How I learned About Quality
I had a question in my head when I was younger.
Whenever I'd catch a second division match playing on TV, I would wonder, what's the difference between those players and the ones from the top tiers? My lack of expertise could not discern the difference; they seemed to be as talented as Premier League players.
It turns out that the reason they looked so good to my untrained eyes was because I had yet to see them play side by side. I had never had the chance to cross reference. When I finally saw an FA Cup match for the first time (an English tournament in which teams of all divisions participate) light shone upon my ignorance as Arsenal competed against a second division who my memory has refused to provide me the name of. That alone says much.
There and then, I was finally able to understand their superiority: technical, tactical, athletic, mental.
Throughout life, I've had a similar experience in other realms as well, usually crafts that I'm under-versed in: painting, music, canoeing, crochet. Sure, poor quality is easy to spot in most disciplines, but when it comes to differentiating between a master and a semi-master, the difference in hierarchy is easier for me to detect when one is next to the other. Then I go, "Ohhh, that's it!"
PS: Random connection: this all reminds me of how our jaws dropped watching just ten minutes of Ibrahimovic his first year in MLS playing before our very eyes, a giant among children.
Whenever I'd catch a second division match playing on TV, I would wonder, what's the difference between those players and the ones from the top tiers? My lack of expertise could not discern the difference; they seemed to be as talented as Premier League players.
It turns out that the reason they looked so good to my untrained eyes was because I had yet to see them play side by side. I had never had the chance to cross reference. When I finally saw an FA Cup match for the first time (an English tournament in which teams of all divisions participate) light shone upon my ignorance as Arsenal competed against a second division who my memory has refused to provide me the name of. That alone says much.
There and then, I was finally able to understand their superiority: technical, tactical, athletic, mental.
Throughout life, I've had a similar experience in other realms as well, usually crafts that I'm under-versed in: painting, music, canoeing, crochet. Sure, poor quality is easy to spot in most disciplines, but when it comes to differentiating between a master and a semi-master, the difference in hierarchy is easier for me to detect when one is next to the other. Then I go, "Ohhh, that's it!"
PS: Random connection: this all reminds me of how our jaws dropped watching just ten minutes of Ibrahimovic his first year in MLS playing before our very eyes, a giant among children.
Comments
Post a Comment