Spotify ended one day with that musical radio that for half a century had been able to turn thousands and thousands of groups and soloists into classics. In the era of “throwaway”, in the ocean of information that bathes us every day, almost nothing remains except the plastic of our seas. But that is another story.
As much nostalgia as the models of the old music industry generate, the on-demand content is what now prevails. With its advantages and disadvantages. There’s no more. If Spotify allows you, being a true stranger, to sound with your music even in the antipodes, it also makes it easier for you to enjoy podcasts as interesting as the one periodically edited by former English footballer Jamie Carragher.
The defender who surpassed the 700-game barrier for Liverpool and who acted as a faithful squire to the legendary Steven Gerrard, as second captain, brings together some of the names of the footballing planet in The Greatest Game.
A few days ago he chatted for almost an hour with his former wardrobe partner Xabi Alonso, who is still active, by the way, delighted us for years and through his Twitter account with a multitude of musical jewels (demonstrating the ability to have carved his own path as DJ).
The ex-Madridista confessed his worst night as a player: «The game at the Camp Nou that we lost by five to zero. Twenty minutes into the game I confess that I wanted to leave, go home now, take a shower and come back. It was so painful that it gave us great determination for what came next.
All great successes are built on defeats and more defeats. We learn from them, as we have repeated here so many times, and it is the compliments, after each victory, that tend to weaken us. Of our worst moments, you will not be able to deny me, we have obtained some of the greatest determinations.
The psychological strength that we build with each stumble, the one that makes us more decisive and allows us to shine even in the worst circumstances or scenarios, can be trained in many ways. Personally I would recommend, with the logical prior training, certain individual sports competitions.
The collective disciplines confer an infinity of virtues in our development as people, but mentally we will always be able to shield ourselves from the rest of the team when things do not look good. Self-criticism will not have the same nature in those moments in which, beyond the coach, we do not find anyone to blame for our failure.
Upon hearing Xabi’s confessions, I remembered my worst moment on a court. And surely each of us who have been lucky enough to play sports from a very young age, even in a simple school league, keep some morning or afternoon recorded by fire. In my case, it was during a local tennis competition, in which a single category measured you as the most accomplished veteran in this sport as the teenager with the most emerging talent.
It was not a good morning. Why fool us. Aware as in previous tennis duels that even with the worst numbers a comeback is always possible, that day there was no human way to cross a good ball (not even with the best of my cut shots) before the biggest fronton that my racket had ever known.
I wanted to leave, go home, come back. Disappear from that tournament. It even crossed my mind not to play a game of tennis again. There were two “donuts.” Two sets in the blink of an eye that for me were, however, endless. From that morning I got, in my own way, a lot of determination. I started taking classes and even managed, after a while, to excel in the minor leagues. What came next matters less.
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