Imperfect Giants Beat the Perfect Patriots
As a lifelong New York Giant fan from a family of lifelong Giant’s fanatics, I have been basking in the afterglow of the Super Bowl. The game was one for the ages, not just as a sporting event, but as a powerful metaphor for life itself.
The stories and sub-plots will fill a scrapbook.
Even if you are not a sport’s fan, you have to check for pulse if you weren’t on the edge of your seat, fully absorbed in the nerve-racking drama. It was epic entertainment.
Play #13 from the NEW Game playbook is…
“Big doors swing on little hinges.”
How many “little hinges” opened big doors that found the “Imperfect Giants” instead of the “Perfect Patriots” waking up Monday morning as champions of the world?
All year the Giants mantra was, “Talk is cheap.”
My Dad had a mantra of his own:
“Don’t tell me what you’re gonna do.
Tell me when you’ve done it.”
The Giants didn’t talk a great game.
They played a great game.
Games are not played in the locker room, the stands, in the press box, or on paper.
The game is played on the field.
Every day is a new game.
What happened in yesterday’s game is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT.
It has ZERO impact on today… unless you replay yesterday’s game today.
Virtually nobody other than the players, coaches and the die-hard Giant fanatics (yours truly) gave them a shot (for the record, I picked the Giants 30-28).
They didn’t hope, they didn’t wish and they didn’t just believe they could win.
They KNEW they could win.
When they stepped on that field, they were determined to play their best game.
Play #50 in the NEW Game playbook is a mantra I live by.
It’s the title of one of my favorite books by Cheri Huber,
HOW YOU DO ANYTHING, IS HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING.
The Giants didn’t talk a great game.
They went out and played a great game.
Actually, they played four great games, all on the road with the fans against them.
In sports, winning isn’t everything.
Winning is the ONLY thing.
Sport is a zero-sum game.
It demands we crown one winner.
Only one team is left standing at the end of the season.
Business and life are not sports.
They are not zero-sum games.
Business and life do NOT work best as “winner take all” contests, although many people play that way.
I love sports.
Winning is great.
Losing is OK, too.
Nobody wins all the time.
The sport’s mantra, “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser” pumps up the boys in the locker room, but it’s not the business and life wisdom I teach my son.
Being gracious in loss is good sportsmanship, and the sign of a healthy person. We teach our children to play the best game they can, and win or lose, shake hands
after the game.
Playing is what really matters.
Do you play for the love of the game?
Whenever you step on the field, whoever you’re playing with, however many people are in the stands, do you play your best game?
Do you play every game like it might be your last game?
One day it will be.
The Giants ignored everything off the field they could not control.
They put 100% of their attention on the only thing they could control.
They went out on the field and played their best game.
I know Patriots’ fans who feel their team didn’t play their best game.
They also know the Giants had a lot to do with that.
They took New England’s game away.
They asserted their will.
They forced the Patriots to play their game.
They refused to give up.
In a winner take all game, the difference is often the three inches between the ears, and the faith you have in your teammates. There were a dozen heroes in that game, and another dozen unsung ones.
The Giants rose above imperfect record to beat the perfect Patriots when it counted most.
They displayed the heart of a champion for the whole world to see.
They were not perfect.
They are Super Bowl champs.
The good news is that business and life are NOT zero-sum games.
You get to play another game every day.
No matter how many games you’ve lost, you get to put your losses behind you and play a NEW game every day.
What happened yesterday, last week, last month, the past year and every minute of your life to this moment has no effect over what happens today, unless you give it the power to do so.
The Patriots had the heavy weight of perfection hanging over them. It was palpable.
It was for them like it is for us when we feel the unbearable weight of perfection hanging over us.
The Giants had no such weight.
Nobody expected them to be there.
Nobody expected them to win.
They were loose.
They were confident.
They were committed.
They played for their teammates and coaches.
They played for the love of the game.
They played the game of their lives, on the biggest stage, under the most intense pressure, with the whole world watching.
Love of the game is a tough adversary to beat on the gridiron.
It’s an even tougher adversary to beat in life.
If you want to beat adversity, play for the love of the game.
How can you resist someone who loves the game?
How can you not root for the underdog who plays like the favorite?
How can you not cheer for yourself when you’re playing for the love of your game?
I spent too much of my life frittering away precious life force worrying about what other people said or thought.
Don’t you make that mistake.
Don’t worry about what ANYONE says.
Play YOUR game.
Assemble your team.
Surround yourself with people who want to help you win.
Jump on the field.
Play the best game you can.
Play for the love of the game.
You’ll always walk off the field a winner.
Make every day your personal Super Bowl.
You’re a player.
Enjoy the game.
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HOW YOU DO ANYTHING IS HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING…
That was one of the great revelations I discovered from an instructor in a 4-day life-growth class I took ten years ago. It still echoes in my brain with everything I do. I haven’t heard anyone else mention it until today. Didn’t know there was a book with that title! (although it looks like a workbook of some sort from the late ’80s – is that the same one you’re thinking of?)
Yes, I picked the Giants too…!
Well-said, my friend.
Just before halftime, I turned to my friend, a die-hard Pats fan who was watching the game at our house, and said, “The Giants will win this one because Billichick is playing not to lose.” I think the Pats were stunned in the early going and decided they had to throttle back their game plan, which only played further into New York’s excellent game strategy.
Tim, the workbook “How You Do Anything is How You Do Everything” is published by Keep It Simple, you can find it here: http://www.livingcompassion.org/keepitsimple/books.html
Many people use this quote and don’t know who originated it.
It’s a GREAT book, as are all the other GREAT books by Cheri Huber and Keep it Simple.