Jan

9

There is no one else who is saying anything about it, so naturally I will. How about those Gators? Florida whipped the ever-loving bejezus out of Ohio State last night to become the BCS college football champions. I love it when the underdog not only wins, but it also does so convincingly. Having been an underdog most of my life, I love to see a team that is told that they simply can't do something, and actually go out and do it well … Well guess what? Just as high school drop outs aren't supposed to be able to achieve a level of success in the financial industry or have several articles and a book published, Florida wasn't thought to be worthy of even being on the field with the brutes from Ohio State. Crown them champions.

There are lots of trading, market and life lessons here.

1. As always, you should have an edge. Florida found the passing seam in OSU's zone defense and exploited it.

2. When it's clear that your edge is working, exploit it ruthlessly. Once Florida knew where the seam was, it pushed the point and went back to it over and over again.

3. Respond to adversity by attacking. When OSU's phenomenal player, James Ginn Jr., ran back the opening kick for a touchdown, Florida could have been demoralized by falling behind such a heavily favored team. Instead they got a runback of their own and calmly drove in for the score.

4. Play great defense. Florida's defense refused to make mistakes last night. The Heisman trophy winner was 4 of 14 passing for 35 yards and they could never get going. Protect your bankroll at all times. Don't be afraid to push it when you have the edge (the continual blitzing last night kept Smith running for his life), but not until you know you have the edge. There have been a lot of times in the past few years where playing good defense, such as having cash on hand and selling as the market went higher, allowed me to jump on opportunities that led to profits.

5. Loyalty counts. Florida's kicker, after being all SEC last year, has had a difficult year. They stuck with him. He booted two from over 40 yards. OSU's head coach, Jim Tressel, refused to allow Troy Smith take the blame for the loss, and instead took it all for himself. People remember things like that and think better of you for it.

6. If you do lose, be gracious about it. Learn from it. Nobody likes to lose but it will happen. Jim Tressel's post game interview was a lesson in the behavior of a gentleman. There is no doubt in my mind that he will review, learn from this and be back with a top ten program again next year despite the humbling nature of being beaten so badly.

7. Know when the risk is too great. When asked about Boise State, Urban Meyer stated that he loved those guys, but he wasn't going to play them. Boise, by whipping Oklahoma, proved that they are indeed a top flight school. Florida is relieved they don't have to do a one playoff game with that tricky high octane offense.

8. When the odds are against you, study, prepare and believe in yourself. Nobody thought Florida had a chance, and that could have demoralized the gators. Instead they were there to prove a point. They practiced, and they studied film (no one else found the seam in the zone all year, so they studied hard). They believed, they studied, and they worked. Call them a champion.

Michael Covel comments: 

These are all good points. But was Florida really an underdog? Or were sportswriters in love with OSU, Michigan and Notre Dame all year to the exclusion of SEC schools? LSU had the speed to whip OSU too. Speed is the dividing line. Over the last 30 years, speed has generally been located in Florida schools and the SEC schools.


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2 Comments so far

  1. Rodger Bastien on January 10, 2007 9:49 am

    Those are all very fine lessons that do have application in trading, without a doubt. Personally, I believe the biggest factor in the Buckeye’s dreadful performance was the 51 days of inactivity they endured while waiting for that game. That has turned this talk of absolute superiority of one team over another a farce. Perhaps a corollary pertaining to trading would be the impossibility to trade effectively after an extended time away from your markets. You lose the necessary edge.

  2. Michael Covel on January 10, 2007 10:17 pm

    All good points. But was Florida really an underdog? Or were sportswriters in love with OSU, Michigan and Notre Dame all year to the exclusion of SEC schools? LSU had the speed to whip OSU too. Speed is the dividing line. Over the last 30 years, speed has generally been located in Florida schools and the SEC schools.

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