Chris Colson

During one of the worst losing streaks of my career, our team president walked into my office. Keli McGregor. One of the best men I've ever known. He could have come to vent. To question my decisions. To ask hard questions. Instead, he said: "Cut to the chase, Clint. What's next?" I looked him in the eye and gave him two words: "Shower well." The Colorado Rockies were struggling badly that year. Pregame preparation was solid. Scout meetings, early work, attention to detail. All of it was there. But at game time, the tires were flat. I told Keli: the game did everything it could to us today. We just couldn't meet its demands. Now it was time to reset. "Shower well" means exactly this: • Watch the frustration circle down the drain • Shampoo, rinse, repeat and get the grime of today completely off your mind • Walk out clean, go home, and actually rest Leave it at the ballpark. The game is over. There's nothing left to solve tonight. Keli nodded. Asked if he could share it with the whole organization. I said sure. And then it hit me. This isn't just for baseball. Bad day at the office. Grumpy boss. Missed deadline. Traffic on the way home. You can carry all of that through your front door. Or you can shower well. I've never seen a single problem get better because someone dragged it home with them. The reset is a discipline. Same as preparation. Same as showing up. Either we win. Or we learn. The only real loss? When you don't take a single thing out of a hard day. So tonight, whatever kind of day it was, shower well. Tomorrow is a new at-bat. What does your reset look like? I'd love to hear it.

Everybody Knows Dave... Dave was bragging to his boss one day, "You know, I know everyone there is to know. Just name someone, anyone, and I know them." Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff, "OK, Dave, how about Tom Cruise?" "No dramas boss, Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it." So Dave and his boss fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom Cruise's door, and Tom Cruise shouts, "Dave! What's happening? Great to see you! Come on in for a beer!" Although impressed, Dave's boss is still sceptical. After they leave Cruise's house, he tells Dave that he thinks Dave's knowing Cruise was just lucky. "No, no, just name anyone else," Dave says. "Ex-President Obama," his boss quickly retorts. "Yup," Dave says, "Old buddies, let's fly out to Washington," and off they go. Obama spots Dave in Washington and motions him and his boss over, saying, "Dave, what a surprise, I was just on my way to a meeting, but you and your friend come on in and let's have a beer first and catch up." Well, the boss is very shaken by now, but still not totally convinced. After they leave Washington, he expresses his doubts to Dave, who again implores him to name anyone else. "Pope Francis," his boss replies. "Sure!" says Dave. "I've known the Pope for years." So off they fly to Rome. Dave and his boss are assembled with the masses at the Vatican's St. Peter's Square when Dave says, "This will never work. I can't catch the Pope's eye among all these people. Tell you what, I know all the guards, so let me just go upstairs and I'll come out on the balcony with the Pope." He disappears into the crowd, headed towards the Vatican. Sure enough, half an hour later, Dave emerges with the Pope on the balcony, but by the time Dave returns, he finds that his boss has had a heart attack and is surrounded by paramedics. Making his way to his boss's side, Dave asks him, "What happened?" His boss looks up and says, "It was the final straw... You and the Pope came out onto the balcony, and the man next to me said, 'Who the fuck is that on the balcony with Dave?'