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.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
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
* * *
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
* * *
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
for Kansas, UCLA and Georgia Tech
In football, the focus should never be on the play that just happened but on the one about to take place. The past is gone and the future is all that matters. Same thing in campaigns. In these final weeks, voters are tuning in with a fine ear and candidates have the best opportunity to passionately articulate a plan for the future. So focus, show intensity and vividly describe how a voter's family, friends, loved ones and neighbors will be better off when your vision for America is implemented.
-- Steve Largent , former Republican congressman
from Oklahoma and NFL Hall of Famer
* * *
As I would say to my players, it's not over till it's over! Never, ever give up! Fight with all your might. Pull every trick play you have out of your playbook and show them you're still the champions. Think about what it will be like if you should lose. That should be enough to ignite a fire in the weakest of the bunch. Remind the world what happened in Vietnam while Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, was in office. Champions never quit. They fight to the bitter end through blood, sweat and tears! Life is tough. Life is football without a helmet.
-- John McKissick , head football coach,
Summerville (S.C.) High School, the winningest football coach in history
* * *
My advice to the Republicans is: Let it go. Let it go and wait for tomorrow. Sometimes you're down by 20 with three minutes left, you don't play hard anymore. You just finish up and wait for tomorrow. Tell them to concentrate on 2008, but not too hard.
Did I tell you I'm a Democrat?
-- Dikembe Mutombo , former Georgetown Hoya center,
now with the NBA's Houston Rockets
* * *
Never give up. You've got to impress upon your opponent that one thing, that you haven't given up. And you have to regain the momentum in any way you can. If you have 5 or 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter and you're behind, you've gotta gain the momentum, make the other team make a mistake and capitalize on it. Right now, maybe the Democrats have the mental edge. So the Republicans have to recapture it. If you're at fourth and long, that's your last play, that sucks. But if you're in the fourth quarter and you still have 5 or 10 minutes to go, you have time to regain the momentum.
-- Ray Schoenke , former Redskins offensive lineman and candidate
for the Democratic nomination in the 1998 Maryland gubernatorial race
* * *
I would tell Republicans that it's time to pull out a trick play or two to catch their opponent off guard and regain momentum. Time for a double-reverse pass or an onside kick, anything you can do to startle your opponent and put him on the defensive. And they have to stay positive. In a game two weeks ago, we were down 28-7 with one minute to go in the third quarter, but we stayed positive, even though we were getting our brains beat out. And we went on to win, 35-28. You never know how the outcome can change.
-- Dave Mencarini , head football coach,
Quince Orchard High School, Gaithersburg
When you fall behind, you can't start thinking that it's a lost cause; you must truly believe that you can win. I know as a coach that my players tend to believe what I believe of them. You have to have your party pulling for you, and that stems from the leaders believing that you can still accomplish your goals. Once people have lost hope, they won't campaign as hard as they should. You've gotta have that work ethic. You keep playing to the end. People can be persuaded up until the last minute.
-- Dan Harwood , boys' basketball coach, Magruder High School, Rockville
* * *
When you're facing down the clock and you're behind, you call a timeout and you talk to your team and you say things like, "You know what got you here. Are you going to let these guys take it away from you?" Basically, you tell them, "Hey, don't panic. You're in a race." You've got to be strategic, you've gotta start putting all your pluses on one side and minuses on the other, your opponent's pluses on one side, his minuses on the other. It's about finding the weakness and hitting them.
-- Red Auerbach, Basketball Hall of Fame coach,
former president and coach of the Boston Celtics
* * *
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
* * *
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.
* * *
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
* * *
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
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