European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 20 a a a the stars and stripes thursday december 27,1990 cakewalk nothing stops a i a Man who s t m Mem i. A a mme p in the zone by John Nelson Al sports writer Bill Walton pivots the Ball arcs toward the Basket swish and he makes 21 of 22 from the Field in one of College basketball s greatest performances. Piece of cake. The game is in slow motion and the Basket is the size of the Pacific Ocean. A it s that magic feeling that every athlete tries to get a Walton said. Al Geiberger stands Over a 10-foot putt hits it without hesitation and it Rolls into the Hole for golfs greatest pressure round a tour record 59. Never in doubt he a putting Down the grand Canyon into a Hole As big As a Grain silo. A wait of a sudden you find yourself in a certain feeling an Aura and you Cimet do anything wrong a Geiberger said. . Simpson takes the hand off and sweeps right the defensive end lunges at his Shadow Simpson is by him on his Way to an nil record 2,003 Yards in one season. No sweat. He hears the heartbeat of every player on the Field and can outrun a 140-Mph sports car. A it was like i knew i could whip anybody a Simpson said. Ballplayers Call it a the they Veall Felt it they talk about it among themselves but rarely does this secret leave the locker room. Why because they re usually not sure How to get it How to keep it or even what it really is. Its almost a superstition done to mention it or it la go away and never come Back. A basically what you re talking about is a heightened state of consciousness an altered state a you will a said or. Erie Margenau a new York psychologist specializing in sports. A in effect it s a form of its form varies among athletes and its different in different sports some liken it to Dejavu others to a mystical out of body experience players seem to agree on one thing the greater the Challenge the easier it is to find the Bill Walton on March 26,197.1, Walton scored 44 Points for Urcla in an 87-66 rout of Memphis state. He took 22 shots from All Over the court and missed just once. He was always Good but this night he was. Something else. It May have been the greatest performance in the career of the most Complete College player Ever. A -. _ r. Walton was in the zone. A when you re a Good player you have it a lot during your career a Walton said. A you get it roiling and All of a sudden you just Start clicking and the Basket seems to be As big As the Ocean. A it seems like the whole game everything is in slow motion except for you. The Ball is in slow a motion the opposition is in slow motion but you re going at regular players can prepare for it and its easy to recognize a but you never know when its going to come a he said. A you can to Force it. You have to let it flow let it ride All you want to do is make sure your teammates know you re in it so give you the Ball a he said players try to coax it along by re creating the same conditions that brought it on last time even Down to eating the same foods Walton said. It also helps when the other team is Good. A the More you respect your opponents the better they Are the greater the Chance of you getting into it a Walton said. Once it arrives it can last for an hour a Day a for you can be in the zone of brilliance for a Good Long stretch a said Walton. A then something happens a slight injury or you just come Down a Little or you re not quite ready and then it goes till it comes Back a. Again a ,.����. A a. A Al Geiberger it was 102 degrees for the second round of the 1977 Mcm Phis classic at colonial country club. Geiberger used just 30 shots on the first nine holes then he Eagle the 10th. He was on his Way to what still stands As the pea tour record a 59 that boggles even his own mind Geiberger was in the zone. A when i go Back to colonial and walk around that course i think to myself a my god i was 10-under Here i birdied this Hole then i shot 59. How in the Heck did i do this a a Geiberger knows How it Felt but its Tough to explain. A a it a not like you re hypnotized or that its something you wont remember. You re very aware and you have a relaxed feeling. Maybe things go by a Little slower. There is a Little bit of numbness but you re in total �?o1 think one Way you can relate to it in Golf is the backswing. If in a in the zone in a a Little More relaxed and my backswing seems like it lakes a lot longer. Ibs the opposite of what you feel when you re on the negative Side of the zone when you can to slow Down your it can to be manufactured you re not always aware of it right away and a if you re conscious of it happening you usually choke to death a he said. That Day at colonial Geiberger was 2-under after five holes then it happened / a i went Birdie Birdie Birdie Birdie Eagle Birdie Birdie a holes 6 through 12. It crept up and then in it a in a the zone a time slowed for Bill Walton above left . Simpson right found himself a in tune with every player on the Field. Al Geiberger a zone was a a a Valley that sent every putt into the Hole. Geiberger said a i had moved into another frequency. I miss. The Hole started looking bigger. It looked like i was putting Down a Valley there was something driving me a the heat might have helped. He said it was so uncomfortable it kept his mind off his swing. After the round a reporter asked Geiberger How it Felt to have a 10-footer on the 18th Hole for 59. Geiberger wrestled with the concept. He did no to feel anything just then. Finally the reporter said a i know How id feel. They a have had to erect a statue to me on the Golf course because id have Frozen Over that a lie did no to understand a Gei Burger said. Quot i knew the putt was going in i just walked up and hit it Down the Valley a a . Simpson it was snowing and the Buffalo Bills were playing the new York jets at Shea stadium in the final game of the 1973 season. Simpson needed 197 Yards Over a Frozen Slippery Field to be the first running Back in nil history to reach the 2,000-Yard Mark he got 200 and wound up with 2.003. He was in the zone. A when i used to really get into the zone could see every thing i could gauge everybody a Simpson said �?o1 knew everybody a heartbeat. I knew who was keyed up who was getting tired Soho i could muscle. I got in tune with every player out there. And once i got into that zone it was a hey give me the a it was sort of like that movie a the predator a where he could see. The hot spots with his in. Framed vision. I could see Alt the soft a. A unlike the others Simpson said lie usually could count on getting into the zone every. Game in the third or fourth Quarter. He thinks it had some thing to do with his body weight. He would enter the game at about 215, and when he got Down to 207 or 206, he was m the zone. A i had it Down to a science a he said. A when everybody else was slowing Down in the fourth Quarter i was speeding up. Once i was in it i was in it i d leave the Field in it and i sleep after the now Simpson quenches his thirst for the zone in a shiny red sports ear racing across the Mojave desert. �?o1 was going Down the Road with this buddy and we were doing 140 Mph a Simpson said. A everything seemed so big out there even the lines in the Road and everything was going by so slowly. We were both saying it Felt like we weren to going More than 10 Mph and i was sure i could get out and run next to the car. J a a that a the Way it used to be when i was really in the
