THE CREATIVE ATHLETE

Issue 18--Comebacks

The last issue of The Creative Athlete discussed retirement. Before moving on to comebacks, I want to note that retirement doesn't have to be a given for older athletes.

Said tennis legend Billie Jean King, "When athletes reach their thirties, psychologically they think they should quit because everybody keeps telling them they should quit. They start to think they are slowing down because everybody asks, 'Are you slowing down?' And pretty soon they're not as motivated as they were before.

"But physically, scientists are finding that there isn't any difference between a 37-year-old athlete and a 27-year-old one." (1) Some examples:

• Discus thrower Al Oerter (who won Olympic gold medals in 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968) retired for awhile and then returned to the sport in 1976. In 1980 he was throwing farther distances than he was in 1968.
  
  
• Hurdler Roger Kingdom, who won gold medals in both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, had knee surgery in 1991 and fell out of track and field's spotlight. In 1995 he said, "Nobody even says hello to me anymore. I have to make a point of shaking their hand or they'll ignore me. Everybody tried to retire me. I was injured, not retired." (2)

He proved his point by winning the 110-meter hurdles at the 1995 U.S. National Championships at age 33.

• Fencer Peter Westbrook decided he was ready move on at age 43. He had participated in five Olympics and won 13 national titles. When asked why, he said, "Because I'm tired. I'm getting older. Pass it on to the young kids." (3) But he was told the younger fencers weren't ready yet and that he was still needed for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics; he continued to train and made the team.
  
  
• Brian Murphy has been playing Ultimate (a team competition using a Frisbee-like disc) for 20 years and has been on three World Championship teams. "It's a game in which experience counts for a lot. It combines physical requirements--speed, agility and endurance--but also skills that come throughout time such as subtleties in throwing, different types of touch, distances, spins and curves. For me I don't run as fast as I used to but I have 20 years of disc skills." (4)
  
  
• Bonnie Frankel attended Loyola Marymount (a Division I school) from 1991 to 1993. At age 48 she made the track and swim teams.
  
  
• Perhaps the most amazing story is that of Lucy Dettmer, who was playing tennis on her college team at age 74. She was the No. 2 singles player for the College of the Desert; routinely beat 19 and 20-year-old opponents; and was ranked 32nd among California Community College women's singles players in 1995. (5)

Comebacks

Sometimes athletes retire and then change their minds. Competitive sports is hard to give up and some athletes miss it. "Retirement day arrives and overnight these needs go begging, unmet, frustrated. Inside, there is a psychological vacuum; nothing in the new lifestyle can hope to fill it. But they try and try, and the payoff is the same--boredom, emptiness, restlessness--and no megabuck to show for their misery," said William J. Beausay, Ph.D., then president of The Academy of Sports Psychology International. (6) Examples:

• Swimmer Brian Goodell, gold medalist in the 400 and 1500-meter freestyle races in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, talked about the lure of making a comeback. "I imagine it every four years. It's seductive, you know. You're out there and the hype starts, and you go to the Olympic trials and you look at the times and you say, 'You know, I wouldn't be that far off.'" (7)
  
  
• Boxer Michael Spinks contemplated a comeback at age 36, five years after he was knocked out by Mike Tyson. "I earned about $24 million in my career, and even after taxes and expenses I'm so well fixed I'll never be in need. But I miss having a goal, working hard, trying to be good at something. I'm still a young man. There's no reason I can't have that again." (8)

Money plays a role in some comebacks, most notably in boxing. Former athletes see the big money some athletes are paid today and decide they want a share. Example:

• Boxer Larry Holmes (who had been heavyweight champion from 1978 to 1985) has always said money was the primary factor in his return to the sport. In 1990 when he was 40 he noted, "I'm not hurting for money, but I can always use more.

"Another paycheck means another $ 1 million in my kids' trust fund." (9)

According Thomas Tutko, a psychology professor at San Jose State University and author of Winning is Everything and Other American Myths, there are several reasons for comebacks in addition to a desire to return to the spotlight.

"First, I think a vast majority (of athletes who attempt comebacks) have never been prepared for any other thing in life. They've been asked or told to leave a safe haven of total security for a world that's frightening.

"Second, there are enough cases of people making it back into sports, even if only briefly, that athletes begin to think anyone can make it.

