Windmills OR Learn Thine Enemy
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
The unknown amplifies stresses. We were about to play a team I didn't know at all. My general rule when I get to a game is to ignore the opposition and concentrate on us. I barely look over (of course, if they are people I know, friends of mine, I always go over to say hello). This, of course, is a deliberate psychological strategy. The few glances I took at them warming up coincided with them being in second place. But I hadn't looked much.
I started the game on the bench. I quickly watched and assessed. That my team had the upper hand from the beginning of the game, fed my personal morale. I watched how they played, assessed quickly who to watch for, their tendencies as a group, their individual tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. The information settled my nerves. That my team had control was also information. By the time I stepped on we were up on the score board, which lent itself to my composure, I played relaxed and confident.
When you realize the giant is really just a windmill, you know that it isn't as difficult to dismantle it and eat it piece by piece.
—Sun Tzu, The Art of War
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They weren't giants, they weren't monsters I'd imagined, they were just windmills.The unknown amplifies stresses. We were about to play a team I didn't know at all. My general rule when I get to a game is to ignore the opposition and concentrate on us. I barely look over (of course, if they are people I know, friends of mine, I always go over to say hello). This, of course, is a deliberate psychological strategy. The few glances I took at them warming up coincided with them being in second place. But I hadn't looked much.
I started the game on the bench. I quickly watched and assessed. That my team had the upper hand from the beginning of the game, fed my personal morale. I watched how they played, assessed quickly who to watch for, their tendencies as a group, their individual tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. The information settled my nerves. That my team had control was also information. By the time I stepped on we were up on the score board, which lent itself to my composure, I played relaxed and confident.
When you realize the giant is really just a windmill, you know that it isn't as difficult to dismantle it and eat it piece by piece.
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