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Thu, 15 Sep 2011

Winning - Football Example

I am a fan of American football. I am a fan of the New England Patriots. They won the game on Monday night, and set a team record for offense, with quarterback Tom Brady becoming the fifth all time with 517 passing yards for the game.

Winning seems to come often to the Patriots. But is winning all it seems?



"O'Brien and head coach Bill Belichick were more focused on the little things the team did wrong in the opener as opposed to the many areas in which they excelled. Belichick was unhappy the Patriots failed to score after having the ball on the Dolphins' 1-yard line late in the first half, then failed to put the game out of reach more decisively with a couple of first downs in the closing minutes." NFL.com

It would seem that the coaches are not satisfied with just "winning." Other parts of the game motivate them to do a better job, even after a spectacular win.

Tom Brady, himself, said, "I enjoy scoring points. Whatever the hell we need to do to score points that's what I enjoy doing. Sometimes we go fast, sometimes we go slow, it's just a matter of what the point at the drive is, how we're trying to execute, and ultimately trying to get the ball in the endzone." It seems, again, that winning might just be a byproduct of the stuff that really matters.

Working to get better for the next challenge, reducing the number and severity of mistakes. Scoring, scoring again, and scoring yet again.

For the part of the team on the other side of the football, the defense, scoring points clearly cannot be the goal. They focus on doing everything they can to reduce the  number of opponents' scores. They plug the gaps in the line of scrimmage, race along down the football field to stick out a hand at just the right moment, disrupting a pass catch. They stick a shoulder into the midriff of a running back trying to knock him to the ground and maybe to also knock the ball loose so there will be a turnover. Getting better at these defensive skills might be what winning teams focus on.

A recent radio talk show discussion[1] of winning included the suggestion that winning is the most important part of the psychology of amateur sports, that teaching the children or college kids to be winners was the main point of sports.

These thoughts from members of one of the current most winning teams suggest there is something more important on a day-to-day basis. Boosters of amateur sports might do well to listen to these professionals.


[1] Jim and Margery on Boston's FM 96.9 "Boston Talks"


posted at: 13:38 | path: | permanent link to this entry