Minor League

As young athletes, we are taught to focus on what we can control, nothing more, nothing less. This is the essence of mental discipline. An elite athlete cannot afford to be distracted by extraneous circumstances, but when he is, it can be helpful to choose a focal point somewhere in the field of play - a place he can look, and with a deep breath, release extraneous stresses and regain much needed control.

For the unfortunate members of the single-A Lowell Spinners baseball team, who, tonight, chose a focal point on or near the multi-million dollar scoreboard at Lubrano Park here in State College, PA, their efforts were met with the laser eyed, furrowed-brow stare of pure, uninhibited animal intimidation.

As any one of the 1,000 or so fans who braved the once-a-decade local tornado warning to support minor league baseball and/or have a chance at the dizzy bat contest can attest, the marketing division of The State College Spikes let loose a legendary intimidation tactic in the cartoon form of Pennsylvania's most notorious predator: The deer.

That's right. Seen during the second inning in heavy black font, flashing one at a time across the piercing round eyes and fluffy, almost-pettable face of this notorious herbivore, were these words: FEAR THE DEER.

And boy, the effect was devastating. Surely it was fear of the deer ("Spikes" apparently referring to a deer's antlers) that caused Lowell's starting pitcher to give up a 420 foot second inning blast which sailed into the foggy darkness between the fence and Mount Nittany. How any athlete, or fan for that matter, could have remained focused under this type of Tom Ridge style fear mongering is beyond my comprehension.

Without a doubt, FEAR THE DEER accounted for the 5-0 lead the Spikes had amounted by the time the fam and I left for ice cream in the 4th inning. There's a chance, of course, that it was all just a cute little rhyme to make the 750 children in attendance stand and cheer. Really, who am I to say? I may have only been paying partial attention anyway, as I found myself continually glancing up, past the minor league action, through the mist, and into the hypnotizing white lights darting toward me from seemingly every direction.