Bringing on the new team.

The ball … it didn’t get dropped.  It got set on a shelf, set down, put in the closet… Like a game that hasn’t been played in a long time, just now, it is being discovered again.  There it is.  To expect that the players who are finding it, just now, are as skilled as those who put it away several years ago, well that is a funny moment.  … to expect a skill, that has not been practiced for some time, to spring fully formed, with the new team… well, that is fantasy.  Funny fantasy.  As a team rebuilds, practices the basics, drills the plays, forms into a practiced team… then the magic of collaborative team begins to emerge.  As with all games, we get good, we get very good, we have a couple of years of amazing run, we get old, … if we are really complete, we allow the grace of retirement to come as the practices skills came… we make room in the lineup to emerge new talent, we foster that talent.  If not, the game gets put away, gathers dust for a bit … then, the ball gets found by a new, green, excited player… and the wonder of the season’s turn begins again.