Underdog Army defeated Syracuse University in the opening round of the NCAA playoffs last week.  Syracuse was the 2-time defending National Champion and the number 2 ranked team in the country. Many consider it to be the greatest upset in the history of the tournament.

Teams often want to be the favorites going into a game, especially when a championship is on the line. They feel that it gives them a competitive advantage - a psychological edge. The favorite team feels honored to have been recognized for superior athletic skills and their play in the games leading up to the championship. Rather than being placed in a position where they might question themselves or their ability, they are given reason to feel self confident from the get go.

In my opinion, however, this self-confidence is the very reason that I would rather be the underdog.

I don’t like being told that I can’t do something. It makes me feel compelled to prove myself. Perhaps I’m playing scared, but being the underdog makes me want to rise beyond expectations. My competitive spirit kicks in. I want to prove I can win.

Being the underdog doesn’t dishearten me. Instead, it forces me to concentrate. I have to focus on my strengths. I have to analyze the other team’s weaknesses. My underdog team needs to put together a game plan that magnifies the other team’s weaknesses through the use of our strengths. As Army showed in the game against Syracuse, having the underdog moniker doesn’t have to weaken you. It is just as likely to bring out the best in you.

Over the years, I have been able to apply my strength as the underdog to my business - especially in the beginning when I first started. There were often names bigger and more recognizable than mine competing for the same business. I had to prove my abilities against my competitors’ even though I had a newcomer’s reputation and they had reputations in the industry built upon years of experience.

So I built a game plan. I looked for opportunities in the insurance industry, businesses that weren’t being well served such as funeral homes and gave more personal attention to them. It took time, but with steady focus, resolve and a game plan, I saw again that being in the underdog position can bring out your best.

Watching Tiger Wood’s play last week at the Masters made me reflect on his earlier mea culpa. He apologized to his fans for letting them down with his recent off the course transgressions. It revived memories of similar apologies from other well-known sports figures including football’s Michael Vick’s apology for animal cruelty and Mark McGwire’s apology for past steroid use. These public apologies are mostly for behavior off the field and carry the stamp of the athlete’s PR team. These admittances to bad and often criminal behavior acknowledge the mistakes that were made and promise to behave better in the future.

While these public apologies have become necessary in this media driven society, I often question how they help a sport. Specifically, it is more rare that we see an athlete actually apologize for a poor performance on the field. Instead, we often see fights with the ref and other players often break out when an athlete is called on their on-field penalties.

I think it might be more useful for players to listen more, argue and apologize less, learn from their mistakes, and play better the next time. When I was in high school, I spent a long time trying to get over a season changing performance where I felt that I let my team down. I was playing football for Half Hollow Hills High School. We were undefeated and in the final minute of our championship game vs. Walt Whitman. I had the ball and it got stripped by the other team who went on to score. It was our only defeat all season and I carried the weight of the team on my shoulders for letting them down.

Eventually, I regrouped and got into the best shape of my life.  I used that failure as motivation, turning a bad situation into positive long term results for me – both athletically and personally.  It made me a better player and, later, a better businessman.

I did go on to play lacrosse for two years at Hofstra University.  Ironically, although I was named All-American in my sophomore season, I believe that my greatest contributions to Hofstra’s lacrosse program have come off the field today. I am convinced that both of these achievements were made possible by my early failures.

Whether it is in sport or your business, you gain much more by accepting your failures and keeping your hand in the game.  Those mistakes shape our experience and we learn from them whether we realize it or not.

Perhaps the most exciting game in Canadian sports history was played last week in Vancouver when the Canadians defeated the U.S. in sudden death overtime to win the Olympic gold medal. Could the stage have been set any better for the Canadians? It was an Olympics games final; it was hosted in their own country; they were playing the “official winter sport of Canada”*; and their upstart U.S. opponents had beaten them in an earlier round to almost quash their hopes of winning.

For Canadians, this sporting event took on a meaning that transcended mere sports. Despite the fact that their Olympians had already earned a record number of gold medals, it seemed that the nation’s pride, identity and even the future well being of the entire nation were all at stake in this one game.

Sometimes sports can do that to us. It can move beyond a trivial pastime and take on a deeper meaning. That’s what I love about it.

