Don't Even Think About It Athlete’s mental toughness as
important as physical strength, say sport psychologists Nov. 24,
2008 Former baseball player Ray Knight said, “Concentration is
the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is
absolutely necessary” and very succinctly summed up about half
of the tenets of sport psychology. Much-loved Longhorn and
coaching legend Darrell Royal summed up the other half when he
stated, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets
opportunity.” In sports, what keeps us coming back for more,
week after week, year round, is the good chance we’ll get to see
a miracle or two. Someone will be able to stay airborne for an
impossible length of time and make a ludicrously difficult but
successful shot at the basket in the midst of utter chaos. Our
team will win at the Rose Bowl in the last 19 seconds of the
game because a symphony of improbable actions in perfectly
trained human bodies and minds delivers the goods at the right
moment, against the odds and under the gun. Spo