The underdogs.
Going out as totally impartial I’m wondering if I should pick a team to support. Maybe even place a little wager. Just to make things a little more exciting. I’m a firm believer that anything can happen and on a good day the underdogs can defeat the bookies favourite. Plenty of things can contribute to this outcome. True grit and determination is one, but the major factor is probably luck. Napoleon believed in luck. It wasn’t the skill of the opposing general that concerned Napoleon the most, but was his opponent lucky? You can make your own luck, but on the field of battle that luck can change the tide, turn defeat into victory.
Psychological warfare is just as important as physical prowess. It can turn the most feared team turn to jelly.
More worried about defeat than success, they play defensively, take no risks, fail to seize the opportunity.
The British secret service knew this in 1939 when they played their mind games that eventually forced Captain Langsdorff to scuttle the Graf Spee in the mouth of the river Plate. When the seed of doubt has been sown it can spread like wildfire.
So how will this be played out on the track? To be honest I’m not sure. But with a bit of luck, psychology and a determination of the will, even the underdogs can have their day. And even the best team can have their nemesis. In rugby union, on paper at least, the All Blacks are the best team in the world, but they always struggle against France. It’s that unknown quantity that all the stats and assessment in the world cannot define. That bogeyman that strikes when the least expected. So for one I’m going to forget the stats. I’ll be rooting for one of the less fancied teams. It always makes things more exciting.
Psychological warfare is just as important as physical prowess. It can turn the most feared team turn to jelly.
More worried about defeat than success, they play defensively, take no risks, fail to seize the opportunity.
The British secret service knew this in 1939 when they played their mind games that eventually forced Captain Langsdorff to scuttle the Graf Spee in the mouth of the river Plate. When the seed of doubt has been sown it can spread like wildfire.
So how will this be played out on the track? To be honest I’m not sure. But with a bit of luck, psychology and a determination of the will, even the underdogs can have their day. And even the best team can have their nemesis. In rugby union, on paper at least, the All Blacks are the best team in the world, but they always struggle against France. It’s that unknown quantity that all the stats and assessment in the world cannot define. That bogeyman that strikes when the least expected. So for one I’m going to forget the stats. I’ll be rooting for one of the less fancied teams. It always makes things more exciting.
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