THE TURNING POINT — by Steve Nadis
Anne Bancroft had a “Turning Point” (or was it Shirley MacLaine?) in the movie with Baryshnikov of the same name, and I had one yesterday. I was playing handball–a three-way “cutthroat” game–rather poorly, and falling behind in the first game when it dawned on me that I didn’t have time for a second game and that I had gotten killed last week after turning in a mediocre performance. Snake, I told myself, “if you’re ever going to get started today, this is the time.” I immediately put together two good serving runs, establishing a lead I never relinquished. Was this the “inner game of handball” manifest? Was this the “power of positive thinking” revisited? That might have had something to do with it. But more to the point was the fact that one of my opponents was suffering from cartilage problems in his knees, while the other guy had strained his back earlier in the day giving his 120-pound dog a bath.
