Competing

Part of my DNA as a person comes from my desire to compete. While I’m not fanatical when it comes to winning, I do like to win. I mean, who doesn’t? Whether it’s in my small competitive world ranging from winning flag football championships in my previous life as a collegiate intramural athlete to winning fantasy football championships now, I enjoy winning as much as the next guy. One of my personal favorite sayings is that you never get tired of winning championships.

What I take from winning in general is that I won fair and square. I didn’t cheat. I still hear the ringing in my ears decades later from the voice of one of my Boy’s Club baseball coaches who always asked me, “Did you do the best you could today?”

My point is that you want to answer that question on a level playing field. Just roll the ball out there and wait for it…compete. With the players, do the best you can and with the coaches coach the best you can.

Within the rules.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Bill Belichick is one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NFL. As a coach, he won eight championships, including six as a head coach. Heck, he won more championships than the coach who the league trophy is named after. No doubt or debate. Hall of Fame coach.

If you acknowledge all of that, you also have to acknowledge Spygate.

Spygate wasn’t just a misinterpretation of the rules. It was a controversy that brought into question the integrity of the game. It is here that I must mention videotaping opposing teams is not illegal in general; there are just designated areas allowed by the league to do such taping.

In the case of Spygate, those rules were simply not good enough.

I must say that I am not singling him out other than to say that he was caught. I am not that naive to think that he was only one doing this. There is no bias against his team (my team has actually won seven of twelve games against him for his career). No beef with him or his team at all.

While I could say so much more about this, for me, for Belichick not getting in on the first ballot is not that big of a deal. It’s a small price to pay. 

1%

At this time in my life, I’ve decided to make a relatively new change in my life. After 18 years with the same company, I was forced out. Now understand, I get business decisions and I’m not looking for any sympathy. As my older brother always used to tell me, that’s life.

It still started a floundering process for me. I admit, I was resentful. I could see if I was I guy that came to work late regularly, wasn’t a team player or a rebel rouser in general. I wasn’t. I kept my nose clean, stayed out of trouble and wanted nothing more than success for my organization and my teammates. The way it ended for me there did make me feel a certain way.

But again, that’s life.

I say all of this to just to give you background and color to this moment. Still, now what?

Vince Lombardi was of the most successful coaches in NFL history. He won five championships (including the first two Super Bowls), won almost three of four games for his career and only lost one playoff game. The league trophy is called the Lombardi trophy. Some of his more memorable quotes are:

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

“Winners never quit and quitters never win”

The one quote attributed to him that I have taken closer to heart is related to the speech he gave his team, the Green Bay Packers, when he took over the head coaching job. The previous year the Packers won just one of twelve games. The story goes that he walked into room and told the players:

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we will catch excellence.”

The following year, the Packers won the Western Conference.

To use the poker vernacular, I’m going all in. What does that mean? I don’t know. While I understand that’s confusing, I don’t know. Again, confusing. I’m going to work on improving myself to be the best I can be. In whatever that is. Whatever it is will include a have sports (or competitive) slant to it. With myself . After all, this is a sports blog isn’t it?

Here’s the risk. As the new jacks say, I’m putting myself “on blast”. While at the end of the day you are accountable to yourself, I want you to be partners with me on this. Again, I’ll let this lie like this and go forward.

Again, I don’t know. But I do know this: enough of this floundering.