What do Bill Wennington, Otis Thorpe and Cliff Levingston have in common? One, they are probably names that you have not heard of and two, all of them have championship rings.
For the record I am not a Dallas Mavericks fan. Never was. In fact I am a huge D-Wade fan; I bought and wore all of his shoes and even bought his jersey. But during this finals series I was seriously rooting for the Mavs to win, and they did.
During the initial press conferences it was evident that the Miami Heat were the clear favorites going into the series and the Mavs were the eventual underdogs. The rest of course, is history.
Why did the Mavs win and the Heat lose? Greg Anthony former Knick summed it best; in a 7 game series the team that wins it in 6 and on the road is clearly the best team. Hey but wait! Don't the Heat have 3 of the best players in the league in King Lebron James, Chris "Invisible Man" Bosh and D-Flash Wade?
Answer: The Mavs have Brian Cardinal.Cardiwho?!
Yes Brian Cardinal, the Professor X and striker Rooney lookalike who made a huge impact on the Mavs win today.
A nobody.
That's the same story with any other team today. You may look imposing on paper, having amazing credentials and accolodates but fall short of achieving their goal. I've seen this all too often; amazingly talented individuals but are overtaken by virtual unknowns.
One very good example would not be too far off your alley. Think of your high school reunion. Have you ever wondered why is that most of the time the most successful person during your reunions is usually not the guy who topped your class? There would even be times that most successful person is someone you haven't even heard of all the more earn "most likely to succeed" honors?
Brian Cardinal is one such guy. Though he might have the blockbuster contracts and product endorsements but he sure has acquired a good piece of jewelry, a champions ring. He is a role player who played it spectacularly, not minding the numbers on the stat sheet but focused on helping his team win. Without him doing what he did today we might be probably be looking at a game 7 on Wednesday.
I have always said this; talent is never enough. I wrote it a couple of months ago.
When finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki was interviewed about winning the championship he said it would be the result of 13 years of hammering; hammering from the media, critics and fans. He wasn't hammered alone. It was his same teammates Jason Terry and Kidd who felt the same after being so close in 2006. Finally it was their time to celebrate.
So why should the Heat win in the future? First they have no reason not to. They have the right pieces in place so not too significant changes are needed said former NBA great Chris Webber. What they needed added C-Webb was this; failure.
Nothing fails like success, that's why defending the title is for Dallas to lose if they lack focus come next year.
Nothing succeeds like failure, that's why it's up to Miami and it's stars to bounce back from this and be a better team. There's no other way but up like they say. This can be said true anywhere, whether in a family, friendships or in a company.
In summary take note of these four points:
1.) Your collective talents can take you places but your teamwork and combining those talents get you to the destination.
2.) Not everyone have to be superstars, you just need ordinary earthlings who respond to challenges extraordinarily.
3.) When you fail, there is no other thing to do but take responsibility for it. No blaming, no finger pointing.
4.) When you do succeed, it should be the culmination of your desire to bounce back and be a better team.
Just ask Michael Jordan, Paul Pierce, Larry Bird and Dirk Nowitzki. They can show you their jewelry for good measure.
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