I used to hate penalty kicks. They are a very tough way to end a soccer game. But that’s the rules in soccer. And as a result one team can lose by the slightest of margins in heartbreaking fashion.
But isn’t it that way with a lot of sports? We win and lose by the slightest of margins. We lose a race by a second. We lose a basketball game when a shot rolls out of the basket. We lose a baseball game when a ball that looks like a home run falls just short or is caught by an outfielder making an amazing grab. Football “is a game of inches.” And since I referenced inches in football I can’t help but think of Any Given Sunday which is not a very good movie but the speech Al Pacino gives to his team is amazing and gives me chills every time I watch it. (So I linked it to this post in case you want some extra motivation!)
Anyway, we win or lose things by inches or near misses all the time. We just miss out on a job opportunity. We are one number off winning the big 50/50. We just make it home before a storm. A tornado hits one town and inches over devastates another.
Life comes down to inches and near misses just like sports. As much as don’t like penalty kicks and think they are an unfair way to end a game, I’m beginning to realize they’re not as unfair as I think.
Many sports come down to one team capitalizing on another team’s miss. It’s much like what happens in life. When our pool reopened during the pandemic I took advantage of many areas facilities not opening to significantly increase our revenue. The person who got my job took advantage of my job “being open” while I was out with cancer and unfortunately I lost out.
Life is full of many ups and down, gains and misses just like sports. I’m coming around to the idea that soccer games can be decided by penalty kicks. They are dramatic, involve a lot of strategy and sometimes you guess right and score and other times you guess wrong and lose. You just have to try your best with the opportunity you are given like Croatia did beating Brazil the #1 team in the world on penalty kicks today. Anything can happen on any given day and that is the beauty of both sports and life.
#penaltykicks #worldcup #anygivensunday #sportsmirrorslife #gameofinches