What if we could capture just a little bit of that feeling in business? Wouldn’t it be powerful if once in a while we could transcend mere business and feel that we are on a mission to change the world? I get that that feeling every now and then, and those are the days when I realize I’m not just doing it for the money.

* FYI: Did you know that on May 12, 1994, Canada’s National Sport Act (Bill C-212) became law, reading: “To recognize hockey as Canada’s National Winter Sport and lacrosse as Canada’s National Summer Sport”.

The Indianapolis Colts made a bad decision 2 weeks ago when they played the Jets. They decided they were going to settle for the Super Bowl.

The Colts had a perfect 14-0 record going into the last 2 weeks of the regular season. Their division title was won; the number 1 seed position in the AFC playoffs was locked in; and so there were no more “meaningful games” left in the regular season. Right? Wrong!

Most “experts” agreed among themselves that the smart thing to do was whatever gave the best odds of winning the Super Bowl. They debated whether it was better to rest players or whether they should keep the players sharp and focused by playing the remaining games before the playoffs. But there was consensus that the coach had to stay focused on the big picture – the ultimate goal – the Super Bowl.

I think they missed the really big picture. The Colts had a chance to do something that no one else has ever done. They had a chance to win the Super Bowl with a big exclamation point ; to go into history as the first 19–0 team and only the second to ever be undefeated World Champions. They had a chance to have one of the best seasons of all-time, and instead they decided to not take the risk. They settled for just the Super Bowl.

Every now and then the same thing happens in business. Sometimes unlikely opportunities arise - opportunities to do something truly extraordinary. When this happens, how do you react? Do you continue to stay the course and continue on the path toward your “real goals”? Or do you jump on the chance to get to a level that is far beyond your earlier dreams?

Regardless of whether the Colts win or lose the big game in February, we will never know for sure whether sitting out those games helped or hurt their chances. But I can tell you this: Seeing the dejected look on Peyton Manning’s face as he watched the Jets ruin their perfect record showed us that at least one champion understood they may have let the chance of a lifetime slip away.

The New England Patriots clinched the AFC East division title last weekend and the world is right again with Bill Belichick.

Belichick, the Patriots coach, took a lot of heat from the press and fans a month ago when he decided late in the game to go for it on fourth and 2 from the Patriots own 28 yard line. The Patriots were up by 6 with 2:08 left in the game against the Indianapolis Colts and the common sense play was to punt the ball away. As you all probably know by now, the Patriots didn’t make the first down and Peyton Manning took the Colts in for a game winning touchdown.

The criticism was immediate and intense. The Monday Morning Quarterbacks and sports pundits argued that Belichick should have punted the ball to force Manning to go the length of the field. They said he should have gone with the percentages and wondered if he had lost his mind.

But regardless of the game’s outcome, I believe that Belichick made the right decision to go for it. He took a calculated risk based on his knowledge of the game and his team. He knew that his team had given up 2 touchdowns already in the fourth quarter and were tired. It was obvious to Belichick that giving the ball back to the Colts with 2:08 remaining in the game would leave plenty of time for Manning to deliver the ball down the field. And making the first down would have ended the game.*

The bigger picture here is Belichick’s strong leadership skills. His decision might have gone against conventional wisdom, but that is what makes him a great coach. He trusted his instincts and didn’t worry about how he would be judged or by what convention would say to do. He has the unwavering confidence that leaders need and the courage to stand by his decisions.

* By the way, here’s an interesting analysis showing that Belicheck’s call was actually the higher percentage play. Let me know what you think.

Jim

Athletes are competitive by nature especially during the prime of their career. However, many reach a point in where they either feel too old, or are told that they are too old for the game. They fall into a sedentary lifestyle as armchair athletes who only feel capable of cheering from the stands.

Mike Chanenchuk, 53 years old, was not one of those players. A former three time Lacrosse All American at the Naval Academy, he was sitting in the stands in July 2009 to watch his son play for the Whitmore Group team (a team that I sponsored) in the championship game of the 2009 Lacrosse Summer League. Only nine players showed up for the game, which wasn’t enough to field the team. Vincent Sombrotto, the player coach for the Whitmore team looked around for what to do. Sombrotto, a 4-time USA team player and national lacrosse hall of fame member who was 50 years old himself, went into the stands and asked Chanenchuk to dress for the game so that his son’s team wouldn’t have to forfeit.

