Dept. of Advice

In sports you basically beg your team to just be as aggressive as possible. Because if you are behind, what do you have to lose? I always say, leave it all on the floor. Bring any trick that you have. You might as well see if it works. It's amazing what can happen in sports when the team that's winning thinks it's going to win for sure and begins to relax. A lot of crazy things happen when the momentum changes. The bottom line is you play until the final buzzer, and in an election you're going to campaign until the votes are in. No other way to play a sport or live your life -- you go until you can't go anymore.

-- Mike Jones, head basketball coach at

DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville

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When you're behind, the main thing you focus on is never giving up. Even when things look kind of grim, if you keep battling and working hard you never know what can happen. Have a lot of confidence in yourself and believe in what you're doing. When you're in a tough game or tough race, you see not only the quality player you have but the quality person you have. When it gets close to winning -- don't do something or not do something that you're going to regret later. Leave everything on the field. When you go to bed after the last game or the election, you'll be able to say "I did everything I could."

-- Randy S. Morris, manager of the 2006 Little League

World Series Champions, Northern Little League, Columbus, Ga.

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People pride themselves on getting under your skin. Don't let them. Don't take no for an answer, that's what I would tell the Republican Party. It's the fourth quarter and you need to knock down a jump shot or get a rebound in traffic. Stay positive, no matter what. Eliminate the negativity. I knew I wasn't holding up my end of the bargain for a while last year and all of the negativity was just seeping in. You have to develop thick skin and stay positive. Eventually the outcome you want will work out.

Trust me.

-- Antawn Jamison , Washington Wizards forward

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Right now, if I knew I had no shot, I would shut down all advertising, grab what's left of the campaign money and get the hell out of town. I mean, if it's evident you're going nowhere. . . . Now, what have you got to do from a realistic standpoint? Refuse to believe what everybody else is saying. You've got to count on somebody on the other side screwing up before the election. You've got to pretend you're the emperor with no clothes or pretend you're Alfred E. Neuman. One or the other.

Does that make sense?

-- John Riggins, Hall of Fame Redskins running back