Speaking
of Sports 


by
Alex
Prasad

 
Never Say
Never… Ever!

May 17, 2010

I’ve always been a firm believer that hard work pays off. I’ve been blessed that every time I have put in 110% effort, I’ve seen 110% results.  But it’s not always easy to put in effort that is above and beyond the ordinary, above and beyond the expected. Sometimes, the odds just seem stacked against you.

Take for instance, the Detroit Tigers this Saturday. I had the pleasure of attending that great 12-inning game at Comerica Park. In front of a sellout crowd, down 6-1 after 5 innings, after a forgettable performance from Dontrelle Willis, the Tigers had an opportunity to quit. The MLB season is a grueling 162 games; why not just run a little slower on ground balls, hustle a little less on pop ups in foul territory? Instead of taking the easy way out, the Tigers clawed their way back into the game, slowly but surely, until they tied it in the bottom of the eighth. From there, the Tigers continued to battle, facing one of the best closers in baseball in Jonathan Papelbon until finally knocking off the Boston Red Sox in the 12^th inning. Despite being down by five runs more than halfway through the game they kept battling, and were rewarded.

No big deal you say? It is true that the Tigers are paid professionals; it’s their job to win every game possible. Further plenty of teams have come back from 5 run deficits. The players on the Michigan Wolverines baseball team aren’t paid. And not many teams rally from 14 run deficits. But that’s exactly what Michigan did Sunday.

Heading into the second-to-last weekend of Big Ten play, Michigan was tied with three teams for first in the conference. Just two games separated the Wolverines from last place in the conference. With only six bids to the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan was as close to fighting for the automatic NCAA bid awarded at the Big Ten Tournament as it was to ending its season. And more than once, the Wolverines had a chance to give up.

On Friday and Saturday Michigan and Northwestern played close games. Friday, Michigan won a 4-3 drama and Saturday despite blowing a 7-1 lead and letting Michigan take an 8-7 lead of its own, Northwestern won 10-8. Sunday, Michigan sent Brandon Sinnery to the mound, a pitcher with the third best ERA in the conference among starters.  But it was not Sinnery’s day, as he gave up 6 earned runs in just one inning of work. After an 8 run second, and 6 run third, Northwestern was up 14-0. When Northwestern pushed across its 12^th run, I declared that the game was “out of hand.”  But the Wolverines didn’t get the message- instead of giving up with their Big Ten Tournament hopes just a dim light at the end of a long tunnel, Michigan set about on an epic comeback.

First, Michigan responded in the bottom of the third with 6 runs. Then the Wolverines added 3 in the fifth, another run in the sixth, and two in the eighth.  After all that work at the plate, and a great pitching performance by Matt Miller, Michigan was STILL down 14-12 in the bottom of the ninth. When Ryan LaMarre flied out to the left-centerfield warning track, Michigan was down to its last out. With a man on first, senior catcher and team captain Chris Berset stepped up to the plate and quickly collected two quick strikes. As I was commenting that it looked like a tremendous comeback was going to come up just short Berset took the next pitch deep to right center field, and out of the park. 14-14. The entire Michigan bench leapt into the air, bounding to greet Berset, despite the fact that the game hadn’t been won…yet!

The team had an unyielding faith that all their hard work would pay off. That first run wasn’t as dramatic as the Mike Dufek home run in the bottom of the 10^th that sealed the deal for the Wolverines. But the team had the foresight to realize it was just as important. As the proverb goes, even a long journey begins with just a small step. What it leaves out is that if you’re committed to a worthwhile journey of hard work, that small step will pay off in leaps and bounds later. Ask the Michigan baseball team.

(c) 2010 Novi Information Network
www.novi.org

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Alex Prasad is a life-long Michigan resident, a student at the University of Michigan and a 2007 graduate of Novi High School. He was the Novi.org school and sports reporter while he was at NHS. Alex was also a captain of the NHS Cross Country Team and Track Team under legendary coach Bob Smith. His passion for running continues to this day, as he trains for a marathon.

Alex is currently General Manager of WOLV-TV, the student run television station at UM, and produces shows on both the Michigan Football and Michigan Hockey teams. You can also see his work on Big Ten Network coverage of Michigan baseball and softball this spring.

You can see more of his work here.