Beware of Complacency

I remember talking to Mike Yang , owner of Golden Gate Badminton Club and former member of the US Badminton team on what the secret to winning is. He said that you can't ever let up not for an instant, because when you do that's when the opponent begins to destroy you. Complacency is a curse and even worse it's a natural human instinct. Yet there is another human instinct that is stronger than all and that is survival. Why do you think poverty pushes many to success? This is because when you have nothing there is nothing to lose and more incentive to come out on top. When you have enough or an abundance, there is a-lot more to lose and easier to be complacent. This applies to all aspects of life, work, family and sports. We have to keep pushing forward before some underdog fighting for survival takes something that you hold dear.

We are going to apply this to sports though. =) The Boston Celtics were down 21 points in the first quarter, 24 points in the second quarter and 18 points at halftime. I turned on the TV right before halftime when the Lakers sent in their bench player with 5.4 seconds and he ran down and banked a 3 in to make it an 18 point lead. I truly thought this game was over. I had to study unfortunately but that is what the DVR is for. Around midnight I crawled into my room and quietly sped through the game and to my amazement I was cheering quietly (sleeping baby) all night for Boston. Sorry folks I dislike Boston for all their championship teams but when it comes to basketball, it's been a long time for Boston and the Lakers well they have plenty of rings in the last 2 decades and I have always liked KG's passion for the game. People think he's crazy but I love that raw emotion that drives him. Hey to each their own and that's how he pumps himself up.

I watched as the Celtics simply played defense and took opportunities to make unbelievable shots. At one point it was a 21 - 3 run for the Celtics. They kept on coming all fourth quarter and did not let up. Amazing defense amazing offense, a team that knows it's the finals and they were just going to forget about the score and play their hearts out. Sunday is the next game and there was plenty of time to rest play the starters and they did. They closed out the game 97 - 91.

How does this happen you ask? The answer is complacency at half time. The game was going the Lakers way. Constant 20 point leads are typically tough to overcome in the finals and a team usually gets demoralized and plays it's bench players. It's natural human instinct to let up and believe that you have the game. But in the NBA and the finals where everyone on the opposite team is just as good as you are? Never let up. This is a classic case of the hungry underdog team on the road down 20 points that played like there was no tomorrow. At times there is nothing you can do to stop a team that has this much passion and desire. You've been their before and these guys have been dying to get there and they aren't going to go quietly.

Bravo to the Celtics, that is what the NBA finals are about and here's to game 5! The Lakers might pull one at home if they can recover from the loss and save face, but Boston will close out in Boston and have another parade for their long overdue basketball team. Go Celtics!

Photo 1 courtesy of Sports Illustrated and Photo 2 http://www.sptimes.com/