Don’t call it a comeback…
Ernie Els and the Atlanta Braves learned the true meaning of comeback last week when both entities make tremendous come-from-behind wins.
Els ended up winning the British Open after coming back from being six strokes behind going into the final day of the tournament. Els was six shots back of Adam Scott when he teed off on Sunday. It seemed like Els’ chances were slim to take home his fourth major championship, especially with guys like Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell and others ahead of him. But Els continued to just hit the ball, hole-after-hole like he could catch the leader Scott. But Scott needed to par on the 18th hole to force a playoff or birdie to win the tournament. Els played the back nine with four birdies and no bogeys, which won the title.
Woods struggled on a hole in the front nine, which viturally knocked him out of contention. But Els just kept going. He didn’t know how Scott was doing, but he kept persevering.
Also last week, the Atlanta Braves came back from a 9-0 deficit to defeat the first-place Washington Nationals 11-10 in 11 innings. ESPN is calling it the game of the year. When any team is down 9-0 in baseball, it might be easy to just give up, especially when playing the Nationals. It would at least be easy to not try that hard, to just let the game play out, and head home sooner rather than later. But the Braves just kept on chipping away. A run here and there, and before you knew it, the Atlanta-team knotted up the game.
Whether you’re Els or a large team like the Braves, those comebacks show a lot of heart and dedication. It shows you never know what could happen and why it’s important to stick to the game plan.
So don’t give up on your dreams, even if it’s just one game at a time. Don’t give up on your goals even if it seems completely out of reach. Comebacks happen. Two happened in one week. Why can’t they happen to you?
(Chrissy Smith is Sports Editor of the Slidell Independent, and a former college athlete. She can be reached at chrissycsmith@gmail.com.)
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