11-21-2012, 06:36 PM
I'm sort of embarrassed to add more replies to the "how motivated is UCLA" thing.
Just this:
People whose answer to this is "It is foolish to think they would give anything less than 100%" ... look, that is silly.
To say that is logically identical to saying: When there is a championship on the line for a game, that that team would not give an ounce more than they would if there was no additional consequence to a win or loss.
Because, you have told us, the team simply gives 100% because of their wonderful devotion to football.
Obviously that is ridiculous: When there is a serious consequence at stake, a team draws on added motivation. To deny that would be a very odd statement. And this week that is NOT the case for UCLA. It is not saying they are going to lie down on the field.
A totally separate question is would UCLA play intentionally poorly to avoid the Ducks... or would UCLA put in a noticeably weak performance. On that, I agree of course, they will play hard based on the pride, skill, energy, and love for the game. But they do not have the extra boost that they WILL have one week later in the Championship Game.
You could even say that their love of football and desire to be champions could cause a team to play in a way to store up energy in reserves, knowing that next week their pride and position in history will be on the line.
Just this:
People whose answer to this is "It is foolish to think they would give anything less than 100%" ... look, that is silly.
To say that is logically identical to saying: When there is a championship on the line for a game, that that team would not give an ounce more than they would if there was no additional consequence to a win or loss.
Because, you have told us, the team simply gives 100% because of their wonderful devotion to football.
Obviously that is ridiculous: When there is a serious consequence at stake, a team draws on added motivation. To deny that would be a very odd statement. And this week that is NOT the case for UCLA. It is not saying they are going to lie down on the field.
A totally separate question is would UCLA play intentionally poorly to avoid the Ducks... or would UCLA put in a noticeably weak performance. On that, I agree of course, they will play hard based on the pride, skill, energy, and love for the game. But they do not have the extra boost that they WILL have one week later in the Championship Game.
You could even say that their love of football and desire to be champions could cause a team to play in a way to store up energy in reserves, knowing that next week their pride and position in history will be on the line.