IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL IT'S OVER

Like thousands of University of Hawai'i football fans, my sister Lani and I gather with friends to watch the weekly edition of Warrior football.  The heartbreaking loss to San Jose State last week launched one of her friends into a tirade about the rest of UH's football season.

"Their going to lose all rest of their "away" games and probably get crushed by BYU (their last home game of the season)," he said.

"Well, maybe there's a chance they could win," replied Lani.

"Nah, UH is terrible on the road.  They lose to teams they should easily beat. Their lucky to win the three games they did," he answered.

Not wanting to debate the issue, I changed the subject and ordered another beer.

But a couple of days later, Lani and I talked about why we have such an aversion to "pre-determined defeat" (referencing our conversation after the football game).  We came to the conclusion that we were raised by a father who was an avid baseball fan and coach.  I'll explain.

Larry Medina loved baseball.  In the late 40's he lived in New York (pictured above) and followed the Brooklyn Dodgers (who eventually became the Los Angeles Dodgers) and of course, the hallowed Yankees.   Yankee catcher Yogi Berra, coined the phrase "it's not over until it's over," referring to the fact that in baseball, the outcome is never obvious until the last out is made (unlike football or basketball, where the winner can be decided before the game is actually over).  My Dad made this saying his mantra, both as a coach and as a sports fan.

In my last year of Little League, we were down 8-1 to the Reds going into the last inning.  As we came into the dugout to take our last "at bat", Coach Medina reminded us that "it's not over till it's over."  He cited the greatest comeback in baseball history, the 1901 Detroit Tigers who scored 10 runs in the last inning to beat Milwaukee, 14-13.  The Reds helped us out by making three errors, but we rallied to score eight runs and win the game, 9-8.

Unknowingly, he put those thoughts into our heads beyond just the baseball field.  He taught us to be "possibility thinkers" by putting more weight on our own discipline and determination than the odds against us.  My brothers and sisters (who never played baseball) all have an undeniable drive to succeed regardless of the outcome of their ventures.  The real test (he would say) is preparing yourself to get on the field and meet the challenges that come with competition.

Dad followed the University of Hawai'i football team religiously, even in the years when they never won a single game.   While he would be thrilled with their victories and agonize over their defeats, that's not what drew him to the games.  He went because he knew that on any given day, any team can beat any other team regardless of their skill, standing, reputation or odds.

Just like life, there's no guarantee you'll win.  But there's no guarantee you'll lose either.