House Money Stays With The House

In a high school tournament game, my guys faced a far superior roster. The only advantage we had was our core was older, however this was our first playoff appearance for the entire roster. For all intents and purposes, the season had been a resounding success.

Every game we had played to date went according to plan. We defeated the teams we were supposed to beat and lost to the teams we were supposed to lose to. But suddenly, we had a lead heading into halftime as underdog with the season on the line.

We were in uncharted waters. We were playing with house money, but could we make the right decisions to carry the money out of the casino?

I had to give a half time speech I had never given before. I said something along the lines of, “You don’t have to be better than them all game. You don’t even have to be better than them for a half. You just have to be even for twenty four minutes.”

We as a coaching staff started to coach tight. The fast and loose approach that gave us the lead was swapped out with stalling and overthinking. Weird things that happen over the course of the season once a game began to happen over and over. The officials got involved. The lead dwindled. There were tears on the sideline. There were tears in the locker room post game.

Prior to their road playoff games against Notre Dame and Penn State, Kurt Cignetti and Rhett Lashlee took very different approaches in the media.

Cignetti was his loud mouth self while Lashlee was very complimentary and borderline terrified of Penn State.

As a former head coach, I found myself wondering, what would they say at halftime if things weren’t going their way.

The Hoosiers trailed 17-3 at half and the Ponies fell behind 28-0. Could Cignetti regroup the team? Could Lashlee rally the troops?

Cignetti’s decision making the second half never matched his pregame media antics. Lashlee opted for an onside’s kick after a made field goal. Indiana would score two touchdowns late to make the score look more respectable. SMU currently trails 38-3.

It is unlikely that either coach’s words prior to the first whistle or at halftime would have made a difference in the outcome.

Teams enter games with house money for a reason. Leaving without anything doesn’t discredit their year long accomplishments or their right to compete in the first place.