Playoffs?!

The NHL & NBA playoffs just started over the weekend. An exciting time for fans of those sports, the teams, and the players and staff involved.

After a long season, 82 games for each sport, it comes down to 7 game series. Every game changes the feeling of who has control of the series, who’s best positioned to win it, putting one team closer to their ultimate goal.

For both leagues, it takes 16 wins to be a champion. You could also lose up to 12 times during the playoff run. Of course, no more than 3 times per series. A 16-12 record can make you a champion.

16-12.

That’s a 57% winning percentage.

My point- A team doesn’t have to be perfect. A team doesn’t have to win every game. Teams don’t have to live and die with the results of every play.

It just feels that way.

Emotions are higher. Goals are closer to being achieved. Lives can be changed. It gets real. Very quickly.

Have I experienced it personally? Only as a fan.

But listening to interviews, reading articles, and studying players and coaches in these leagues, it often comes down to one thing.

Being present.

Not getting too high or too low. Focusing on what they need to in the moment. Being fully present in making this play, right here, right now. Nothing else.

It’s an awesome time for anyone who loves competition to see the best of the best do what they do. Just don’t get caught up in the roller coaster of one game's momentum.

Which teams are you rooting for this year?