I like to think of myself as something of a scientist. An out of work scientist, but that’s a whole ‘nuther ball of wax. As such, I look at articles and research such as this with a curious eye. For those click averse, it is an article discussing the virtues of ‘grit’ over IQ as a predictor of success in life.
It’s fascinating research that lends credence to the notion that perseverance and volition will get you further in life and will allow you to accomplish long-term goals more so than just being a Smarty McSmartypants. While the premise of the work is still something I wrestle with in terms of its application to everyday life, the research and its results did strike a chord in my baseball mind.
‘You gotta have heart’.
‘Gritty, gutty, and scrappy will conquer all’.
You’ve heard plenty of these paroxysms, so I will stop there.
But is there something to having 25 gritty, gutty sons of bitches on a baseball team that might cure all ills, first round draft picks be damned?
Inspired, I devised my own survey for baseball players – the Longitudinal Obstinance and Moxie Barometer for Organizations, or L.O.M.B.O.
With it, I hope to determine whether there is something to a gritty personality. It’s just recently devised, so I need some help acquiring data. In fact, consider this an invite to take the survey yourself — you can find it here.
Give it a go and see how gritty of a player YOU are. Here’s a quick and dirty breakdown of the scoring:
SCORING
0-2: Lazy. No heart. You don’t run out ground balls and pimp home runs, while also possibly peeing in pools in the process.
3-5: Occasionally inspired, when the mood strikes. You are Adrian Beltre in a contract year.
6-8: You’re full of mettle, but you don’t bring your lunch pail to work every day. You’re not just having fun out there. You lack the will to win.
9-10: You’re a member of the Eckstein family. Holy shit, you’re covered in dirt even after showering and eat New Hampshire granite for breakfast, you’re so fucking gritty.
*EDIT* Since I am nicht so gut with Survey Monkey and it doesn’t look like they have an automated scoring system, here is the scoring rubric:
| Question | Points | ||
| 1 | Yes = 1 | No = 0 | |
| 2 | Only lefties = 1 | Often As I Can = 2 | Stroke = 0 |
| 3 | One = 0 | Two = 1 | |
| 4 | Laser = 0 | On a Hop = 1 | |
| 5 | Weight = 1 | Batting Avg. = 0 | Bunts = 2 |
| 6 | Yes = 3 | No = 0 |
Tagged: grit, Steve Lombardozzi
