I’ve seen articles from several of the leading sports websites talking about last night’s college football national championship game.
The argument goes that Alabama benefited from poor officiating.
For Georgia, in defeat, or for any of us when we face difficulties or setbacks, we should first look to ourselves and what we could have done differently, how we responded, what we can learn for the future.
Blame doesn’t take away defeat. It stifles growth. It’s a waste of time.
Because Georgia didn’t lose due to poor officiating. They lost because they didn’t make all the plays they needed to make to win. Going into the fourth quarter, they had a ten point lead. And they couldn’t hold on. Their play calling got conservative. Their defense got sloppy in tackling. They didn’t get the job done.
Alabama missed a field goal at the end of regulation that would have won the game.
In overtime, Georgia scored first and put the pressure on Alabama to score at least three, or else lose.
On Alabama’s first play of overtime, their freshman quarterback was sacked for a 16 yard loss. At that point, I thought it was over. It was Georgia’s game. But then the Georgia secondary who struggled down the stretch, broke the first rule of pass coverage “don’t get beat deep.” They blew the coverage, and they lost.
It’s not the officials fault. It’s not a missed face mask that cost them the game.
Our society blames teachers for its kids bad grades. We blame genetics for lifestyles that are also the byproduct of poor diet and lack of exercise.
In sports, and in life, when things don’t work out, always look at what you could have done better. Because we all make mistakes all the time. Some people, never really learn to own up to their failures and are more concerned with passing off blame, making excuses.
jrb
Josh Benner 