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Beating the Odds

The Importance of Hope

“Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.” — Unknown
Last night the Los Angeles Angels beat the Yankees to extend their American League championship Series to a sixth game. The Angels are trying to become the latest team to rebound from a 3-1 series deficit and advance.
A few teams — most recently the Boston Red Sox in 2007 — rebounded to win after falling into a hole. What are the physical and psychological difficulties that go into a comeback?
First the physical. When you fall behind in post-season play, it’s usually to a good team. They got to the post-season for a reason, and they went ahead for reason. Beating them will be hard.
Then there is the mistake factor. A team that is trailing in a series doesn’t have much margin for error.
But most of all, I believe that falling into a hole against a good team can bring a loss of hope. It can become just too hard to believe in the future.
That’s when you have to remember this little riddle. “How do you swallow an elephant?” Bite by bite.
For example, it’s too difficult for any team to imagine beating the Yankees three games in a row. But you can imagine beating them once — just once — to extend the series. And then you can imagine doing it again.
Eating an elephant bite by bite can bring hope. And coaches and team captains must be merchants in hope. In huddles, pre-game meetings, practices, they must give the team reason to hope.
That’s why I love the quote that began this article. “Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.” It’s human to get tired and even discouraged. But it’s the mark of a champion to keep acting and preparing like a winner no matter what the score.

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