There are probably inherent flaws in drawing life lessons from sports. After all, games, no matter how serious or important, are still just games, best viewed as breaks from the pressures of real life.
And those who compete, especially as professionals, are usually so inordinately talented and inordinately wealthy that any personal comparison is pointless.
But still the lessons are there and sometimes they're worth being learned.
Last Thursday night the Miami Hurricanes were losing 31-14 to Louisville in the third quarter. The game was at home for Miami, on national television in the Orange Bowl, and the score was embarrassing. It would have been pretty easy for the Hurricanes to call it a night and chalk the loss up to experience.
But instead, they buckled down and outscored Louisville 27-7 the rest of the way and won 41-38 with the winning touchdown coming with just 49 seconds left.
Two days later and a world away in both location and style, Wisconsin trailed Purdue in West Lafayette 17-7 late in the fourth quarter. Wisconsin needed to throw the ball, something that has never come easily for the Badgers, to have a chance to win. But they were unfazed, and previously shaky quarterback John Stocco turned into Joe Montana for a series, driving his team for a touchdown. Still up three points, 17-14, Purdue looked ready to run out the clock, but once again the Badgers dug in, forced Kyle Orton into a third-down fumble and returned it for a touchdown -- and a 20-17 victory.
Both Miami and Wisconsin kept undefeated seasons and championship aspirations intact in the process. They also reaffirmed one of the timeless life lessons that can be drawn on from sports. The old cliché of never giving up even when things might look beyond hope.
Every sport has its great comeback stories. The Bills coming back from 35-3 to beat the old Houston Oilers in the playoffs, Manchester United scoring two goals at the death to win the European Cup over Bayern Munich and (keep in mind this was written yesterday afternoon and Derek Lowe is starting) the Red Sox finding a way back from a 3-0 deficit.
But that kind of turnaround, to be able to play both hard and flawlessly to win a game that seemed lost, is different when it comes to college football.
The examples mentioned before are all professional performances, played by fully adult athletes who are compensated extremely, extremely well for doing it.
Not giving up is their job, and their livelihood depends on it. They're paid to play as well and as hard as possible no matter what the score.
But should the same standards apply for college athletes? High-level college football is an extremely violent and demanding game, only a little less so than the NFL version. Should a player really be blamed if he doesn't give 100 percent when tackling the other team's 260-pound fullback for the 10th time when is team is down by 35 and his vision is blurry from too many hits and he knows that there really isn't a future for him in the NFL?
It's true that a college scholarship and the chance to be on television and the adulation that may follow are all nice rewards, but are they really enough?
On Saturday in Beaver Stadium, Penn State will play Iowa in what should be a typical smash-mouth Big Ten game. It would be easy to question whether it is really worth it for a 2-4 team to put itself through all the rigor of preparation and practice and finally the game. It would be easy to question if there is a point to all of the effort.
But, come Saturday, both Penn State and Iowa will most likely play their hearts out to win the game. And if one team is down a couple of touchdowns, it will do everything in its power to get back in the game, even if there is no other reward than a third win and another grueling week on the horizon.
It's the same reason why every working stiff who wakes up at 5 a.m. to make it to the office or the factory in time keeps doing it day after day. They do it because it's expected of them and they know that it is wrong to give up even if things are hard and they're not going your way.
