Life – Baseline SportsTalk

February 8, 2018

Eagles Embracing Underdog Role Leads to Super Bowl Glory

Baseline Perspective | Nick Foles — Eagles quarterback Nick Foles led the underdog to Super Bowl glory. (Image Credit: John Biever/NFL)

“Hate it or love it, the underdog’s on top.” – 50 Cent

If the greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do, then the Philadelphia Eagles must be on cloud nine.

Because of a willingness to embrace the role of underdog, the Eagles left Minneapolis, Minnesota as Super Bowl champions. They did it with a stunning 41-33 victory over the favored New England Patriots at U.S. Bank Stadium.

History has shown us how much we love watching the underdog dream the impossible dream. Fans of the Rocky movies can attest to watching Rocky Balboa run the streets of Philadelphia training for a fight no one thought he’d win.

The Patriots, the team most outside of New England love to hate, were heavily-favored to win their sixth Super Bowl title. The Eagles found themselves pitted against the NFL’s juggernaut, and defending champions.

How did the Eagles do it? What did it take in order for them to overcome the odds? Here were three factors I believed played key roles:

Heart and Fire

For over a decade now, the Patriots have stayed at or near the top of the NFL with the arrogance, skill, and star power of Apollo Creed. Their resume is intimidating enough to make you think Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago were coming through the tunnel before kickoff.

We already know how it turned out for the “Italian Stallion”. A mixture of “heart and fire” fueled Rocky in each of his battles inside the ring, he was the underdog in all of them.

Heart and fire is a key component for any underdog to achieve success. You have to really want to win, that’s where it starts and ends. That passion inside of us, once realized, must be ignited.

I believe successful motivational speaker Eric Thomas captured it best with this quote:

“When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful.”

Throughout the 2017-18 season, the Eagles showed plenty of heart and fire during a campaign which had plenty of setbacks along the way. But it still came down to embracing their role.

Baseline Perspective | Doug Pederson — Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson (Image Credit: Kirt Dozier-USA TODAY Sports)

Owning Your Truth

Of the three, this one I feel provides the most impact. The Eagles, by embracing their role as the underdog, owned their truth.

Mindset and transformational coach Rebecca Mckown, in the Huffington Post, wrote “The truth of the soul is powerful. The weight of the ego is sometimes more powerful.”

The numbers rarely ever lie. The Patriots came into Super Bowl LII with future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, a future Hall of Fame head coach in Bill Belichick, and five Super Bowl rings in seven tries together.

Those are tough odds to go up against for any team. The Eagles had backup quarterback Nick Foles, who took over late in the season for the injured Carson Wentz. Their head coach, Doug Pederson, didn’t begin his coaching career until 2005 at a private high school in Shreveport, Louisiana. In February of that year, Belichick and Brady were winning their third Super Bowl in four years.

In the game, Brady threw for 505 passing yards, a Super Bowl record. He added three touchdowns and zero interceptions.

But from the opening kickoff, the Eagles were the aggressors and made sure they stayed that way until the clock hit 00:00. Pederson rolled the dice twice on fourth down and came up a winner. It’s really the only way to beat a juggernaut like the Patriots, you have to stay aggressive.

Foles threw for 373 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. It was enough to not only win the game, it earned him the Most Valuable Player Award.

It would be easy for anyone to look at the tale of the tape and put the smart money on New England. But, despite a 13-3 regular season record (identical to New England), Philadelphia went throughout the playoffs as the underdog. This included their NFC wild-card win over the Atlanta Falcons, at home.

This wasn’t new territory for the Eagles and, like they’ve done all season, they embraced the role of underdogs because the numbers clearly said that’s what they were. By doing so, the Eagles lived in their truth and owned it all the way to a Super Bowl title.

Baseline Perspective | Tom Brady — Tom Brady came up short in his bid for a sixth Super Bowl ring. (AP/Chris O’Meara)

The Resilient Eagles

Every NFL team wants to succeed, however, in the end it always comes down to which team’s the most resilient.

If there’s a new poster-team for the next-man up position, it must be this year’s Eagles team. They lost Wentz, a regular-season MVP candidate, in week 14. Before that, it was nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters, linebacker Jordan Hicks, running back and speedster Darren Sproles, and Chris Maragos. All key players on offense, defense, and special teams.

“The human capacity for burden is like bamboo-far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.” – Jodi Picoult, author of My Sister’s Keeper

The Eagles didn’t take a knee once the injury list began to fill up with names, they plugged the next player in and persevered on with their season.

With every step forward afterwards, confidence grows. By the time the Eagles lined up against the almighty Patriots in the Super Bowl, they were ready for what was ahead because they’ve been battling all season through adversity.

Resiliency is an important characteristic for the underdog to possess. This life will throw punches at us which will occasionally put even the strongest down on the mat. Those who can get up and keep fighting leave a lasting legacy.

It’s been a long time coming for the city of Philadelphia and its football fans.

By showing heart, owning their truth, and displaying remarkable resiliency, the Eagles showed what it takes as an underdog to win on the field. They also gave justification to life’s sweet pleasure of doing what everyone said they couldn’t do.

