That’s Why You Play The Game

In the Fall of 2001, the Edmond Santa Fe Wolves football team was under the direction of new head coach Dan Cocannouer. I was a freshman football coach with duties up in the box on Friday nights. After a miraculous must-win in the last game of the season, we found ourselves in the 6A playoffs for the first time in school history. We managed a first round victory on the road against the mighty Bombers of Midwest City which set us up for a home playoff game against the fifth ranked Moore Lions and one of the best pregame speeches I’d ever heard.

Before leaving for the game, we played our home games at a local college, Coach Cocannouer called the team together for his pregame speech. He began to tell the story of David versus Goliath. He made reference to how many outside of that locker room would consider this game very much a modern-day version of the same story. He reminded all of us about the faith and courage that David took to that fight believing God would help him prevail in what seemed to be overwhelming odds. Players were reminded how they had overcome the odds in previous weeks just to get to this opportunity. After several minutes of speaking, coach Cocannouer revealed the secret weapon that we would use to gain victory that evening. Just like David brought down the mighty Philistine with a stone thrown from his sling, coach then presented to us a bag full of stones. At this time, the college field was still a natural grass field. Coach Cocannouer then instructed each player and coach to choose a stone and upon arrival at the stadium for our routine walk on the field, they were to bury their stone over various parts of the field so there would be no place “Goliath” could go without getting “struck” by a stone. Having duties up in the box and arriving early to prepare, I hurried down to the room where the visiting coaches would be for the night and hid my stone in the corner where I hoped it would also contribute to the defeat of “Goliath”. We would claim victory that night and make a run to the state semi-finals where we would fall to the Jenks Trojans.

Just recently in the college baseball world, we saw the overall number one seed fall in their super regional and not qualify for the world series. I believe 1999 was the last year the overall one seed won the world series. Matter of fact, after round one of the world series this year, every national seed was in the losers bracket having lost to what many would deem the underdog.

There are countless hours of formulation, talk shows, and publications dedicated to how certain teams or individuals are ranked. These rankings generate certain perceptions and often times arguments over who will or should prevail in competition. Often times, the team with the higher ranking does indeed emerge victorious but we have seen so many times that many opponents are able to look past the ranking and find their inner “David” to claim victory.

Herb Brooks knew that on paper the Russians were better than his collegiate athletes in 1980 but all he had to do was get them to believe that they could be better one time. The 2000 Oklahoma Sooner Football team wasn’t given a snowballs chance in….well you know where. Florida State had NFL quality players all over the field, the Sooners had no chance. My brother-in-law, Bubba Burcham was on that team, and I was privileged to attended a banquet before the Orange Bowl where I heard Bob Stoops talk about how the media had it where it seemed the Sooners would not even need to get off the bus. He told everyone in that room that his team would travel to Miami and would indeed get off that bus to compete and indeed they did claiming a national championship weeks later.

As a coach, when you have a team that is highly ranked, it is tough to keep them grounded and away from any thought that just because of a number in front of your name the opposing team is going to just roll over and let you beat them. Likewise, when you have a team that seems to face unsurmountable odds against an opponent, it is just as tough to try and get them believing they can indeed be victorious. Great coaches are master psychologists to manage this balance depending on what kind of team they have that particular year. They are able to convince their players that the best team does not always win but it will be the team that plays the best.

Oftentimes in life, we are faced with similar scenarios that put us in the position of the underdog facing a situation or circumstance that seems like “Goliath”. It is in these moments that we must fall back on our faith and muster the courage to draw a “stone” and sling it at the giant we face. There are too many instances of individuals and teams beating the odds for any of us to not take a “shot” at whatever we are aiming for.

I say it all the time when I am involved in discussions regarding an underdog defeating a favorite….”that is why you play the game”!