Chenmark's Weekly Thoughts :: Play Ball!

In honor of the start of youth baseball season, last weekend we watched A League of Their Own. We hadn’t seen it since the ’90s and are happy to report that it stands the test of time. For those unfamiliar with the 1992 classic, the film chronicles the creation of a women’s baseball league while “the boys were away” fighting in World War II. It’s a great movie, and although it didn’t win major awards, in 2012 the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” At one point in the movie, the lead character, Dottie Hinson (played by Geena Davis), decides to quit the league and return to Oregon with her husband. As she’s leaving, she gets into an argument with her team’s manager, Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks). From the movie: Jimmy: You know, I really thought you were a ballplayer. Dottie: Well, you were wrong. Jimmy: Was I? Dottie: Yeah. It’s only a game. It’s only a game, and I don’t need this. I have Bob. I don’t need this. I don’t. Jimmy: I gave away five years of my career to drinking—five years. And now there isn’t one thing I wouldn’t do to get back one day of it. Dottie: Well, we’re different. Jimmy: Chicken shit, Dottie. You want to go back to Oregon and make a hundred babies, great—I’m in no position to tell anybody how to live. But sneaking out like this, quitting—you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Baseball is what gets inside you. It’s what lights you up. You can’t deny that. Dottie: It just got too hard. Jimmy: It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great. What a line. Spoiler Alert: the message resonated with Dottie, who showed up in time for the final game of the World Series. You’ll have to watch the movie to find out if her team won. So what does this have to do with SMB? In a world where people seem to covet ease, convenience, and simplicity, it’s worth remembering that there is value in doing hard things. There is no way around it: life in SMB is often hard. We talk to thousands of prospects to close one deal. We have talented people quit unexpectedly. People lie during diligence. Margins compress when unexpected wars drive up input costs. We spend countless hours trying to understand incomprehensible regulations - and still can’t figure them out. The list goes on. The good news is that we’re not building Chenmark because it’s easy. We are building Chenmark because it’s hard, and because we know that’s where the magic is. The hard is precisely what makes it great. Let's play ball! Have a great week, Your Chenmark Team Subscribe to Weekly Thoughts Also, we're hiring.