Are you ready when you get your shot? Are you always in BETA?
One of my greatest mentors in life, Kevin Carroll, asked me a question a decade ago: “Yogi, are you always in Beta?” Over a coffee in Portland, he shared his rationale. If your life was an app, are you always updating it? Are you always working on your craft? And when you get your shot, will you be ready to take it?
Eileen Gu took that a step further this past week when she said, “I train like I’ve never won and I compete like I’ve never lost.”
I thought a lot about that on Saturday while calling Notre Dame at Purdue on NBC, and I witnessed it while watching incredible finishes late on the East Coast.
The big picture in college football yesterday was that road teams had the composure to win, and win late. The Ducks winning late vs USC, Iowa winning on the literal final snap, Boise State dominating Western Michigan, Nebraska winning in East Lansing, UCLA running away with a win against Maryland, P.J. Fleck’s Gophers winning late at Washington, and more.
While flying back West, my mind keeps going to that quote: “I train like I’ve never won and compete like I’ve never lost.”
That’s the mentality Iowa’s offense had to have with two seconds left to win in the Big House. That’s the approach Drake Lindsey had to have across the country in Husky Stadium. And that’s how the entire Oregon team had to walk into the Coliseum last night against USC.
Which leads me to Dylan Raiola. Since he arrived in Eugene, he’s seemingly been in Beta, working on his craft and preparing for if and when his name was called.
I have a soft spot for QBs, especially 5-Star QBs. It led to authoring the book with Joey Roberts. My favorite line in the book is from Chip Kelly. He wrote, “It doesn’t matter if the virtual world is criticizing you or praising you. Praise and blame are all the same. That door swings both ways. Better to keep it closed.”