Did you catch last Saturday’s IWU men’s basketball game?
If you didn’t, you missed one of the most incredible comebacks I’ve ever witnessed in person. The Wildcats erased a 17-point deficit in the final eight minutes, capped off by a Jonny Marlin (jr) buzzer-beating shot.
But I have a confession to make. I thought the Wildcats had no chance. I wrote them off at halftime. “Get ‘em next time, guys,” I thought. It’s just one of those days. Let’s empty the bench, try to keep the damage minimal and move on to the next game.
Luckily, Head Coach Greg Tonagel and his team had a different perspective during the game.
“What we didn’t do is give up, and you never know what happens when you don’t give up,” Tonagel said. “We just kept fighting and fighting and scrapping away. We didn’t quit.”
Clearly there’s a reason Coach Tonagel’s team plays the game and I just write about it. There’s a fight, a determination, that is present in many, if not all, successful teams.
Look at the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. (I can hear the groans. I’m not a fan of the Pats either, but you have to respect a team that has been consistently successful for the past fifteen years.)
With the Seahawks on the one-yard line with 20 seconds to go, it looked as if Seattle could begin planning their second straight victory parade. Lots of people, myself included again, thought the game was over.
But just like Marlin and the Wildcats the day before, Patriots Cornerback Malcolm Butler didn’t quit. He kept fighting and intercepted Russell Wilson to seal the Super Bowl victory for New England.
“I just had a vision that I was going to make a big play,” Butler said after the game.
It’s amazing what can happen when teams keep fighting. Even when all hope seems lost, determination mixed with talent leads to some incredible comebacks and victories.
Determination is the difference between a buzzer-beater victory and a blowout loss, between runner-up and Super Bowl champion. So keep fighting, don’t give up and see what great victories can happen.