“Gentlemen, this is a football”, Vintage Vince Lombardi.

I never really got this message other than getting back to basics. The message became real however when I read Pete Carroll’s new book. Winning Forever. He writes, “USC won fifty three straight games when we had a positive turnover ratio.” And he goes onto say that a mantra preached year round was, “Its about the ball”.
That is an impressive number that must be respected.

I decided to study this give away take away ratio , or turnover margin to see if it had a real correlation to winning.

Last years NFL leaders were the Packers with +24, Eagles +15, and Saints +11. All strong finishers last year with the Saints winning the Super Bowl.

In the BCS LSU was second in the nation in turnover margin in 2007, and Florida finished with turnover margins of +22 in 2008 and +5 in 2006 as they won two of the past three national title.

I guess gentlemen it really is about the ball!

Football to me has always been more than X’s and O’s. It is somewhat metaphorical to life. Some of the greatest Coaches have been been great leaders and somewhat philosophical wizards.  Anyone sport enthusiast cannot help but think of the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden and his treasure trove of quips. Rockne, Paterno. These men were/are examples of exemplary living.

Another successful Coach and philosopher himself is Pete Carroll of USC. If you appreciate football at all I urge you to visit a USC practice. The energy is unlike anything you have ever seen before.  I have told friends that he seems like he is skating across the field.  

I tend to think winning football is more a result of a sound philosophy than X’s and O’s (although his staff is more than capable obviously). His philosophy of always competing as illustrated in this 60 Minutes documentary is so simple, yet infectious into all areas of life.

In the clip he talks about the concept of Winning Forever. I remember an interview where he said that he measured his success by not one year or one national championship. But by measuring how many he has over say a 10 year span. That’s raising the bar eh? Again, in the above clip he says why not have the best practices ever practiced? Raising the standard. 

And that is how the clip ends. His Better LA Program getting credit for less gang related deaths in the City of L.A. That’s really raising the bar. That’s taking the philosophy all the way.