Finding the Perfect Sports Metaphor

I have long thought that sports metaphors are a great way of describing non-sports events. So since we have been on this adoption journey, I have been looking for the perfect sports metaphor to describe it. Several weeks ago (before we got our referral), I turned to my good friend (and former Stanford and Berkeley classmate) Doug Steiger to help find the perfect sports analogy to describe the adoption waiting process. In particular, I asked Doug if he could think of cases where it took an athlete a long time to achieve his or her sought-after victory and whether the victory was more sweet as a result. I was thinking that maybe Phil Mickelson (golf) would be a good example because I knew it took him a long time to win his first major (although I couldn't remember which major he finally won and when that was). Doug is a big sports fan and I knew if anyone could come up with the perfect metaphor, Doug would. Here's Doug's e-mail response that he sent me on May 8 when I asked him about the Mickelson analogy:

"I think Elway might be more widely understood. Elway won the Super Bowl for the first time in his 15th seaon and then again in his 16th season. He'd lost three times in the Super Bowl before that, often badly (39-20 to the Giants, 42-10 to the Redskins, and 55-10 to the Niners). Plus, he's got that Stanford connection.

Mickelson? I think he played 41 majors as a pro before he won the Masters in '04, with 3 seconds and 5 thirds. (he was third in the Masters in '01, '02, AND '03 before he won in '04!). Here's what Wikipedia said:

'Despite these accomplishments, for many years Mickelson was often described as the "best golfer never to win a major." Mickelson often played well in majors: in the five-year span between 1999 and 2003 he had six second-place or third-place finishes. But victory always eluded him, for reasons that were ascribed to taking too many risky shots, missing too many short putts, or a general lack of what it takes to close out a big tournament. Undaunted, Michelson continued to refine his game and his course strategy and psychology. His first major championship win came at the 2004 Masters, where he won with a 20-foot final hole birdie putt, defeating Ernie Els in a Sunday back-nine duel in which the stars traded birdies and eagles back and forth.'"

I loved getting this note from Doug because during the long wait for our referral, I could just think to myself "it's just like what John Elway or Phil Mickelson had to face for all those years before they had their first big championship -- just keep working hard and good things will come." So it was nice to get another e-mail from Doug the day we got our referral congratulating us on the green jacket (another reference to a Masters victory). I told Doug we won't celebrate too much until we have Jennifer Rose in our arms (e.g., we are in the Butler cabin) and didn't want to pull a Van de Velde (as Doug reminded me, Van de Velde is the guy who blew a 3-shot lead going into the 18th green at the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie). See how carried away you can get with these sports metaphors?

Doug and I even got Doug's wife Morna hooked on using golf sports metaphors (and she doesn't even like golf!). So not only have I gotten Morna addicted to the Heverin blog (see previous entry in which Jim gives a shout out to Morna), I have gotten her hooked on bad sports metaphors.

J.