Forget the Scoreboard
Too often in athletics and in life, we divide the winners from the losers by simply looking at the scoreboard. Often, the scoreboard doesn’t always tell the entire story. Yes, we all parrot the phrase “I hate to lose.”
As a former coach and athlete, I would agree. To a certain degree. Some of the best games I ever played or coached in, we came up short. As long as everything was left on the field, diamond or court, the scoreboard was actually secondary.
In contests where a team or individual is outmanned or overmatched (take your choice) as coaches, we would emphasize maximum effort and playing to your best ability. My good friend and teammate David Gargis, played on the first CCHS basketball team (1971) to play in the state championship tournament in Tuscaloosa. The Indians had to play Bibb County who had a star named Charles Cleveland who could jump out of the gym. Coach Jerry Daily put David guarding Cleveland. David still laughs about playing one of his best games since he held Charles Cleveland to 48 points. David was a great athlete. Cleveland was elite. He went on to prove it while playing for the University of Alabama along with Leon Douglas. Colbert County lost that year but came back and won it all in 1972.
In 1978, the Triple Crown of horse racing had a year to remember. By the way, the Triple Crown features the Kentucky Derby, followed by the Preakness in Maryland and finally the Belmont in New York. Coming into the ‘78 series, there were two thoroughbreds who were at the top of their game: Affirmed and Alydar.
In the Derby, Affirmed beat Alydar by one length. In the Preakness, Affirmed won by a neck over Alydar. In the Belmont, Affirmed won by a nose which gave him the Triple Crown. That’s what the “scoreboard” showed. Alydar finished second in all three races.
Alydar had the misfortune of being born in the same year as Affirmed. In any other year, Alydar would probably have won the Triple Crown. For casual racing fans, all they know is Affirmed won all 3 races. To me, forget the scoreboard. Alydar was a winner too.
As we get ready for college football starting this month, the “best” team, has to have a lot fall in place to win it all. That includes injury luck and schedule luck. Teams like Penn State whose schedule is a joke, could easily make the playoffs then get boat raced in the playoffs. This is Not a misprint: they don’t play the 3 REAL teams in the Big 10: Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon. Their non-conference games (all at home or in state) will be real barnburners: Marshall, Temple and Buffalo (not the Bills but the Bulls.)
Every football coach who has ever blown a whistle has been faced with the inevitable task of trying to motivate a team at halftime when their team was behind by 4 touchdowns. The message is always the same: “First of all, forget the scoreboard. We are playing against US. Let’s play to the best of our ability to win the third quarter. Then, let’s win the fourth quarter. At the end of the game, the scoreboard might show that time ran out on us, but we can walk out of here with our heads held high.”
This story was told by Lou Holtz when he was coaching at William and Mary. (His ongoing joke was that they had too many Mary’s and not enough William’s. He would get fired today for that sexist comment.) They were getting beat by 5 touchdowns at halftime. When the locker room doors flew open for the second half, the players sprinted out like their hair was on fire.
A reporter caught Holtz before the second half kickoff and asked him what kind of motivational talk did he present to get them fired up like that? As Lou could only say: “I told them that the last 11 out of the locker room were going to have to START the second half!”
The Scoreboard of Life works the same way. We associate the winners with their status in the community. How many “things” have they collected? Boats, cars, condos, big houses, financial portfolio, and simply living the life that makes others envious.
To me, that scoreboard is useless. My 12-year-old grandson is currently reading the best-selling book “Rich Dad Poor Dad.” It really puts things in perspective. Winners in life don’t need a scoreboard. Their ’’wins” are based on “things” that can’t be touched or measured.
Giving back to the community like the volunteers at the St. Jude Trail Ride. Living a purpose-filled life. Making a difference in your everyday association with others. Remembering that character far exceeds reputation. Showing class has nothing to do with a bank account.
For each of us, there will come a day when the lights and clock on our on scoreboard will be turned off forever.
Forget the scoreboard.
Just enjoy the game.