Fight To Win (Or Not To Lose)
by Peter Bean on Mar 17, 2010 1:27 AM CDT
in Texas Longhorns Highlights
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PrintOne of the more interesting questions in sports to ponder is what makes the greatest competitors so superior: Do they love to win, or hate to lose?
Perhaps it's one for some and the other for the rest. Maybe the two are really just the same thing. It's a question I can't easily answer, but I know in my case, one of the great challenges of my life has been to tone down my competitive nature, which is driven by an intense hatred for losing. Maybe it doesn't matter which motivates you, so long as one of them does. So long as you take it personally -- the winning and the losing.
My brother sent me a link to a YouTube link tonight, urging me to watch a clip of Larry Bird highlights. I ignored it for a while (I've seen Larry plenty), but he kept pressing, so finally I clicked through. And...
...yeah. I was glad I did. That's as sublime a highlight reel as you'll ever see.
As we prepare to tip into March Madness, I hope we see that kind of fierce competitiveness from Texas. Anything to win. Or not to lose.
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Today's generation
Doesn’t realize just how great he was.
I'm not even sure if some will get this reference
but I agreed with what Dennis Rodman said about him
Shocking!
An aggie agreeing with Dennis Rodman. Too funny.
It's fun to do bad things. -Latarian Milton
by TexasGarcia37 on Mar 17, 2010 7:06 PM CDT up reply actions
He said, " Larry Bird is overrated in a lot of areas. I don’t think he’s the greatest player. He’s way overrated." … “Why does he get so much publicity?” Rodman continued. “Because he’s white. You never hear about a black player being the greatest.”
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Mar 17, 2010 9:12 PM CDT up reply actions
Link
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Mar 17, 2010 9:13 PM CDT up reply actions
Never the Bird fan
As the reports of his prick like attitude were everywhere. I still respect him as one of the greatest of all time but lost a little admiration due to his attitude (at least for me).
I prefer the converted Hakeem (not Akeem) or even Magic who generally was reported as a nice guy.
Your tongue can't repel flavor of that magnitude!!
by UT2001 on Mar 17, 2010 7:54 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
The Akeem highlight video on YouTube
that was put out a few years ago was amazing. The quickness and athleticism he had at 7 feet was just sick. The NBA hasn’t seen anything like it since.
I think Larry played not to lose.
And I sure hated witnessing him drop 39 on my Mav’s with a game winning 3-pointer at the buzzer on our end of the court. Nothing but daggers. It was a duel between him and Aguirre. Larry made one more 3 which was just enough to seal the deal.
The guy was a phenom and a winner. No.doubt.about.it.
Those were NBA halcyon days but for sure.
I remember watching this a while back
Great reel. Larry was slightly before my time, as I only got to watch the tail end of his career, but I was (and am) well aware of his greatness. Underrated athlete with just a ridiculous basketball IQ.
by TheElusiveShadow on Mar 17, 2010 8:47 AM CDT reply actions
AND 1
Looks like Larry Legend was putting out Mixtapes from early on… I would have prefered I’m a Huslter Baby as the track rather than Eminem (seemed a little odd to me) besides Larry was all about the Hustlin (outworking) opponents.
Also makes Brittney Griner look normal! You forget how many punches and scraps THE ASSOCIATION of old used to have. My goodness those were some good scrums.
Although I like the crackdown today, with so many morons totting Guns in the locker room, not sure the players could contain the action to the court…
did anyone else read the jackie macmullen book?
I thought it was top notch. That rivalry was a few years before my time (born in 83) so the insight was great for me even if I didn’t have the physical memory to pull from. It was like reading a really intertaining history book, in a lot of ways
by trueorangeblood on Mar 17, 2010 10:29 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
Everyone loves to win.
True winners can’t stand the thought of losing. That what makes them different from everyone else.
by ElMariachiLoco on Mar 17, 2010 11:04 AM CDT reply actions
Bird
Larry gave as good as he got, maybe more. He and Dr. J just didn’t like each other. The Bird/Magic friendship was certainly borne from mutual respect because their styles couldn’t have been more different. The last part of the video is from the 1988 playoff between the Celts and the Hawks. It was the classic showdown between Bird and Dominique Wilkins. The fourth period was one of the great shooting matches of all time. ‘Nique finished with 47 and Bird had 34. I was sitting on the baseline one night at the Garden and Bird fell backwards at the baseline about 15 ft. out. Just before he hit the floor he got off a shot that swished the net. Larry was not a warm and fuzzy kind of guy but he wasn’t a cheap shot artist like the some of the Pistons, i.e., Lambeer, would become.
Ahh...blast from the past
Bill Lambeer was a guy you loved to hate. I hear he has turned into a real cream-puff these days.
Dad highly recommended it to me
Looking forward to checking it out. Sounds terrific.
You ain't hurt...
Yeah that was awesome!
I put it on to make me fall asleep but ended up watching the whole thing!
"Football's so important in Texas. On the West Coast, it's a social. On the East Coast, it's a culture. Here, it's a religion."
-- Major Applewhite
can't fight through eminem.
can’t even mute because i know the audio is still being read.
Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis.
Fight to Win (Or Not to Lose)
Tennyson said it best in Ulysses:
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
Greatness!
Can’t imagine ever lovin’ basketball as much had Bird & Magic not been there. Their competitiveness paved the way for why we all loved watchin’ Jordan later on.
I was a very good & competitive ballplayer but also always made a point to have good sportsmanship towards the opposition. I think that’s why I loved those 2 guys so much. Bird was SO crusty & irritable to the Lakers and to the media. Magic was opposite. But the rest of the Celts were mild-mannered and the rest of the Lakers were just punks. Bird HAD to have a nasty edge to lead his crew. Lakers would have had no heart without Magic who, despite the smile, was easily as competitive as Bird. I’ll go to my grave saying that, in their 1st 7 years in the NBA, Bird was hands-down the better player. Better scorer, shooter, and yes – better passer. But Bird’s body broke down at the same time as Magic became a pretty amazing player. Always a great passer, he became a great shooter as Kareem wore down. Had he not retired, he could have played for another 10 years with the type of game he had. With all that said, Bird is still the most amazing player I ever saw.
As the Mavs were just getting started, I was a huge Celtics fan and hated the Sixers & LA. Lakers drafting Worthy extended their reign to 5 titles. Sure would have liked to have seen Len Bias mix into the Celtics unbelievable team and extend Bird’s career. That Boston dynasty had 3 titles already and surely would have taken more. We’ll just never know. Would have escalated an amazing rivalry to the stratosphere. – I’m not bitter or anything.
Awesome.
Makes you think about all the OB passes or turnovers that could be saved.
by Infield Elephant on Mar 17, 2010 6:00 PM CDT reply actions
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