Stay Until the End of the Game

For those who haven’t seen it, Last Chance U follows the men’s basketball team at ELAC, a community college near LA. It’s great TV.

Most of the team’s players are super talented, but their plans for (or involvement with) Division 1 programs didn’t pan out for a variety of reasons. It’s easy to root for these guys, many of whom had challenging upbringings and are simply trying to figure out their lives.

It’s also easy to be entertained by their obsessive coach, John Mosely.

When players screw up (as they often do), Mosely screams, bemoans, and is quick to dash into a scrimmage to show them what hustling should look like. He also has a soft side, which emerges as he helps players navigate schoolwork, recruiting, and family problems.

Ultimately, Mosely just wants his players to accept their current situation, buy into his program, and commit to giving a great effort consistently … despite the very solid chance that their dream of earning a basketball scholarship from a four-year school will never come true.

Sticking with something hard is tough, especially when it’s not going well and you’re doing it for free.

Even harder when you don’t know what you’re trying to achieve, but you know that you just gotta get somethin’ going. But I’ve found that I can improve at this by being more honest and more imaginative with myself: have I given it my best shot? What does a home run look like, and how sweet would it be? Intuition can be strengthened this way.

There are also opportunities in life that, if taken advantage of, can improve how well I stick with goal-less endeavors.

For example, last winter, the Vikings played the Colts in Minneapolis. And even though they were down 33-0 at halftime, the Vikings pulled off the upset and won 39-36.

Now, if I remember the Falcons ‘98 season correctly, Vikings fans are passionate. But you can picture the scene in their stadium during this game:

Scores of Vikings fans who saw the game of a lifetime if they’d just stuck in their seats a little longer — instead of leaving to (probably) do nothing at home.

The odds were against them, but an epic memory was not that farfetched from happening.

I like to think that, more times than not, I’d stayed put because the upside is high.

Maybe this should be etched into law:

1. Do a low-odds & minimal-risk thing that could have a great outcome

2. Don’t be surprised when nothing good happens

3. Remember that you’ll still probably have fun or learn something anyway

4. Repeat

5. Great thing eventually happens