Buzzer Beaters and Auditions – A Fan’s Retrospective
This time of year is always an emotional/happy/stressful month for me due to the Madness brought upon by 68 college basketball teams. Every year, I watch the tournament, and the same thing happens to my bracket – busted and ripped to shreds (why do I do this to myself?). This year was different in that my favorite team, the North Carolina Tar Heels, was a highly projected favorite to win the entire tournament. Who could deny this when their big man, a first team All-American had a slew of games with a double double (10+ points and 10+ rebounds) during the regular season. The Tar Heel’s backcourt complemented their frontcourt players so well it was sickening. They owned the conference’s 6th Man of the Year. Everything was looking great for this team as they continued their hot streak into the tournament.
As it turned out, UNC made it to the National Championship game against Villanova and fought neck-and-neck against an equally powerful team from Philadelphia. In one of the greatest finishes of college basketball, ‘Nova (different from this Nova) defeated North Carolina on a buzzer beater – literally. If you feel the need to watch the moment unfold, watch the video below.
The next morning I woke up in a daze thinking about the “What If…” of the game. I was still in shock of what I witnessed. There was no glory involved or happiness or “we will get them next time.” I just sat there thinking about the game and the Seniors who clawed their way back only to get punched in the stomach by a buzzer beater. As I began to ponder more about that feeling of emptiness, I began to think how and where else I have had that feeling – yea, auditions. Below are five thoughts that crossed my mind in how taking an audition can relate to that buzzer beater feeling.
We wished for 41 minutes in a 40 minute game.
At the time Marcus Paige made his shot to tie the game, North Carolina was inching ever so close to tying and taking the lead against Villanova. The resilience you saw in his eyes was unstoppable. He did everything he could. At the time he tied the game, Tar Heel fans and everyone watching, knew we could go to overtime and win the game – the push was that strong. The only problem was with 4 seconds left in a tie ball game, Villanova would end up with the final shot. North Carolina thought there would be not enough time for a last second second, they would then to go into overtime, where they could gain control and keep pushing toward a sixth national championship. Unfortunately, there was one last stroke. In the postgame press conference, both Coach Roy Williams and Marcus Paige asked themselves “What If…” What if Marcus waited a second longer to take the shot. What if he made his first two free throws of the game. What if someone stepped up a hair second sooner to deny Jenkin’s final heave. Likewise, how many times after an audition, do we ask ourselves “What if I just practiced more” or “What if I didn’t practice so much the day before” or “What if I spent the night in a hotel the night before so I could have rested more” or “What if I just practiced one more time on that excerpt that I biffed” or “What if I played that excerpt less to save my chops.” A lot of these questions are asked and can lead to one thing…
A buzzer beater does not decide the game.
If you were to go back and watch the game, you could see why the game ended the way it did. Easy shots off the glass did not fall for North Carolina. Hard shots did go in for Villanova. Early in the game, the ball hardly touched the hands of UNC’s main scorer, Brice Johnson. The referees were calling ticky-tack fouls. All of this said, you cannot point your finger to one certain instance and say this ONE THING caused the game to end the way it did. At these certain points, no one on UNC’s team can beat themselves up for what happened. In an audition, you cannot dwell on the fact that you chipped a note or you didn’t empty your spit valve during a long excerpt or that your soft excerpt sounded as if you were traveling across a gravel road. One little hick-up will not be the deal breaker if everything goes well. A committee (hopefully!) judges off of multiple factors for each candidate. Most likely, it always comes down to a conglomerate of factors if you advance or not.
Even at your best – fate (or luck) may still beat you.
As I mentioned before, the whole game was tooth and nail. Mental toughness was on North Carolina’s side in the closing seconds, as Marcus Paige did a double clutch for a shot behind the arc. As much as Paige, had prepared for that moment, luck could have been involved. Still, it was still not enough. At times, you will work harder on that audition than any other person and yet you will still come up short. I will never forget an audition I took with a premiere military band in 2012. I practiced hard, I studied the music, I felt ready for the audition – only to get a “thank you” after the third excerpt. Looking back I was crushed. It was my dream job, and I was devastated – I had not prepared for that moment of fate even though I had taken numerous auditions before that one. Six months later, I took another audition, and again, put the work in and WON the audition. Was it luck or fate? Who knows. When I talked with my former trombone teacher, he asked me, “Why do you think you won?” My response was “I must have practiced harder and longer than the others.” His response – “No that’s not it. You were just more musical than the others.” Sometimes hard work might not win the gig. Sometimes losing happens just because it happens. Are you okay with that?
Annie will always be right about the sun coming out.
The morning after the game, I watched all of the press conferences and interviews with the Tar Heels and it hurt. It hurt to see guys crying for fellow teammates who will never get that chance again. It hurt to see a talented coach saying he failed at holding his promise and wish he could have done more. All of Tar Heel Nation hurt with that team. On Tuesday morning though (a bright and sunny day) – that same fan base went out and supported their team and thanked them for what they did. The team and its fan rose back up knowing that the next day is a new day. No matter how bad losing an audition will be for you, the sun will come out tomorrow. It hurts sometimes – it really does. On that same military band audition, a friend who received the same result as me, told me on the phone saying how my time will come and that I am too good a trombone player to quit now (this same guy at the time had taken way more auditions than I had taken). For me, it took a while to see the new tomorrow, but when the new day came, the sun was shining bright….and still is.
In the end, UNC basketball players will go back to being, well…basketball players.
As a fan and follower of the Tar Heels, once I saw the video of the team arriving back to campus, and those guys were back to tweeting about life, I knew that things would be back to normal. Yes, even with writing this post and watching that video above, my heart sinks a little; however, I know life will go on and possibly to something even better for those players. Most likely, two or more of North Carolina’s players will go to the NBA for a ridiculous amount of money. Others will come back and work harder than ever and may even achieve a National Championship title. Some will become coaches, doctors, entrepreneurs, car salesman, and lawyers; but they will never lose that desire to play the game they love. And neither should we as musicians. Something inside of us made us want to be a professional musician, and I feel that will never leave us. No, we might not win that dream gig or land that tenured, full-time salary. But something tells me, the music and the desire to perform will always be there. For those of us still auditioning, we will keep doing it until someone close tells us to stop…and then we will keep taking more auditions – because it is engrained in us to follow that desire.