"Third, they've had a competitive spirit all their lives. So this becomes just another challenge." (10)

Tutko also pointed out that athletes aren't always given good advice when it comes to their chances for making successful comebacks. They may be surrounded by people who tell them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

Here are some points to keep in mind for anyone contemplating a comeback:

1. Thinking about a comeback is one thing; putting out the effort is another.

Full-time training is hard work. Remember what it was like when you used to do it and then think about why you quit in the first place. Examples:

• Triathlete Dave Scott (who had won the Ironman six times between 1980 and 1987) decided to make a comeback in 1994 at age 40 after having been retired for five years. Since he had kept in shape, he thought he could step back into his routine fairly quickly. But he found out otherwise. "It took me about eight months. I thought it would take six weeks. To get my aerobics base and strength took a lot to get back." (11)

Still, Scott made a successful comeback and finished second at the 1994 Ironman.

• Jim Palmer, Hall of Fame baseball pitcher, decided to try a comeback in 1991 even though he had a successful career as a sportscaster and corporate spokesperson. His comeback attempt ended after he tore a hamstring a few weeks into spring training.

He noted later that he hadn't allowed enough time to get ready first. "... playing tennis, bike riding and lifting weights is real different from throwing pitches, especially when you tack on seven years of retirement.'' (12)

2. Try to pinpoint what you're really trying to accomplish.

Maybe you can achieve it in ways other than making a comeback. Is getting into sports full-time the only way to fill a void? Examples:

• Jim Palmer explained why he pursued a comeback: "There were a couple of things I'd missed about baseball. One is camaraderie. Two, you always have that goal. ... when the season ended, I'd start thinking about the next year." (13)
  
  
• Triathlete Sally Edwards dropped out of the sport for a few years to manage her business, Fleet Feet, a sporting goods chain. Her competitive record included winning the Western States 100-Mile ultramarathon and finishing second once and third three times at the Hawaii Ironman. But at age 44, she decided to begin racing again.

"During my sabbatical from triathlons, I discovered I needed the physical and emotional challenge of training for the tough events. You start to lose motivation when there are no new goals. Besides, nothing worth doing is easy and nothing easy is worth doing." (14)

In 1995 she set a record for the 100-mile Iditashoe Alaskan snowshoe race.

• Swimmer Matt Biondi gave his reason for returning to his sport for a third Olympics. ''I retired after the '88 Olympics because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. But when I was away from swimming, I realized that it was ridiculous to give it up because I still enjoyed it." (15)

Biondi went on to two gold medals in team events and a silver medal in the 50 meter freestyle at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, giving him a total of 11 Olympic medals (8 gold) in his career.

3. If you do decide to give it a try, give yourself a sense of closure.

In other words, win or lose, tell yourself that you tried and it's time to move on. Let yourself feel satisfied with the effort, no matter what the outcome. Either you will be successful and you will prove to yourself and everyone else that you can come back. Or you won't be successful in achieving your goal, but you will prove that you were willing to try. Example:

• Dick Beardsley (whose time in the 1982 Boston Marathon is still the third best time for an American man in a marathon) retired because of Achilles problems. He used $180,000 from a three-year contract with New Balance shoes to buy a dairy farm. But two years later he decided to try to make the 1988 Olympic team. He sold the farm and began training full-time while his wife went to work cleaning houses.

He didn't make the team.

"When I crossed the finish line, I was elated. I'd given 100 percent. It was a relief to have it over. I was glad I tried. If I hadn't, I'd still be wondering if I could have made the team." (16)

 

1 Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, January 8, 1984. (Reprinted from a Los Angeles Times article.)

2 Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, March 22, 1995.

3 USA Today, October 5, 1995.

4 Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, September 8, 1995.

5 USA Today, April 19, 1995.

6 USA Today, May 14, 1991.

7 The Denver Post, September, 3, 1989.

8 The Wall Street Journal, July 16, 1993.

9 The Orange County Register, January 14, 1990.

10 St. Petersburg Times, April 18, 1991.

11 The Washington Times, October 15, 1994.

12 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 27, 1991.

13 USA Today, May 14, 1991.

14 Women's Sports & Fitness, October 1990.

15 USA Today, July 28, 1992.

16 USA Today, December 26, 1989.

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