What responding to adversity looks like...
Happy to say this week's column is again brought to you by The Timothy Center. The father-son duo of Doctors Jimmy and Josh Myers, both big Longhorn fans, are doing some great counseling work in the Austin area, especially during such a trying time mentally for many as we all are dealing with a global pandemic.
Drs. Jimmy & Josh Myers are the father/son owners of The Timothy Center here in Austin. Both are rabid UT fans, and both could use counseling themselves due to all the stress that this love of the Horns has generated.
The Timothy Center is unique in that it is the only Christian counseling facility in the Austin area that provides one-on-one counseling, couples therapy, an Intensive Outpatient programs for those teens and adults needing more concentrated help, medication management services, and one of the largest sexual addiction treatment programs in the central Texas area.
Another aspect of the Timothy Center is that all of these services are covered by most major insurance policies. Faith-based counseling, faith-based medication management, all covered by insurance is as rare in this area as an undefeated season by…well, you get the idea.
We have offices in south Austin, north near the outlet mall between Round Rock and Georgetown, and our main office about a mile north of the Arboretum on Jollyville Rd. Of course, right now, with the pandemic still raging, all of our adult services can be accessed in an online format.
If you should ever need our services, just give us a call at our main number 512-331-2700 or check out our website at www.timothycenter.com.
Alright, the writing...
1) A season and a weekend that helped Texas become Big 12 champions…
Over the last decade, Longhorn fans are used to seeing examples of what Texas players and coaches would label ‘adversity.’ If I had a dollar for each time I wrote that board on this forum, I'd be able to retire. Texas fans are used to coaches across many sports describing the importance of responding to it. What they’re not used to, though, is Texas teams immediately responding to it in a championship way. The Texas Baseball team did that.
It wasn’t long ago - about three months, in fact - many Texas fans didn’t want to hear about adversity. The Longhorns were so thoroughly dominated at Globe Life Field by three top 10 SEC teams their fans didn’t care about ice storms of the century; facing future first-round picks on the mound; being unable to pick up a bat and use the facilities or throw a baseball for basically a week leading into the event. Not to mention, players weren’t able to even live a normal life. Some were forced to scramble to find power and warm water like so many of Austin’s residents.
But hey, go grab that bat and face Mississippi State’s Landon Sims, who now has a 0.49 ERA across 37.0 innings with an absurdly dominant 72 strikeouts (17.5 K/9) and .120 batting average against. Every relief appearance he makes ends up all over @PitchingNinja’s Twitter feed. Who needs practice for that guy? No excuses.
Perhaps that week is what the Longhorns needed to unlock their regular-season potential. Are the Longhorns where they are currently, the No. 2 team in the country and essentially a lock for a top eight national seed, without three-straight buttkickings in Arlington?
“I mean, I would like to say yes, just because of the makeup of this team and the culture of this team that every day is a new day to get better,” said Zach Zubia. “But I don't know. I think it woke a lot of people up. But at the same time, I think it made a lot of people a lot more hungry. I couldn’t tell you yes or no, but I would like to say yes.”
It’s impossible to say. But since then, this isn’t impossible to say: the Longhorns are 40-10, regular-season Big 12 champs and lost just one series all season. They immediately became the baseball team they thought they’d be and their mental consistency is their most impressive trait. The R.T.A rallying cry - Remember The Arlington - is still used today. Would Texas be the same team if it didn’t open the season at that event and instead played a cupcake? I don’t think so, but it’s easy to say in hindsight because of UT’s response.
2) 2019…
Before R.T.A happened, before Troy Tulowitzki arrived and before Pierce and his staff could get a lot of their recruits on campus, 2019 happened. In the most alarmingly terrible way possible, it was the quickest collapse of a Texas Baseball team I’ve ever seen. The Longhorns went from sweeping No. 1 LSU to figuring out and inventing ways to lose so many games they didn’t make the Big 12 Tournament.
Back in 2008 after losing a series at Missouri, which included a 31-12 loss because winds were so strong routine fly balls almost always ended up over the fence, some Texas pitchers buried a baseball in the Missouri bullpen. Texas would have buried the entire godawful 2019 season if it could have. Pierce and his staff needed that season, though. They needed to learn at Texas a team requires a certain mental makeup throughout its roster and players understand the expectations; they don’t need to be pushed to the edge because they put themselves there to begin with.
“Well, you look at 2019, it might have been the biggest eye-opener of any year I've ever had. And you always assess the team. You always, you know, break it down what we could do better; where we could personally be better. And I thought 2019 was an eye-opener for us that we have to make some changes,” said Pierce following Saturday’s win versus West Virginia. “If it's, you know, how we do things or just the communication with players because it's different than in the past.
“But I think what has been so rewarding this year is really getting to know our players a little better. And sitting back and watching them work. And then the love and care that they have for each other in the way they pull for each other is something. It's the most special team that I've ever been a part of.”
Basically, this Texas team is doing everything right the 2019 team did wrong, including the coaching staff.
3) R.T.A. - Remember The Arlington
“When I look back at preseason, before we even went to Arlington, I can tell… And I told you guys, I have no idea how many games we're going to win and how many games we're going to lose. But I do know that it's going to be exciting going to go to the ballpark with this team every day. And that hasn't changed,” said Pierce following Saturday’s game...
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