Cutting Down the Nets

"If you stay here and believe, then we can do this."
-- John "Digger" Phelps

March Madness!  The NCAA tournament began March 13^th.   Sixty eight teams began the tournament with their eyes on the coveted prize: the national championship.   Only four teams remain as 64 teams have now been sidelined.  Like any tournament there were favorites and underdogs; there were suspected blow-outs and shocking upsets.  A blow-out is easy to understand; one team is far superior than the other.  But, what about an upset?  The team that is not suppose to win, wins!  How is it that a team that is not suppose to win (the “underdog’) can pull off an upset?   There is one common element in every upset, the “underdog” believes what everyone else doesn’t; that being, the impossible is possible! 

The late Napoleon Hill said, “What ever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve.”  No game exemplifies Hill’s statement better than the game played between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the UCLA Bruins in January of 1974 (contrary to popular belief, this game was not a NCAA tournament game).  UCLA was the number one ranked team at the time and was riding an 88 game winning streak.  The Bruins were coached by the legendary John Wooden.  The Fighting Irish were coached by a young coach by the name of Richard “Digger” Phelps.  Notre Dame had lost their previous four games to UCLA by a total of 128 points.  It was predicted that UCLA would win the upcoming game by more than 30 points.  One might think that the Fighting Irish would accept the fact that they didn’t stand a chance against the best team in college basketball.

Coach Phelps knew that has team did not stand a chance against the Bruins unless somehow he changed the mindset of his team.  Phelps knew that in order for the impossible to become possible, the Fighting Irish had to believe it to be possible.  Phelps contemplated; how could the Fighting Irish pull off the biggest upset in college basketball?   On Wednesday before the game, Coach Phelps was sitting in his office on the campus of Notre Dame.  He glanced at a picture on the wall of former Notre Dame standout, Austin Carr.  The picture showed Carr cutting down the nets after Notre Dame beat UCLA in 1971 (that game marked the last time UCLA suffered a loss in over three years).  

After starring at the picture, Phelps made the decision that his team would cut down the nets after practice.  The ritual of cutting down the nets is bestowed upon the winning team after winning a championship or after a major upset.  Coach Phelps knew his team had to develop a winning attitude.  He wanted his team to begin thinking and feeling like a championship team.  Phelps’ philosophy was think like a champion, play like a champion, and become a champion.  After practice, Phelps instructed each player that they would have a turn at cutting down the net.  One by one, players were hoisted up to the rim by their teammates.  Coach Phelps told his team, “This is what we’ll be doing when we beat UCLA this weekend.”  He went on to say, “Someday you will tell your grandchildren about this.”

After each practice leading up to the game, the Fighting Irish did the same thing; the nets were cut down.   When Phelps first instructed the players to cut down the nets, the majority of the players were skeptical of Coach Phelps’ tactic.   But, by the end of Friday's practice, each player took their turn cutting down the net down with an aura of confidence.  The Fighting Irish’s mindset had changed.  It didn’t matter what everybody else thought, the Irish believed they would beat UCLA and they knew that was all that mattered.

The first half had gone as everyone had predicted.  In fact, at one time, UCLA had a 17 point lead.  With 3:30 left to go in the game and the Irish down 70-59, things dramatically changed.   Coach Phelps called a time out.   With unwavering belief and passion, Phelps told his team, “If you don't believe that we can do this, then leave and go to the locker room right now.  But, if you stay here and believe, then we can do this."  The Fighting Irish believed!  Notre Dame scored the next 12 points while holding UCLA scoreless. The Fighting Irish made history by pulling off one the greatest upsets in sports history.  They put an end to UCLA’s winning streak; a winning streak that still stands today as the longest winning streak in men’s college basketball history.

Coach Phelps would likely tell you that the act of cutting the nets down in and of itself was not the reason the Fighting Irish beat UCLA.  They won the game because the Fighting Irish believed that they would win and they played like they would win.   Coach Phelps and his team didn’t buy into what all of the naysayers had to say.  Notre Dame did not enter the game against UCLA hoping to win, they expected to win.   Coach Phelps emphasized the importance of mental preparation.   He knew that when you go into a game with a defeatist attitude, you’ll come out defeated.   Plain and simple, if you think you can’t, you can’t!

In his book, Tales from the Notre Dame Hardwood, Coach Phelps describes how his players, at their 30 year reunion, talked about the impact that cutting down the nets had on their mental approach to the game.  Coach Phelps’ tactic worked; it created a positive outlook for all of the players and a belief what others thought couldn't be done, could be done. 

How about you?  In the game of life do you practice cutting down the nets?  Do you see yourself as successful?  Do you practice that winning attitude? Or, are you inclined to believe the naysayers?   Understand that when you believe the naysayers, the result is always the same; they’ll always be right and you’ll end up losing.  The cornerstone of achievement is passion and belief.  When you want something bad enough and believe it to be possible, you’ll create an expectation.   Having an expectation and the disciplined practice of pursuing that expectation will create the very results that you expect.

Become a champion and start cutting down your nets!   Today is the time to believe and achieve!

Scissors anyone!

It's your life: live it, love it, & celebrate it!
MJD

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