On another board, more than one poster expressed his fear that USC's players, in part because of the announcement of their new head coach, would be especially inspired for this game, and rise to its challenge.
I countered that the salient trait of USC teams, for what seems near a decade, is to play below the level of their talent, regardless of the challenge. They rely on raw talent more than rigorous preparatiom.
And the "rise to the challenge" argument, applied to athletes or any team of them, always has perplexed me. With the exception of almost every team's "flat game" every season--e.g, Northwestern this fall--teams do not rise to challenges, but simply play to them.
A military expression perfectly captures my belief:
"An army does not rise to a challenge; it falls to the level of its training."
So I don't think the outcome of this game was determined by any event of this week. This game was won on the fields and film rooms of these two teams, all year long.
The better trained team sometimes loses, to be sure; luck always figures in. But the money bet today is on the team that has trained best for this.
And I am certain which team that is.
I countered that the salient trait of USC teams, for what seems near a decade, is to play below the level of their talent, regardless of the challenge. They rely on raw talent more than rigorous preparatiom.
And the "rise to the challenge" argument, applied to athletes or any team of them, always has perplexed me. With the exception of almost every team's "flat game" every season--e.g, Northwestern this fall--teams do not rise to challenges, but simply play to them.
A military expression perfectly captures my belief:
"An army does not rise to a challenge; it falls to the level of its training."
So I don't think the outcome of this game was determined by any event of this week. This game was won on the fields and film rooms of these two teams, all year long.
The better trained team sometimes loses, to be sure; luck always figures in. But the money bet today is on the team that has trained best for this.
And I am certain which team that is.
