The portions of today's Max Kellerman's show which I was able to listen to seemed dominated by the debate over whether an opportune "break" is the result of luck or hard work.
Of course, the above conversation related to the play with less than two minutes left in the NY Jets - Buffalo Bills game yesterday when Shaun Ellis recovered a fumble forced by Abram Elam and rumbled twenty some odd yards into the end zone. [Why is it that I heard no one questioning why Mangenious did not call time out when Buffalo had the ball with 2:48 left on the clock and they let the clock run all the way down to 2:05 before snapping the ball? He had all three time outs left at the time and the Jets were only down 3 pts. Maybe I just didn't listen to enough sports radio today, but I digress].
Max's initial take on the Jets game was that "Yes, Jets fans it took a miracle, but the Jets were only down one score and were in the game until the end." Max elaborated on this later in the broadcast as he explained that just hanging around and being in the game is most of the battle since "luck is the residue of design." Max also had a debate with Louie the call screener about the Jets and whether it is better to be lucky than good. Louie held his own in this debate (although he had some rather outlandish Giants comments which I detailed below). What he could have argued is that sometime you are due for a break. For example, in the Jets-SF game which they lost 24-14, the Jets forced five fumbles but only recovered one. Among the four which SF was able to recover was one which was batted into the end zone where the SF player fell on it for a touchdown. Take that score off the board and the Jets are only down 17-14 in the 4th quarter.
Of course, the above conversation related to the play with less than two minutes left in the NY Jets - Buffalo Bills game yesterday when Shaun Ellis recovered a fumble forced by Abram Elam and rumbled twenty some odd yards into the end zone. [Why is it that I heard no one questioning why Mangenious did not call time out when Buffalo had the ball with 2:48 left on the clock and they let the clock run all the way down to 2:05 before snapping the ball? He had all three time outs left at the time and the Jets were only down 3 pts. Maybe I just didn't listen to enough sports radio today, but I digress].
Max's initial take on the Jets game was that "Yes, Jets fans it took a miracle, but the Jets were only down one score and were in the game until the end." Max elaborated on this later in the broadcast as he explained that just hanging around and being in the game is most of the battle since "luck is the residue of design." Max also had a debate with Louie the call screener about the Jets and whether it is better to be lucky than good. Louie held his own in this debate (although he had some rather outlandish Giants comments which I detailed below). What he could have argued is that sometime you are due for a break. For example, in the Jets-SF game which they lost 24-14, the Jets forced five fumbles but only recovered one. Among the four which SF was able to recover was one which was batted into the end zone where the SF player fell on it for a touchdown. Take that score off the board and the Jets are only down 17-14 in the 4th quarter.
Later in the show Louie was grasping at straws when he argued that the Giants-Cowboys game was a "must win" game for the Giants as much as it was for the Cowboys. Sorry "everyman", but I can't agree with you on that one. The Cowboys were facing falling out of the wild card chase if they lost. The only repercussion for the Giants is whether they get the 1st or 2nd overall seed in the NFC and even that hangs on whether they beat Carolina next week.
Of course, no post Giants loss broadcast could be complete without at least one comment from Max as to why the loss was good for the Giants. Max did not disappoint as he opined that the Giants are "more likely" to win the Super Bowl again this year after having lost to the Eagles and Cowboys in back to back games. By this logic, Vegas will probably post 2-5 odds on the Giants winning the Super Bowl if they lose to Carolina and Minnesota.
There was also a great observation by a caller as to why Chad Pennington is doing better in Miami then he did as a Jet. The caller suggested that maybe Chad is a warm weather quarterback and cannot perform as well in cold climate games. To his credit, Max praised the caller and developed the thought, analogizing it to various athletes who get injured when they don't warm up properly or have to practice and play in cold weather.
Max's quotation of the expression "Luck is the residue of design" (which many attribute to Branch Rickey, but was originally penned by the British poet John Milton) has its roots in Torah thought. Ever since Adam and Eve ate from the apple, man has been cursed with a need to work in order to sustain himself. This work does not occur in a vacuum as it also taught that everything is in the hands of Hashem with the exception of fear of Hashem, or in the language of the Talmud Berachos 33b - Hakol biyidei shamayim, chutz m'yiras shamayim. The two concepts fall into balance as one needs to do work on his end (hishtadlus) and Hashem will do his part to help you succeed.
Now, I won't say that Hashem truly favors one team over another (Michael Kay does a great rant every so often on athletes or boosters who claim that G-d is in their corner). But the concept that one can get "lucky" if they work hard to put themselves in a position to succeed (or as Max put it, "luck is the residue of design") sounds an awful lot like do your hishtadlus, put your faith in Hashem and all will turn out fine.
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