The Penalty Box: Little Details Now Matter Later
January 6, 2021 at 3:03 a.m.
The Penalty Box: Little Details Now Matter Later
By Roger Grossman-
The good news is that the Colts made the playoffs.
The less-good news is that they have to travel for the first round.
They would not have had to if they had won one more game.
If feels like forever ago, but the Colts lost in their very first game of the season. They lost to a Jacksonville team that Sunday afternoon who had no hopes of a winning season, let alone a playoff berth.
They were unanimously voted to finished last in the AFC South and they were supposed to be a good opponent for new quarterback Phillip Rivers and the Colts to work out the things they didn’t get to because of “the virus” this spring and summer.
But sports are funny that way, and the Jags won 27-20.
Since then, the Colts have gone 12-3 and made the playoffs as a Wild Card team in a year when more teams made the NFL postseason than had ever made it before.
There ought to be a rule where a 12-win season gets you into the playoffs. Heck, a 12-win team deserves to be declared the winner of the NFC East given that a team with a losing record won that division.
But, as we have stated many times, life is not fair and neither are sports.
The Colts had an identical record as the Titans did, but their record against the division was why they finished in second place.
One game—the very first game—was the difference.
It’s a great lesson, in sports and in life.
Something that happened four months ago now is looming so large for the Colts.
Had the Colts won that game in September in Florida, they would be 13-3 and would be the #3 seed in the AFC Playoffs. That means they would host a first round playoff game and maybe host a second.
Now, they will host none.
The lesson is this: In everything this a single, defining moment—a moment of truth, if you will. Sometimes that moment comes in the beginning, sometimes it comes as part of a dramatic ending.
That’s true of every game, and every life.
In life, that could be an accident or an illness. It could be a promotion at your job or a move to a new job.
It could be a religious conversion, or a turning away from God.
It could be the first time you smoked a joint, or vaped, or did heroine, or that first drink of alcohol.
It could be a lot of things, or a series of things.
But it always goes back to that one moment in time that changed everything.
And that thing or that moment may not seem like a big deal at the time.
And that’s my point of all of this.
You and I don’t know when those moments are coming most of the time. Sometimes we don’t know until we look back on things that happened some time ago.
Don’t take anything for granted. Don’t assume anything. Certainly don’t assume that you will get a second chance at something. Don’t fool yourself into the lie “that will come back around to me again and I’ll get in then.”
Imagine being someone who passed on investing in Zimmer or Biomet when they started. That decision, no matter how solid it may have seemed when it was made, would become life-changing for those who made it.
I have three things for you to consider as we enter a new year:
1. Be prepared from the start. Too much preparation includes some learning as you go at the start.
2. Everything counts. Don’t assume you will get multiple chances at anything. Make the most of them, and don’t assume the bad things that happen can’t be turned into useful experiences.
3. Finish. No matter how you think things are going, see your thing through to the end. There is a satisfaction that comes from finishing something, and that feeling can carry over into the next project you start.
Happy New Year, and enjoy a rare moment where the Colts and Bears will both be in the playoffs this weekend.
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The good news is that the Colts made the playoffs.
The less-good news is that they have to travel for the first round.
They would not have had to if they had won one more game.
If feels like forever ago, but the Colts lost in their very first game of the season. They lost to a Jacksonville team that Sunday afternoon who had no hopes of a winning season, let alone a playoff berth.
They were unanimously voted to finished last in the AFC South and they were supposed to be a good opponent for new quarterback Phillip Rivers and the Colts to work out the things they didn’t get to because of “the virus” this spring and summer.
But sports are funny that way, and the Jags won 27-20.
Since then, the Colts have gone 12-3 and made the playoffs as a Wild Card team in a year when more teams made the NFL postseason than had ever made it before.
There ought to be a rule where a 12-win season gets you into the playoffs. Heck, a 12-win team deserves to be declared the winner of the NFC East given that a team with a losing record won that division.
But, as we have stated many times, life is not fair and neither are sports.
The Colts had an identical record as the Titans did, but their record against the division was why they finished in second place.
One game—the very first game—was the difference.
It’s a great lesson, in sports and in life.
Something that happened four months ago now is looming so large for the Colts.
Had the Colts won that game in September in Florida, they would be 13-3 and would be the #3 seed in the AFC Playoffs. That means they would host a first round playoff game and maybe host a second.
Now, they will host none.
The lesson is this: In everything this a single, defining moment—a moment of truth, if you will. Sometimes that moment comes in the beginning, sometimes it comes as part of a dramatic ending.
That’s true of every game, and every life.
In life, that could be an accident or an illness. It could be a promotion at your job or a move to a new job.
It could be a religious conversion, or a turning away from God.
It could be the first time you smoked a joint, or vaped, or did heroine, or that first drink of alcohol.
It could be a lot of things, or a series of things.
But it always goes back to that one moment in time that changed everything.
And that thing or that moment may not seem like a big deal at the time.
And that’s my point of all of this.
You and I don’t know when those moments are coming most of the time. Sometimes we don’t know until we look back on things that happened some time ago.
Don’t take anything for granted. Don’t assume anything. Certainly don’t assume that you will get a second chance at something. Don’t fool yourself into the lie “that will come back around to me again and I’ll get in then.”
Imagine being someone who passed on investing in Zimmer or Biomet when they started. That decision, no matter how solid it may have seemed when it was made, would become life-changing for those who made it.
I have three things for you to consider as we enter a new year:
1. Be prepared from the start. Too much preparation includes some learning as you go at the start.
2. Everything counts. Don’t assume you will get multiple chances at anything. Make the most of them, and don’t assume the bad things that happen can’t be turned into useful experiences.
3. Finish. No matter how you think things are going, see your thing through to the end. There is a satisfaction that comes from finishing something, and that feeling can carry over into the next project you start.
Happy New Year, and enjoy a rare moment where the Colts and Bears will both be in the playoffs this weekend.
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