Will to endure proves most valiant quality

Wednesday, November 6, 1996

COLUMN:

Surprise upset by the Cardinal a case in point to fight against
odds

Somewhere there is a little boy shooting baskets in the rain.
Elsewhere, a little girl is hitting a tennis ball against the
garage door late into the night.

It’s a shame that when we grow up we sometimes forget about our
dreams. But every so often, we are reminded of the power inherent
in the human will.

Sports give us the opportunity to see life in its most raw form.
Athletes thrill us with epic battles and dazzling performances that
bring the human condition to a metaphorical head. Teammates sweat,
bleed and cry together for a common cause, and the goal is to
emerge victorious.

There is much to be learned from athletics, as it pertains to
striving for success. A British sportswriter named Brian Glanville
once wrote, "That’s why sports are important. The inconceivable is
conceived, and then it is accomplished."

Glanville is not talking about winning. He is talking about the
will to win. Everyone who has ever stepped on the athletic field
knows what it is like to lose. And it is all the more devastating
when you pour your heart and soul into something only to come up
short.

The difference, in sports and in life, comes with the refusal to
stay down.

Ultimately, it is not the act of achieving goals that inspires
us. It is the spirit of the comeback. It is the emergence of the
warrior inside of us that drives us forward even as we encounter
failure and disappointment. Nowhere is this more visible than in
the athletic arena.

Ronnie Lott, arguably the best safety ever to play the game of
football, exemplified this attitude perfectly. Although there have
been countless highlights over his career, I will remember him most
for a game in which his Los Angeles Raiders were losing to the San
Diego Chargers by about 30 points at halftime.

Having just turned on the game, I was about to change the
channel when I noticed something that I found particularly
interesting. No. 42 was playing like a man possessed. On every
single play he was knocking the crap out of somebody.

Sweat was pouring from his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and
his chest was heaving. Yet, he seemed to feed off his own
exhaustion. The frenzy only seemed to build as the odds stacked up
against him.

The experience of watching the Stanford Cardinal come back in
the final minutes to beat UCLA in Saturday’s contest reminded me of
this incident. The Cardinal had every reason to give up. With a 1-3
record in the Pac-10, it had become the laughing stock of the
league after falling to Oregon State (the Beavers had not won a
game since the middle of last season), and its bowl chances were
long gone.

Yet, quarterback Chad Hutchinson led his troops down the field
to score in the waning moments. When the game was over, the team
celebrated like it had just won the national championship.

The truth is that the real value in athletics cannot be found by
looking at championships won or Hall of Fame careers. What endures
is the hungry look in the eyes of competitors. In life, the only
lasting satisfaction comes with living with passion.

If you look closely, you will undoubtedly see your own image in
the form of those two little kids fighting to make their dreams
come true. Fuel it within yourself. Cultivate it.

Revel in it.

Brad Zucker is a Daily Bruin columnist. He writes with a
passion.