TODAY'S FINAL SCORE...
Updated: Sep 28
September 27, 2026
By Mike Primeau - Founder of The Playroom Experiment
We just returned from my son's exhibition baseball game this afternoon.
His new team lost a fall exhibition doubleheader, 14-3 and 19-2. Well...that's not very motivating, is it?
Earlier in the summer, his previous Brampton Royals baseball team had a wonderful season. They won a tournament, made the finals in another, and posted a 28-12 record for the year.
Many of his teammates moved up with him, and after only three days' rest in an "offseason," it was right back to practices, reps, and what many would call a grind.
But that's ok, because these young men like the grind - especially after being motivated by their last season.
And there it is. That word, motivation. The thing that depends entirely on your current mood.
It can be your best friend one minute and your arch enemy the next.
I was always motivated at the beginning of every school year, only to find it gone when the homework started coming in the first week.
Anyone remember those days?
Motivation, I guess, is what helps you get a jump-start. It's an emotional spark, but it seems to stop there.
My lifelong friend Jeff was extremely committed to his workout regimen in high school. He was also rigid with his diet. So much so that when he ate bananas, he claimed he had to chew 20 times before swallowing for proper digestion. I'll take it at face value.
But there were times I would stand there watching him make very deliberate mouth movements, COUNTING THE CHEWS. That was not motivation. For him, that was discipline. The thing we lean on to still "show up".
There's a one-liner that I think about from time to time, and I can't say I remember where I first heard or saw it - maybe one of those business office frames that companies use to motivate their employees.
But it goes: You will always drive into the thing you are staring at.
Which way will you turn your head when motivation does not work - when something interrupts that emotional spark?
What's left? Discipline, they say (the experts).
So back to that 12-3 and 19-2 "oopsy". My son says he wants to work out after dinner tonight. To him, it's a way to get through a barrier and find one little victory before the day's end.
Either way, he owns the choice.
I have a dose of pride in his self-discipline after taking it on the chin.
I might even join him for the workout.
