Do or Die (Literally)
As the Mavericks continued their domination over subpar teams last night, I decided to watch one of the coolest shows on tv: Live Wire on the NFL Network. If you haven't checked it out, you should.
The NFL Network "wires" players before the game to record their verbal exchanges before, during and after each contest. Last night's show highlighted guys like Leon Washington and Jay Cutler talking in the huddle, before the play, etc...
As I watched the hour-long presentation, something really resonated with me:every single team had loud, emotional pre-game speeches. It was generally in the mold of:
"This is our house! This is what he have been working for all year! We are not going to let these guys take this away from us!"
Whatever the specific message, it was clear: every team did it. Every team got together, jumped around and got pumped before the game. During the game, every team had guys that were encouraging their teammates while on the sideline. Every team had a few guys yelling up and down the roster at critical points of the game.
And in every game, one of the teams lost.
I know, I couldn't believe it either. How did it happen?
How, after hearing the amazingly original and inspiring, "This is OUR house" speeches, did 50% of the teams lose?
How, after seeing a teammate proclaim that it is "our time" did the guys not pull together to secure a victory? Were they not listening? After all, it was "their" time!
At first, I could not figure it out. I mean, if I learned that someone was coming into my house and was going to steal my dream, I would be pissed. To quote A Night at the Roxbury, "You can't take away our dreams...because we're like sleeping when we have them!"
And secondly, how dare he come into my house to steal my dreams. No way I would let that happen.
But as I continued to watch, I began to understand just how half of the teams in question had lost. You see, the Tennessee Titans had proclaimed their playoff game as "their time" in "their house." There was just one problem: Ray Lewis stood on the opposing sideline.
Lewis is like the Anthony Robbins of NFL pre-game speeches. On this day, not only did Ray-Ray produce his infamous "crazy eyes" during his speech, he also directly refuted the previous Titans' claim by telling his teammates that "this is our time."
I don't know who awards teams with the "our time" label, but there appeared to be a mix-up. Tennessee thought that it was "their time" and also proclaimed the field to be "their house." Lewis simply shouted that it was "our time." The Titans appeared to have the advantage, two to one:
Breakdown
"Our House" + "Our Time" > "Our Time"
But in the end, Baltimore won the game. After re-watching the episode, I found the loophole that Baltimore's Lewis had exposed.
Yes, the Titans did state that it was "their time" and "their house;" however, Lewis used his wild-card. You see, Ray Lewis was accused of murder in 2000. As a result, his speech carried much more significance: if you did not follow Ray's lead, there was a chance that you could be shot. Based on the new information:
New Breakdown
"Our Time" + "Our House" < "Our Time" + stated-by-a-guy-formerly-accused-of-murder
Taking this specific case-study into consideration, I have created a few rules for the relationship between motivational talks and winning:
1) You must give a motivational talk before and during each game (every team did so)
2) If you motivate your team throughout the game, you have a 50% chance of winning
3) The number of pre-game claims that you make directly translates into wins
* Unless the opposing claim is made by a former murder-suspect...in which case, the opposing claim cannot be defeated (fear of being murdered > wanting to win)
To sum up (back to reality), every single team in the NFL has a guy or two that gives pre-game speeches. Every single team in the NFL has a guy or two that walks up and down the sideline "motivating" his teammates. Despite all of the efforts to motivate and energize their teammates, 50% of the "motivators" lose each week.
The game is about execution, not motivation. Teams that execute at a high level win games. Teams that don't, lose.
