Baseline

At some point in time, we all have come across the word “Baseline”. Upon some cursory research, it appears that this word is famous and relevant in the worlds of sports, project management, software engineering, system security and many others. Well, what could possibly be the reason for a baseline? And from these concrete applications, could there be an abstract inference drawn which we can apply to make our lives better? Well, let’s find out.

“We can endure almost anything if we are centered if we have some focus in our life. You can endure if you have an anchor.”

Renita J. Weems.

I am an avid fan of basketball. Always have been, but I didn’t ever play in my early childhood. Predominantly because of fear of judgement. You know, only the cool people were allowed to play. The kind of people with whom almost everyone else playing looked blurry and they seemed to be the only ones on the court at the time.

As time passed and my myopia turned into clear vision, I realized that basketball is a team sport, and everyone does their own, different things on the court. The first time I found out about this obscure fact, I believe my conversation with my friend went somewhat like this.

“So, I’ve heard little guys can play too?”, I probed.

“Apparently yes”, he responded.

“Well sign me up!”, I said at the top of my lungs.

This was it. I was going to be one of the cool people, finally. I was going to roam through school corridors and be recognized by everyone. My moment was about to come.

Well none of that happened.

Instead of being cool, I was sweaty even before school started. I was so tan that I forgot my original skin tone. I missed enough school days to be considered a new admission every now and then. All that said, I wouldn’t change one thing even if I’m given the option. Matter of fact, I would love to stay in those moments all throughout my life.

Now that I am not able to play as regularly despite wanting it more than food (because I have completely bought into my own BS that life has officially happened to me), I reminisce quite often. Just sitting and thinking about all the shots I made and missed, plays I made and ruined and players I defended and let slip by.

During one of these nostalgia sessions, I remembered one statement my coach (and I think every basketball player’s coach must have) said in his loud and almost angry voice, very regularly. Actually, calling it a statement is an understatement (no pun intended). It was more of a catchphrase.

“Everyone return to the baseline”

For people unfamiliar with the sport, the boundary line that runs along the court’s boundaries on both sides behind the baskets. The following image will be beneficial to understand.

This got me wondering (because I don’t have a lot to do most of the time), why was the baseline such an important part of the court to Coach? We had three pretty basketball courts in school, why was the baseline of such relevance?

I think he must have talked about returning to the baseline more times than he ever said “good game” to us. We were asked to return to the baseline before, during and after practice, whether we did good or bad. We were made to line up on the baseline before, during and after games, no matter how good or bad we were playing.

What I have come to realize is this, the baseline was our coach’s way to keep us grounded, centered. Why was it beneficial? Let me explain.

• During practice when we were at our home court, we were completely aware and comfortable of our environment. Whether the practice went good or bad, the baseline kept us apprised that playing only practice games was not the final outcome.
• During easy games where we sailed through, the baseline kept us conscious that there were teams out there who were better than us; and transitively better than the team we were playing.
• During high-pressure games when we struggled to keep our calm, the baseline allowed us a moment to catch our breath, return to our whys and whats, and gave us the opportunity to do better.

Now, let me bring this back to the abstract inference I referred to at the top of the article. It might be a little wordy, but bear with me.

Life shows us circumstances to run crazy or be benched for as long as we would allow it. However, as long as your return to the baseline every now and then, everything is going to be alright.

Just like most of my articles, I will end this one with a daunting question; Where is your baseline?

If you have an answer, do share it with me and we can have a spirited conversation about it. 🙂

If you stuck around this far, thank you for your time. If you enjoyed this, share this with one friend of yours whom you think will benefit from reading this. Thanks for reading, and I will see you in the next one.