Sometimes your ego writes checks your body can easily cash

This post was influenced by the Rugby World Cup (RWC), luckily we can learn so much from the game they play in heaven and from ‘that volleyball movie’.

As I sit here on a beautiful Poets Day in Raleigh with my All Blacks jersey on waiting for the mighty Boys in Black to take on Tonga in a few hours, I find myself wondering how I can possibly write another semi-brilliant post that will keep the audience (of 4) engaged. However, knowing who a fair amount of the audience is, I realize I could probably keep then engaged just by writing PTO on both sides of a piece of paper (way to alienate your adoring fans you King Richard). I could focus on writing a well thought out and factually supported blog regarding the evils of large corporations, governmental spying and accountants but there is no need to write at that level for a couple of reasons including the fact that I cannot be bollocked. Why sit down, research, watch Fox news for a week and actually write something at that level when that is not what the average Poets Day blog reader is looking for here. It’s a bit like rugby.

WTF am I talking about, you ask, but then realize I will probably attempt to explain the premise of this blog in the following paragraphs, so you read on.

The other week the mighty All Blacks played against a very lowly ranked team in the Pool of Blah (for those of you more familiar with kicky round ball World Cups, same format, 4 pools of 5 teams playing round robin then top 2 progress etc etc). The Boys in Black were expected to put up over 70 points on Georgia (the country, not SEC football team) however they did not. Some might think they were holding back, some might think that the opposition raised their game hugely and some might wonder how the man of the match can be on a team that loses by 33 points. A couple of those questions are valid but what I believe is that part of the reason was that because they knew they would win, they did not play to their full potential, they played below their game.

This is as true in life as it is in rugby, and probably other sports but quite frankly who cares about them J

If you know you have the upper hand, you know that she/he is a sure thing or you know that your best is not required then you don’t usually bring it to the table. Why max out every time when you know you have it won. Funny thing is that in rugby, as in life, this is often the reverse for the losing team. In the 2011 RWC the American Eagles got beaten like a drum however they kept playing hard, playing with heart. They didn’t have the skill set or physicality of some of the other teams but, in my opinion, they never quit. In other games you would sometimes see the opposition mail it in after defeat was obvious but the Eagles (and a few other teams) played on, fighting tooth and nail till the final whistle. Those teams earned my respect. In this RWC Japan beat South Africa in an amazing game. Japan put everything on the line and more. They could have walked away with a guaranteed draw, which would have been huge in itself, but they went for the whole enchilada and they won. South Africa walked in as overwhelming favorites and walked out with eggroll on their face.

Ok, so going a little off subject there, but you know, rugby.

Why do we give less than we have in certain situations, shouldn’t we be giving 110% all the time? I think the main reason is that, quite frankly, people like that are generally fucking annoying. The other reason is that the killer instinct has been eroded from our genetic makeup. We no longer need to kill to eat; there is someone else that will do that for us. In most cases they are not hunting, more harvesting. I am not saying that this is a bad thing, but it seems to be the logical reason for this fundamental change. We are not going to bite the big one if we only win by 30 when we were meant to win by 70 – unless some bent noses are betting large on the points spread – so why risk it. Funnily enough, in rebuttal to that, you often get injured when you don’t play the game to your full capacity. Or, in the case of Goose, you hit the ejection canopy because Maverick was too short to reach the pedals.

Playing below your game is not necessarily a bad thing but we need to be aware of it. Don’t lose the deal, the game, the evening of horizontal fox-trotting (or whatever dance the cool kids are doing now) just because you think you have it won. There might be a convict coached, Kiwi heavy rugby team waiting to knock you off your pedestal. Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

As usual no animals were hurt or mistreated in the writing of this blog, and it is not about you J

So work hard, play hard and earn your inspiration

Happy Poets Day