Chances are the most successful people in your life also have the most passion for what they do. Intelligence and talent help but those are just tools to help you achieve success. Passion is what matters most. The important elements in our lives when we are younger — like family, friends and education — are almost always the source of our passion. Maybe you and your mom liked to see musicals together when you were younger and you eventually became an actress. Or maybe your brother died of cancer when you were younger and you eventually became a physician. You can’t replicate the passion those people have for acting or medicine and because of that, they’ll be more successful than many of their more talented or smarter counterparts.
Someone who writes a great deal on passion, and does it well, is Hugh MacLeod. He draws cartoons like this one . He also writes a sweet blog. I was reading his latest post this morning and, as so often the case with MacLeod’s work, I felt as though it was written for me like he somehow knew the circumstances that surround my life and the things I care about. One of the things I care deeply about is the Sabres, particularly the Buffalo kind.
It’s tough to put a lot of stock into one game in particular, but last nights game against Ottawa seemed extra significant. The subplots were more important to me than the statistical outcome. I really wanted to see how they would play. The Senators are very confident team when they play against the Sabres. You would be misinformed if before the game you thought that the Senators were not going to play hard and play well. I assumed on this night that the Sentors would push the Sabres to their competitive limits given the past few games these teams have played against one another. Instead this was just another game that gets filed into the poor-effort bin.
When I watch a Sabres game like the one played Saturday night, I wonder if hockey is a job or a passion for some of these players. I wouldn’t blame them if it was just a job. They get paid a lot and retire young. But as a fan, I want my team to have more players for whom hockey is a passion. I don’t want to drop names because this is totally speculative but I’m sure you can think of a few.
Like I said, I don’t hold anything against someone for not having a passion for something like hockey but still wanting to make it their job. All I care about is success. I want the Sabres to be successful. After last night, I question how much passion some of the players have for hockey and because of that, I question the level of success this team can reach.