Hu·bris [hyoo-bris, hoo] –noun
1. Excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.
--See Cowboys and Eagles Fans (prior to being humbled on the field courtesy of the Redskins)
Hubris is the biggest killer of teams/winning streaks next to injuries
to key personnel. Anyone remember Patriots Nation and the jumbo jet
sized hubris they took to the last super bowl? For all of the hype
created by the media football is still a game of inches and it is won
or lost on the field. I happened to glance the ESPN NFL power rankings
to find my beloved Washington Redskins ranked 3RD. My first reaction
was they should be higher because I'm greedy like that but as I glanced
more of ESPN's overwhelming coverage of the Skins I realized the Skins
are being setup.
I was reminded of an expression I used often with my college professors that went along these lines
"expectations are the building blocks to disappointment". The comments on the ESPN Power rankings read as follows:
"This team should be 7-1 at the midway point. Jim Zorn has made all the right moves over the past month. (MM)"
These comments are from the same
"experts" that predicted
the Skins would have a strangle hold on last place in the NFC East. I
guess when you go to Dallas and pimp slap the team the
"experts"
predicted to be the best then the experts take notice. The Skins
followed it up by taking the train to Philly's house and pimp slapping
the Eagles after spotting them a 14-0 lead. So given all of this good
news why should Redskins nation not be completely immersed in all of
the hype and attention we are getting? The short answer is Hubris.
I should stop here and list some other notables that suffered calamity because of hubris:
0. The Dinosaurs
1. The Ancient Egyptian Empire
2. The Ancient Roman Empire
3. The British Empire
4. General Custer
5. Saddam Hussein
6. Hillary Clinton
The Rams, Browns and Lions all have losing records and two of the 3
games are at home. The Redskins are sitting pretty by all accounts but
that is exactly when good teams should turn off their radios and not
listen to the TV. The Redskins fanbase should be checking the
foundation of the expectations pedestal the talking heads are building
for them. The NFL talking heads are setting the Skins up to be
clobbered the moment they lose to a team considered inferior. Despite
the hype surrounding the Skins the Rams, Browns and Lions are all
talented pro-football teams that are desperate which means they have
absolutely nothing to lose. I cannot think of anything more dangerous
than competing against teams with nothing to lose.
For a good portion of my 17 year military career I was a paratrooper.
Paratroopers drop behind enemy lines in order to disrupt the enemy,
create confusion and accomplish mission critical tasks which allow
larger forces to come in later and do their respective jobs. The
incredibly tough training for paratroopers was based upon the fact that
once you land you are ALWAYS surrounded by your enemy so you have to be
both crazy and tough enough to accomplish your objective and hold out
until help comes. I can see a parallel with the Skins because they have
been dropped in the middle of unknown territory and they are surrounded
both by high expectations and potentially their own hubris. If they
slip they can lose all three of those games and be back in the basement
quicker than Viper SRT8 on the Nevada Salt Flats.
One of
Murphy's laws of combat is if your attack is going far better than you expected you are probably being sucked into an ambush.
Skins vs. Rams Preview