Now that’s a truly a feeling to embrace.

September 16, 2017

Three Keys To Mets’ Matt Harvey Overcoming Latest Adversity

These days Matt Harvey isn’t the Dark Knight, he’s just Matt Harvey, pitcher for the New York Mets.

Harvey’s no longer the superstar taking New York City by storm, he’s now just a pitcher taking the field every five days.

It’s not the 2013 All-Star Harvey, and it’s not even the 2015 National League Comeback Player of the Year.

The blazing fastball, hitting 98 mph on the radar gun, that Matt Harvey is no longer in the building. The growing reality is we may never see that Harvey again.

Adversity impacts us all in different ways. For Harvey, overcoming his adversity has become the biggest challenge of his professional career.

In three starts since returning from the disabled list with a stress injury to his right scapula, Harvey has posted a 1-2 record with an alarming 12.19 ERA. His struggles have escalated since missing the second half of last year due to surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome.

But it was Harvey’s comments after his most recent start which may have provided the clearest case of someone struggling to regain the success he once had.

In 3 1/3 innings of work, Harvey gave up five runs and loaded the bases three times. The Mets lost the game to the Cubs, 17-5, at Wrigley Field.

“It’s kind of hard to take any positives out of the last two years,” Harvey said. “I am extremely frustrated. It’s hard going out there and not doing what I can to help this team win and it’s extremely frustrating.

“There is a lot of work going in that is not paying off, and it’s becoming very frustrating for me, but there is still three starts to go and you have to do everything you can to go out there to just be better.”

Awareness

Harvey’s frustration is clear and his concern is justified. The results have not been there for him, this despite all the hard work he’s put in behind the scenes.

I covered one of Harvey’s rehab starts this summer for the Mets short-season Single-A affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones. Afterwards, Harvey expressed excitement for getting back to the Mets in time to finish the season. But his comments also displayed an awareness of the process he’s going through.

I came away from that game thinking Harvey’s starting to get it now. He’s 28 years old and these last two years have clearly humbled him.

You can click here to read my article on Harvey, for NY Sports Day.

Harvey is at a career crossroads.

Early success can have us feeling like a superhero, or in Harvey’s case Batman. We feel invincible. Then, like a thief in the night, we’re reminded it’s never that easy.[bctt tweet=”Having an awareness of your situation is always the first step to correcting what’s gone wrong.” username=”TonyRushingNY”]

Willingness to Evolve

Once we’re aware of our situation, there’s an evolution phase we’re confronted with.

Michael Jordan didn’t come into the NBA known for his jump shot, he developed it as he grew older. Muhammad Ali was known for his footwork and hand speed, as much he was for his ability to talk you into the arena. But it was the rope-a-dope strategy he employed against a stronger George Foreman which displayed his willingness to evolve.

The ability to throw a blazing fastball can give you early success in Major League Baseball. But it’s more than just having a fastball, it’s knowing when to throw it.

In three starts since coming back from the disabled list, Harvey has struggled early, largely due to his working deep counts and throwing too many pitches. That’s an indication of someone still trying to beat you with only a fastball in their arsenal.

The moment Harvey finds a healthy balance between his power pitches and off-speed stuff, the chances of pitching deeper into ballgames can increase.

Harvey won’t successfully throw 95 to 98 mph throughout a ballgame and come away healthy. He’s no longer that person.

Evolution, however, doesn’t happen overnight.

Harvey’s Gotta Have Faith

Having patience is one thing. But having faith in what you’re being patient for is an entirely different ballgame.

Quite simply put, to achieve our goals requires faith in our own abilities to meet them. If we don’t believe in ourselves then what’s the point of even doing it.

Harvey’s not only looking to regain success on the field, he’s facing the challenge of having to evolve his overall game in order to do it. The critics and doubters will only grow with every setback.

The Mets are also looking to see if Harvey has what it takes to get through these tough times. They have a decision to make on Harvey’s long-term future with the team. He’s one year away from free agency, his value is arguably at the lowest it’s ever been.

How far Harvey goes from here remains to be seen, his faith in himself to see it through will go a long way towards his future with the Mets.

If Matt Harvey is to overcome this latest bout with adversity then implementing awareness, a willingness to involve, and maintaining faith in himself are all key components.

The Dark Knight may rise again one day smarter, stronger and fully evolved.

April 24, 2017

Staying Strong In Your Darkest Hours

Reflection is a must for me, it’s a mandatory block of time I’ve set aside everyday. I believe it’s important to stop and smell the roses at least five to ten minutes — everyday. This is especially important on those days it seems there’s more darkness than light. It’s those days where it can be very easy to conclude we’re just not strong enough to find our way out of the dark. Continue reading “Staying Strong In Your Darkest Hours”

April 22, 2017

In Life, The First Step Is Always The Toughest

That moment you’ve figured out exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life is supposed to be a great feeling, at least that’s what I thought.

It’s a little past 10pm, on a Monday night, and I’m sitting at my kitchen table staring at my laptop. My laptop, I admit, is pretty cool to look at but staring at it isn’t what I used money I didn’t have at the time, to get it for. Continue reading “In Life, The First Step Is Always The Toughest”