Dept. of Advice

The clock is running out for Republicans hoping to keep control of Congress. Coaches and jocks step up to the plate with advice on what to do when it's fourth and long in the bottom of the ninth -- with the other team set to retake your House.

I would tell the GOP it's never over till it's over. Now, if you're down two touchdowns with 30 seconds left, yeah, it's over. But as far as the election goes, it's not even halftime. You've got to believe that people will come to their senses and rally around the team. Remember, the other team has never been in many winning situations. They don't know how to win. You're looking for them to be the Arizona Cardinals [who lost a two-touchdown lead in the final minutes] of last Monday night. They don't know what they're doing when the game is in the fourth quarter. You do.

-- Mark Rypien , former Super Bowl-winning quarterback

for the Washington Redskins

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Pundits, predictions and polls -- they don't mean anything. The only thing that matters is the final score. Think about how hard you've worked to get to this point. All those hours traveling to rallies, putting up signs, blogging, debating and ruining relationships with friends and family, kissing babies and shaking hands. There's a reason you play the game, guys. It's because you love your country. You have to trust the process. And when Election Day is over, no matter what happens, you need to be able to look each other in the eye and know that you left everything you have on the trail.

-- Brenda Frese, coach of the University of Maryland

2005 NCAA championship women's basketball team

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I remember one time when I was coaching football at Georgia Tech. We were behind 28-0 at halftime, and I had promised ABC I'd talk to them. The only thing you can talk about in a situation like that is that you've got to do everything you can to make the other team earn every yard -- or every vote. You can't give in to the score. The score is what you have at the end of the game, but after all is said and done, what you have to know is you made them fight and earn every yard. I'd approach the election the same way. We went out and had a magnificent second half, scored 27 points. We didn't win, but we made the other team realize they were in a fight. That's what politicians have to do, too. They can't listen to people booing them, they can't listen to the skeptics.

-- Pepper Rodgers , former football coach