- November 27, 2024
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After predicting an upset in Super Bowl III, Broadway Joe Namath became the poster child for the guaranteed win. Now, in various sports, it seems like a coach or player, confident in his team’s abilities, will declare a future win over a better or inferior opponent.
Closely following, the guarantee attracts attention, the challenger claims to use it as “more motivation” to beat the guarantor, and, unless the guarantee is made true, it seems to die off, not able to keep the same fire as the would-be victory, unless the perpetrator is Rex Ryan.
Recently, after beating his rival, Mainland, for the second time, Seabreeze head coach Pepper Johnson guaranteed his team would win the District 6A-5 championship (which will be the first since 2009), which includes the Bucs and the Deltona Wolves, who have yet to lose a district game this season.
So, what does this mean for coach Pep and the Sandcrabs? Will his players be overtaken by the pressure of his guarantee? Star player Riley Oldham doesn’t think so.
“It will give us more motivation than pressure,” he says. “It also gives us confidence to know that we can compete with any team.”
Without any doubt, Seabreeze will become the district targets for all of the teams. And of course, upon hearing this, their district counterparts will “turn it into fuel that will drive them to spoil his declaration.”
But, here’s the problem with this response. The Sandcrabs aren’t the best team in the district; Deltona is, so the Wolves should have the biggest target on their backs. And, when playing meaningful games, there shouldn’t be any more room for “extra” motivation. Winning a title should be enough.
On the other hand, I’m not much of a fan of a guarantee, unless it comes with repercussions. For example, I think it would be more significant, if Johnson decides to shave his head or wear his opponent’s team colors (something of the sort), if the ‘Crabs lose. Apart from consequences, I don’t put much into game predictions. But, if you’re into guarantees, this district tournament will be interesting, at least when Seabreeze plays.