So Sombrotto and Chanenchuk, both in their 50’s, were competing against college players in the prime of their careers. More amazingly, they stayed on the field for the entire game since the team had the minimum number of players and no substitutes were available. Thanks to their willingness to push beyond their limits, the team went on to win the game and the championship.

Interestingly, during the same month that Mike Chanenchuk saved the day for his son’s lacrosse team, 59-year-old Tom Watson tied for first place after 72 holes at the British Open Golf Championship at Turnberry. While he eventually lost in the playoffs, the accomplishment of getting this far was stunning for a 59 year old since the oldest winner of a major golf championship was a full 11 years younger. That player was Julius Boros who won the 1968 PGA championship.

Athletes considered past their “prime” can still play at an elite level if they don’t buy in to perceived limits. Limits are often imposed on players, or the team that they play for, based on generalities – not the specific player. Those that stay in the game and push beyond any limits often prove that there are still glory days ahead of them.

Many businesses fall into the same inertia as athletes. As they become mature businesses, they may buy in to the notion that they can’t be as nimble as smaller or younger competitors. They become stagnant, complacent and sometimes fat. But companies that ignore conventional wisdom, set high goals and continue to innovate may find that age is just a number.

Jim

One of the things that I love about sports is the rules. Clearly defined rules that make sure every aspect of the game - the playing field, the number of players, the boundaries of what you can and cannot do – is consistent and fair. Everything defined so that the best effort from the best athletes almost always wins.

But every once in a while something goes wrong. A referee misses a call or blows a call. Suddenly the fair fight we were in seems not so fair. And note here that bad calls are not the same thing as bad bounces. Bad bounces might also change the outcome of a game, but it is easier to see that bad bounces will eventually balance out. With bad calls, we start to wonder whether the call was just a stupid, human error, whether the rules aren’t being applied consistently, or worse, whether it was an intentional attempt to change the outcome (or speed up the game).

Bad calls can get into your head and affect your performance if you are not careful. Losing your focus and battling the referees instead of your opponent is almost always a recipe for disaster. Over adjusting and playing differently because of the call weakens your game.

So the number one thing I have learned from this is patience. Don’t change your game plan. Stay the course, use the outrage of the unfairness to pump yourself up, but don’t get out of your game because of the unfairness of the call. Just relax, have patience, and usually over the course of the game – and definitely over the course of a season - the bad calls on both sides of the field will balance out.

Jim

I learned that the “experts” are not always right, and
sometimes you have to look beyond ordinary indicators to find the extraordinary.

Here’s the story:

Vinnie Sombrotto was instrumental in my nephew Rob Pannell’s matriculation at Cornell University.  It was truly fitting because Sombrotto, like Pannell, was under recruited and overlooked by college coaches when he played high school lacrosse in the mid 1970’s.

Although both Sombrotto and Pannell excelled at the highest levels as high school lacrosse players, most lacrosse “experts” considered them too small and not fast enough to compete with best at the Division 1 level. Boy were those “experts” wrong.

Sombrotto, after his Chaminade high school lacrosse career was concluded, went on to become one of the best college players and a Division 1 All-American. At Hofstra in 1980, Sombrotto scored 37 goals and totaled 54 points in 13 games AS A MIDFIELDER on the 1980 Hofstra team. He was equally accomplished as a defender and a ground ball machine.

Incredibly, Sombrotto raised the bar as a LI – Hofstra Club Player, U.S.A Player and professional lacrosse player. He is a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and was named to Newsday’s All-Century team along with Jim Brown, NFL Great and former Syracuse All-American lacrosse player.

Pannell concluded his high school lacrosse career at Smithtown West. The “little general” managed to eke out a Long Island’s best 130 points and was selected to the Boy’s high school All-American team. He attended Deerfield Academy as a PG in 2008 and went to work immediately. He shattered the school’s 40 year old scoring record with 6 games left in the season.

But it was not until the great Sombrotto called Cornell’s Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach, Jeff Tambroni, that Pannell would get the chance to showcase his lacrosse skills at an elite lacrosse program. Sombrotto told Tambroni, “the kid plays a lot like me”. Tambroni replied, “I’ll take him”. The rest is history.

