“Teams were 0 – 13,884 in the last 20 seasons when trailing by 9+ with 35 seconds or fewer entering Tuesday (Dec. 27th, 2022)”
“I’m tired as hell, I need a recovery beer.”
Luca Doncic – post game comments on Bally Sports Southwest – 12/27/2022
What do you do when it seems like ALL of the odds are against you? That’s really a rhetorical question I’m asking. I don’t know that I ever try to know the odds of whatever I’m doing. I do think I like being the underdog, though.
When it comes to work, if someone asks me if I can do something my general answer is a simple “yes” and then I figure it out if I don’t already know the solution.
When it comes to sports/athletics, I’m more “Han Solo” about it – “Never tell me the odds.” For some, in sports, knowing the odds can be inspiring or a challenge to overcome. Sports are so volatile it seems. In the NFL there’s a term “On any given Sunday”, simply to say that it doesn’t matter what the records are, any team can beat any other team at any particular time.
In that context, I often get frustrated with people who are ready to throw in the towel when the odds are against them because you never know what can happen, in sports OR in life. Sports seems to be a good analogy because if the 0-9 team goes up against the 9-0 team and you just look at the stats and probabilities, then “0-9” should just not show up at all. But they do show up, even if they know they will probably lose. But every once in a while they DO win.
In the case of the Mavericks last night, it might not have been about showing up at all, but just giving up at a certain point…because no one has ever done what they are up against to do. And then they not only do not give up, but they overcome. But what if they hadn’t been able to overcome? What if they came up short? Should we have then considered it all a failure to even try? I think not.
In the bigger picture. when the team I root for is not a good team I feel even more like supporting them. It’s easy to be a fan when things are going well, but shouldn’t you be there when things are going poorly? The analogy I associate this with is when you have children and they are learning to walk. When they first stand upright and try to move forward it almost never goes well the first time(s). In fact, they usually fall, in a sense “failing miserably” in their attempt. But when this happens we don’t ridicule or point out their failure. We do the exact opposite – we encourage them, cheer them on for making the attempt, and urge them to try again – no matter how many times they “fail”.
As a sports fan, whether I am at the game or watching it on TV, I always try to stay until the very end. Not because I don’t want to miss the possible amazing comeback, but to support them no matter what the odds or situation. In sports and in life, I’d prefer to be positive and be wrong than to be negative and be right.
Peace!
