Daily Columnist

Whether or not the weather cooperates, athletes still run in the sweltering sun, swing in the sleety snow or pass the pigskin while the sky is pissing down on them. That’s just how it is, and that’s how it will always be because weather is beyond our control. The only adjustment that can be made to the weather is an attitude adjustment.

Cyclone Lindsey Rector said last Sunday after the soccer team lost a game played in miserable conditions, that weather was a worry but “that’s not an excuse for losing.” She’s right.

But it’s difficult to say the weather does or does not affect the outcome. The weather is never perfect. People always find something wrong — too sunny, too hot, too rainy, too cold, wind too westerly or snow too deep. “Ideal conditions” do not exist, and if they do, it’s when I’m sitting in the house.

I don’t really know if weather inhibits an athlete’s physical ability to perform. Sure, it’s harder to throw the ball, move the legs, breath in, breath out and all that stuff. But athletes suck it up, win a race or set a record in all sorts of conditions.

I have come to the conclusion the sun, rain, wind and snow have an impact on an athlete’s psyche. I also believe the most important conditions to consider going into a contest are those conditions of the mind.

But if it isn’t an issue between the ears, it’s an issue before the eyes. Hence the media.

Baylor game. While making predictions about the game, weather was one thing Iowa State snagged as a possible advantage for our team that was 0-6 until Homecoming. Truth? Optimism? A stretch to find something to save our spirit? It really doesn’t matter.

The fact is, sportswriters speculated about the impact the cold weather would have on the Baylor team. They pointed out that ISU suffered in the Texas heat last year, and maybe in the 1997 game climate it would be Baylor’s turn to suffer. For ISU, hot meant bad, cold means good.

By golly, we won. And the climate takes some of the credit. I think that’s okay. Whatever makes people feel good inside. Cold weather doesn’t make me feel good, but winning usually does.

But we really know it wasn’t the weather that gave a reason to rip down the goal post.

It was the battle between two basement teams in the Big 12 Conference; we played the better game and we won (playing in crappy Iowa weather).

The World Series also stirred some talk about the weather. The conditions in Florida were 77 sweet degrees, while Cleveland’s field was snow-stricken. Going into Game 3, the Marlins’ Al Leiter talked about how he would have trouble gripping his pitches.

Coach Jim Leyland said, “The fingers and the feet get cold, but the heart stays warm.” (Well, that’s because the heart is inside a few layers of skin, some lungs and a few other important things and the feet and fingers are only covered by socks and shoes and mittens.)

Anyway, the Marlins garnered two wins in the Indian winter-stricken territory and eventually took the Series. Climate takes no credit because each took turns winning the games in winter and summer temperatures.

So where are we now? At the end. Don’t let the weatherman make the forecast for your competition; use your mind to make the contest’s forecast. After all, as Rector said, weather is not an excuse for the results.

Amanda Fier is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.