Nicholas Cage is one of the finest actors of all time and his portrayal of a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas will go down as one of the greatest performances in Hollywood. Yet in 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2014, he was nominated for the Golden Raspberries, an award given for the worst performances. Every great actor has their fair share of duds but Nicholas Cage’s recent career graph has been anything but consistent.
You won’t label a rookie as being out-of-form.
And you won’t call a champion professional inconsistent.
It’s easy to confuse one with the other.
To label someone as out-of-form, they need to have proven that they have performed before, stood up when it mattered, dug deep when it was required and stood out from the rest.
Out-of-form happens even to the best-of-the-best.
A player ranked Number 1 can suddenly be injured, face a personal upheaval, lose motivation, get muddled in the head and suddenly see a dip in their ability to conjure up the magic on a consistent basis.
Tiger Woods was out-of-form for nearly a decade before he won a title in 2019. Before that, he had won his last title in 2009.
Andre Agassi was ranked Number 1 in 1995. By 1997, injuries and personal turmoil meant he sank to 141 in the rankings. In 1999, he won the French and US Opens and ended the year at Number 1.
Amitabh Bachan, one of the greatest actors of all time, went into a slump from the mid-80s to most of the 90s until his career was revived by a quiz show.
Inconsistency affects all of us at some point.
When someone waxes and wanes in their performance, they are called inconsistent. They might do something amazing once in a while but their performance is like a lucky draw.
On his day, Yusuf Pathan could pummel attacks with his heavy-hitting and was a part of two World Cup-winning squads. But his big-hitting was inconsistent and he soon lost his place in the side.
The Pakistani cricket team is one of the most inconsistent. On their day they can annihilate the best of teams and when they don’t turn up, they can play awfully. This inconsistency is exhilarating as much as it is…
