Super Monday
I’m writing this before the Super Bowl. Before the game, the commercials, the copious amount of high calories foods are consumed I’m going to make a prediction. Well sort of.
You see these were not the two best teams in the NFL this year. They were really good but not the best. The best regular season team in the NFL and AFC was once again, The New England Patriots. I wrote about them awhile back if you’d like take a look. In the NFC, the Atlanta Falcons were really good this year and yet they are not in the Super Bowl.
He knows how to win
Why is that? Why don’t the very best make it to the Championship game? Sometimes luck is involved. But I’d say that maybe, just maybe we’re looking at the wrong things. You see, regular season record just gets you a ticket to the playoffs. You have to be good enough to get to there. But once you get into the playoffs you need to have something more. Something that is better than what the rest of the good teams have. What is it exactly that separates the winners from losers?
Not faster or stronger
I believe it is the will. It is the will of the leaders, the coaches and the influential players on the team that infect the rest of the players. They make them believe that they will be better, to believe in their abilities, strategies and play execution is what separates the winners from the losers. But don’t both team have that will? Sure but one must over come the other because they cannot tie.
In life and business it’s not always this cut and dry. Lots of people can win but lots will also lose. Maybe someone took too much risk. Maybe they didn’t take enough. Each failure is different but so is each success. If only we all had the foresight to recognize when we are at that moment where the next decision we make will make or break us. If only we had a crystal ball.
In football we know that if you are within one score, at the end of a game and you are on 4th down, that is the critical moment. Everyone knows it. In life we don’t have line judges and referees telling us, “this is it, 4th down, don’t screw it up.” It’s up to you to trust your gut, get as much information as you can about your current situation and aggresivly execute your course of action. And then, hold on for the ride.
Having said all this, I think the Steelers will win. I just hope it’s an exciting game.
Reiter Thinks 
From Yahoo sports…
“Just as he had after the Green Bay Packers won the NFC championship, Charles Woodson(notes) stood in the locker room and addressed his teammates. It was halftime of Super Bowl XLV and the 2009 NFL defensive player of the year had just been diagnosed with a broken collarbone, which he suffered in the second quarter of the game. Woodson began to talk to his teammates, to try and tell them how much he wanted to win the title and how they’d need to do so without his presence on the field. One player compared it to the famous “win one for the Gipper” speech.
Only, Woodson couldn’t get out more than a few words before breaking down in tears. “I couldn’t do it,” Woodson said after the game. “I was just too emotional.”
The team leader helped to inspire. It’s those moments that make all the difference. They cannot be predicted or scheduled. Leaders lead.