TheChez.net

By: Dukemich

It seems like everyone always says a team needs to lose in order to win it all. I’m sorry that’s crap. No team has to experience defeat in order to win a championship. Everybody knows the sting of defeat and nobody wants to lose. The game people cite now is the Patriots vs. Giants in Super Bowl 42. The Patriots were by far the better team but on that particular day the Patriots were not the Patriots and the Giants played the game of its life. It would not have mattered if the Patriots lost earlier in the season. The Patriots did not play bad because they were undefeated. They just played bad. Despite the un-Patriotic play, the Pats still should have won the game and gone undefeated. This play is ridiculous and incredible but it should not have happened. Let’s watch.

So, I think Eli Manning should have been sacked eight times during that one play and the ball was caught by a wide-receiver who doesn’t play football anymore because the Giants released him because he sucks. Don’t get me wrong, the Giants played a great game and caught the Pats off guard. However, the Giants still should have lost that game.

The key is focus. Teams that shouldn’t lose usually lose when they lose their focus. What people should be saying is teams need a loss so they can regain their focus. It’s human nature to slack off(for some) when things are going well and you can afford to make mistakes. So if teams keep their focus there’s no reason they should lose unless they are outplayed or have an off day. It has nothing to do with wins or losses. It’s how the game is played, the mindset of the players, the preparation, the coaches, the talent, and the chemistry.

Another thing that’s important is learning how to win in close games. Learning how to WIN not lose. When the Patriots almost had its undefeated season they blew everybody out during the year. When the playoffs hit it became difficult for the Patriots to win because the games were closer and it helped lead to its downfall. However, a team does not necessarily have to learn how to win a close game. They could still go undefeated, which the Patriots should have, but maybe it would have been better if they had better game management skills.

Also, you can learn a lot from a win . You don’t just learn when you lose. My basketball coach used to rip us apart in games that we won by 30. Come to think of it in the games our team lost the only thing I remember was the blaming of the referees for our losses. We did not learn anything from them. We simply regained our focus.

It’s not as if it hasn’t been done before. The ’72 Dolphins did it.The Indiana Hoosiers did it in the ’80s. And the Connecticut Huskies women have done it a couple times in this decade.

Teams don’t have to lose. They just have to bring their game to the playing surface day in and day out. It is rare but it is possible. I hope the Colts do it this year(only if the Packers lose, you suck Roethlisberger) just to show that a team doesn’t have to lose. However, if the Colts make it to the Super Bowl and lose wait until you hear the people say “Well, if they lost during the regular season, then they would have won.” I’m sure they’ll think they are smart when in fact what they are saying makes no sense at all.