Like life itself, not everything in sports is fair.
Perhaps nobody knows this better than boxer Kelsey Jeffries, who literally had to jump through hoops before getting an opponent for Thursday night’s fight card at HP Pavilion. It was an opponent with a .500 record.
So much for respect for the women’s featherweight champion. Jeffries beomoaned the fact that if she were Robert Guerrero, the IBF featherweight champion, she wouldn’t have to go through this scenario every time before a fight.
You’re right, Kelsey. Welcome to the world of women’s boxing.
Gilroy High’s football team got a taste of unfair last Friday night at Woodside. There were no locker facilities available and the Mustangs weren’t ready when they came on then field. It showed when the Wildcats scored on their first possession.
Credit coach Rich Hammond with not using it as an excuse, even after a close defeat.
“We can only control what we can control,” he told his team. “When you’re on the road, you can’t worry about things that may be different than what you are used to. We can control how we start the game and we have to do just that.”
Sports is about adjustments. When teams (other than Woodside) come to Garcia-Elder Complex, they are playing on a different type of turf. It may be superior than what they are use to, but it’s still different. It’s the same for the field hockey team. It’s a faster game on the GHS turf than it might be on a field where the grass is uneven.
When you learn to overcome adversity, to not worry when things are different, or not “fair,” when you are prepared for better as well as lesser opponents, that’s when you are successful.
The Philadelphia Eagles made it to the 2005 Super Bowl despite losing Terrell Owens to injury during the playoffs. The Oakland A’s are successful in baseball despite a payroll less than half of the New York teams. Tiger Woods finds ways to win, even when he doesn’t bring his “A” game.
That’s what makes winners and champions.
So c’mon Kelsey. We all know the boxing game hasn’t been fair to you. It wasn’t fair to James Toney two weeks ago against Samuel Peter, at least from my vantage point. It wasn’t fair when Larry Holmes attempted to beat Rocky Marciano’s record of 49 straight wins to start a career, and seemingly had the decision stolen from him.
All we can do, as Hammond so aptly put it, is control what we can control. That’s as fair as it gets.
