UCLA legendary Coach John Wooden: "The more we become concerned over things we can't control, the less we will do with the things we can control."
There's something about team sports -- basketball in particular, I think -- that leads to social, emotional, and spiritual growth. To be successful, basketball players must rely on others. Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time, could not have won college and NBA championships without trusting in, and relying on, teammates to fill their roles and enhance his.
Basketball teaches lessons in small moments. No one learns a life lesson from the number of W's in their win and loss columns. Lessons are learned from the payoff of that extra effort you gave in practice, and from realizing that move the coach taught you to make in the paint really does work in the game. Basketball teaches that you can dribble and pass around almost all of the obstacles placed in the path of your life.
And when you encounter those few life obstacles around which you can't maneuver? Basketball teaches you to take a time-out, gulp a little Gatorade, then create a new plan of attack.
The Way Back, directed by Gavin O'Connor and starring Ben Affleck, is a simple story about a former superstar athlete who allows life challenges to dictate his decisions and actions. Affleck's Jack Cunningham is an adult stuck in a cycle of tragedy, regret, and self-loathing.
He's allowed the angst he feels from things he can't control to overwhelm him so completely that he squanders the opportunities he created for himself.
The Way Back isn't a great movie. The pace is a bit slow, and the plot pretty thin. Affleck's performance, however, is believable and consistent. The audience roots for the guy even while jeering the decisions he makes through most of the movie. The Way Back isn't a feel-good flick -- the ending isn't pretty, but it's satisfying.
Sorta like life.
