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Someone Forgot To Tell The Underdog To Lose
By Bests | January 17, 2008
On Saturday, September 1, 2007, a major event occurred for the first time in college football history that sent ripples throughout college football. The event that took place was a football game between NCAA Division 1 powerhouse Michigan and Division 1AA Champion Appalachian State.
According to the experts, this game had the making of a classic “David vs. Goliath” Story in which David had NO CHANCE of winning and the game was viewed as a joke that wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously. Michigan was considered a contender for the 2007 National Championship and ranked #5 in the nation. Appalachian State was last year’s D-1AA Champion, not ranked in the same polls
as Michigan and considered completely out of their league when compared next to Michigan.
Fortunately for Appalachian State, comparisons and opinions never played football or guaranteed any losses. Someone forgot to send the memo to the Appalachian State Coaches and Players that they
were going to be embarrassed by a REAL football team and had NO CHANCE of winning…but that’s EXACTLY what they did by beating Michigan and pulling off the BIGGEST UPSET in college football
history!
The lesson to be learned from that game is the fact that there’s ALWAYS saying what you can or can’t do in life. And most of the times, we tend to believe them when they say “you’re going to fail.” It’s likely that the Appalachian State Staff had been hearing for weeks about how they were going to be abused all over the field by Michigan with no chance of winning. And I’m sure those predictions still carried weight until the game was over and a whole nation was in shock of the outcome. Even in victory, little David was robbed of the attention and praise it deserved because everyone’s focused on how Goliath gave away the game, embarrassed itself in front of 90,000 fans, and how the coach
should be fired (and probably will be) after the first game of the season.
Sometimes it’s easier for people to make predictions about us based on what they “think we are on the inside based on our outer appearances.” And sometimes, we make predictions about others using the same standard. From most of the critics of little App State, they just saw a small school that resembled a lamb being led to be slaughter. But what they failed to look at was the heart beating inside that lamb. It was that heart that made that lamb ignore the 90,000 seat stadium, the top 5 ranking, the weeks of press coverage leading up to the game; talking about the inevitable butt-kicking they were going to get. That lamb did what underdogs have always done; they ignored the obvious and kicked Michigan butt at home! That’s like inviting your neighbor to your house, starting a fight with them intentionally, and they beat you up in your yard in front of your family!
You would think by now that critics would realize that anything’s possible in a competitive event, but they never seem to learn. Maybe they’ll get the message this time and future underdogs won’t
have to fight so hard to gain respect.
That would be nice…but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for it!
Paul M. Greenhill, “The Wise Grappler”, is the creator of The Wise Grappler System and author of The Wise Grappler Ezine, a weekly ezine that provides martial arts training and personal development tips for the older (over 35) and non-traditional martial artists. To learn more about “The Wise Grappler” and to sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit his site at http://www.thewisegrappler.com or contact him at paul@thewisegrappler.com
(c) 2007 Paul M. Greenhill
Tags: coaching, goal setting, motivational, positive attitude, self esteem, success
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