All I Need to Know about Perseverance I’ve Learned from Duke Basketball

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Last night was the second time that a Duke basketball team reminded me to never give up a millisecond before the buzzer.

I'm not even a huge sports fan — hadn't watched a basketball game all season.  But last night the legendary rivalry broke out once again: Duke vs. Carolina.  And I'm a Duke alum.

One of my writers groups was meeting last night (I was a little surprised that everyone came), so by the time I got home the game was more than half over and Duke was losing by a lot.  I watched a few minutes, decided I'd had enough and switched to something more uplifting, probably Hollywood gossip.  Then husband Bob came running into the living room yelling about, "…Your team!!"

Hearing nothing more than that, I turned  back to the game, just in time to see Duke freshman Austin Rivers drop the three-pointer that gave Duke the game by a point.  Duke coaches and players erupted onto the floor in glee. 

Turned out that a run in the last two minutes of the game had brought Duke up to two points behind UNC.   Then Rivers got the ball into the air as the buzzer sounded and by damn, it went in.

The message of the night:  never give up, never give up, never give up.  Not as long as there is a fraction of a second left.

(The other time Duke b'ball reminded me of this was a few years back when Grant Hill threw the ball almost the full length of the court and Christian Laettner caught it, shot, and, with the timer showing zeroes, made the winning basket.)

I never expected to see such a thing twice.  Duke has another game in a couple of days.  I plan to be there.

 

Categories: enhancing creativity

Tags: Austin Rivers, Duke alum, never give up, perseverance