins and neighbors show up and have been able to at least take the field. Where are the company team members? Well, some are ill, some have work commitments. Those are reasonable excuses. But some... let's just say that some are just there for the shirt. The game starts too late. It might rain. I've got the sniffles. When the going got tough, they stayed home.

We're not going to win any championships. In fact, we'll be ecstatic if we win a game! We're there for a good time. We're in the "C" division which is home to the beginners and klutzes. And we are chief of the klutzes. Nevertheless, when we show up, we give it our all, knowing that it might not be enough to actually win. Some of our competition doesn't belong in that division. These are guys that live for slow pitch. They are good, and they're using our league to practice and get better. That's OK. But it would be nice if those who signed up showed up. Last Thursday, my heart swelled with pride for my team. It was a torrential downpour prior to the game. Mrs. T. thought I was nuts for leaving the house. But when I got to the diamond, the team was there. We had ten guys and could of played. We even had a strategy to beat these guys! But that coward umpire called the game. Still, I was proud of the guys that sacrificed and showed up to play.

Many years ago I spent some time in the bull riding ring as a bullfighter. That's the guy you know as the rodeo clown. We might dress like clowns and wear makeup like clowns, but it's serious business. When a bullrider hits the ground, his life is in our hands. There's no time for jokes or games when you're steering an angry bull away from someone he'd like to stomp on. During my training period, a wise, experienced bullfighter told me "There's lots of people want to dress up and tell jokes and have people applaud for them. But when they feel half a ton of angry pot roast blowing hot snot down their shorts, lots of 'em decide they'd rather sit in the stands."

I love the imagery that old cowboy invoked. Half a ton of angry pot roast, blowing hot snot down your shorts. Life is sometimes like that. It's all you can do to make it to the fence and jump for your life. But the important thing is that you showed up, and you came to give it your all.

In my high school days I had the opportunity to work in the training room of the Edmonton Eskimos. I was a gofer. But I had a "Staff" shirt. I wore that thing until it was in shreds. Today, anyone can go buy professional sports clothing. T-shirts, golf shirts, dress shirts. Anyone can dress the part. But buying the shirt doesn't make you part of the team.

Our company is full of people that have the shirt, but they aren't part of the team. Know what I mean? They don't show up willing to give 100% every day. Some of them get offended if you push them to give 75%. There are some people that allegedly start work at 7:30 AM. But I usually go past those people at 7:35 when they are on their way out for their first smoke break of the day. And they saunter back in at 8 AM with the regular starters, then brag about how much work they've already done.

It's a gross failure of managers to allow that type of attitude in the work place. If you want the shirt, you need to be prepared to bear some of the scars from the fight. You need to show that you have some of the hot snot on the back of your shorts.