Recently I watched the motion picture Underdogs. It is a formulaic, feel-good movie about a losing high-school football team that’s motivated by a new coach to win a championship.

The coach teaches them the skills necessary to succeed, yet they still don’t win any games. He realizes that what they lack is the hunger to win. So, he says to them, “My playing days are long past. These games are for you; and they are precious, because once you’re done, you’re done forever.”

I thought of the precious few baseball games I played; how I wished I could have played more; and how the moments I remember and talk about the most were those games we won. I said aloud to the television screen, “You tell ‘em, Coach!”

The coach played the “scarcity card,” and to me those were very moving words. I’ve lived long enough to have experienced regret, but I wondered if scarcity would motivate a high school kid who still has so much life in front of him?

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