Never Give Up

By Tim Emmons
How many people do you know personally who exhibits a never give up attitude?
Have you ever witnessed a sports team or a group of people put forth a never give up attitude?
Of course it’s come across at some point in human history.
Take this year’s NBA Finals.
The Cleveland Cavaliers not only topped a team who ended the regular season 73-9 to win their first basketball championship and first city championship since 1964, but did so after falling behind three games to one.
Golden State needed one win to seal back-to-back championships and had the roster to do so, but it was the Cavs who showed it’s not impossible.
In winning the coveted championship the Cavaliers became the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 deficit.
A few weeks earlier the Warriors became the 10th NBA team to erase a 3-1 playoff deficit after they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in a classic Western Conference battle.
In baseball, of the 70 teams that have faced a 3-1 series deficit in Major League history, 10 of them have come back to win an NLCS, an ALCS or a World Series.
Take the 1985 Royals, for example. That club fell behind three games to one both in the ALCS and the World Series, but came back to win both of them.
In hockey 10 teams took a 3-1 series lead in their best-of-seven series in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including 7-of-8 Preliminary round matchups.
All won (Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington, Pittsburgh, Dallas, St. Louis, San Jose). While a 3-1 lead is always a good thing, it’s never a sure thing.
Through 2016, teams have trailed 3-1 in a best-of-seven series 287 times.  Only 28 times has the trailing team comeback to win the series.
Think about comebacks in every sport known to man such as the Indiana Pacers comeback against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
It wasn’t and enormous lead, it was just unbelievable because it happened in 11 seconds.
The Pacers, I mean Reggie Miller, scraped together eight points in that short time span to shock not only New York but most of the world.
It’s one of the most remarkable individual performances I’ve ever seen.
What about the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 who found themselves down 3-0 in the best-of-seven, Eastern Conference Semifinal series?
The incredible journey they faced in winning three straight games and then in Game 7 against the Boston Bruins, Philly seemed overwhelmed, giving up three first-period goals.
Scratching and clawing their way back, the Flyers scored the next four goals of the game, and much like the series itself, won by the score of 4-3, becoming just the third team in NHL history to overcome a three-game deficit. Or the 2006 matchup between the Michigan State Spartans and the Northwestern Wildcats.
Trailing 38-3 with just under 10 minutes to play in the third quarter, the Spartans rallied to score 38 unanswered points to shock the host Wildcats 41-38, marking the biggest comeback in NCAA, D-I football history.
One of my favorites is the 1994 meeting between John Tyler and Plano East.
The John Tyler Lions had a comfortable 41-17 with just over three minutes left in the game, Plano East successfully recovered three onside kicks to pull within 44-41 with 24 ticks left.
Now this story didn’t end with an amazing victory for Plano East but that never give up attitude was definitely on display.