Sombrotto and Pannell with an assist from Metzger.

P.S. - By the way, all Pannell did in his freshman year at Cornell; First Team All-Ivy, Ivy League Rookie of  the Year, Ivy Scoring Leader, 3rd Team All-American, NCAA All-Tournament Team, leading scorer in the NCAA tournament, Cornell freshman scoring record with 67 points.

I walked away from the game of lacrosse in prime of my athletic career following my sophomore year. I vividly recall the day I entered my coach’s office to inform him that I would not continue as a member of the lacrosse team. In fact, I told him that I would not be “matriculating” at the university, for the spring semester of my junior year. I was a spectator from a distance that year and I remember watching in frustration as the team finished with a 3 – 8 record. As painful as it felt to watch the season unravel, I know that my off the field issues in my personal life made it impossible to be down on the field.

After I played my last lacrosse game at Hofstra, I never picked up a stick, never played in a college alumni game, never again watched a college or professional lacrosse game. I played lacrosse from the 7th grade until that last game at Hofstra and that was it – I was done with one exception. A few years ago, I attended a Long Island Lizards professional lacrosse game to watch Vinnie Sombrotto play. One of my nephews was playing at halftime. I sat in the stands and watched Sombrotto – well into his 40’s - play the game I abandoned a long time ago. I left the game in the third quarter, I couldn’t watch any more. On my way back home to Manhattan, for the first time in my post lacrosse career, I felt a painful reminder – it was surreal – of how I abruptly left the game and never looked back.

In Bill Bradley’s book “Values of the Game,” there is a chapter called Passion where he describes the sights, smells and sounds that he loved about playing alone in his high school gymnasium. How grabbing the ball by the seams and the feeling of sinking ten in a row – which made him want to sink 15 in a row…and then 25 in a row – was the greatest feeling in the world. He had the passion for the game and I completely understand him.

My favorite part of the chapter is at the end. Upon reading it the first time, I thought of myself. Bradley cites a post game function in Chicago during the 1970’s where a gentleman approaches him and asks him if he really likes to play basketball. Bradley replies” Yeah, more than anything else I could be doing now.” To Bill’s response, the gentleman says “That’s great” and that he “knows what you feel.” He proceeds to tell him about his love for playing the trumpet. In fact, he was so good at playing the trumpet that he was part of a band. His band was very good, as well. They were so good that they had offers to go on tour and make records. All of the band members wanted to accept the offers except this gentleman. He said his father didn’t believe that type of career was secure enough and he agreed with this father. A transient life that involved traveling from town to town and without any guarantees of future gigs didn’t “fit into the life plan.” He ultimately gave up the trumpet for law school where he successfully graduated and became a lawyer. Once his law career began, he no longer had time to play on even an occasional basis.

Bradley asked him: “Do you like the law?

The gentleman’s response: “It’s okay. But it’s nothing like playing the trumpet.”

I learned early on that it feels good to win.  But one of the secrets of how to win consistently came to me later.  That’s when I really understood how much easier it is to win as a team than to win as a group of individuals.  Cliché?  Maybe.  But it’s sometimes hard to see this - and believe this - in the heat of battle. 

Think about it.  Doesn’t this idea go against another time-honored cliché that great athletes step up and want the ball when the game is on the line?  Didn’t Michael Jordan win all those championships by taking control at crunch time?   Well actually that wasn’t the key.  Michael Jordan – the greatest basketball player of all time - didn’t win it all until he learned how to keep his entire team in the game.  Michael struggled and his teams didn’t make it to the top until Phil Jackson taught him that his job was to make his teammates better.  After that Michael went on to win six world championships.

The bottom line here is that great athletes take control and score when they have to, but throwing an extra pass to a teammate and setting up a goal does even more.  It keeps everyone on the field alert, keeps them in the game and keeps them motivated.   

My business has thrived for many reasons and I am very fortunate.  But I am convinced that a key ingredient to this is our attitude that you get more millage out of setting up successes for business associates than trying to take over and score each goal yourself.

So for my money, when we pour over the stat sheets, let’s pay special attention to guys who lead their teams in assists.

JCM