I have seen this quote a bunch in the last few days & I have seen it from athletes/coaches at various levels. You hear this statement, or a statement like it, all the time when a big game is looming but there is a lesser-known opponent prior to it.

 

So I have two questions:

 

#1- Do you believe it--that coaches/athletes really aren't looking ahead?

#2- Why or why not?

I have seen this quote a bunch in the last few days & I have seen it from athletes/coaches at various levels. You hear this statement, or a statement like it, all the time when a big game is looming but there is a lesser-known opponent prior to it.

 

So I have two questions:

 

#1- Do you believe it--that coaches/athletes really aren't looking ahead?

#2- Why or why not?

 

Depends on how you define "looking ahead" to me. If looking ahead means having an eye on the postseason, then yea... it's a lie. You might lose a game or two in December that you could win by developing some younger kids and a bench, but it could pay off in the long run.

 

I think teams say "we aren't looking ahead" as a matter of courtesy to one another, a way of keeping their team focused on the next game, and/or deflecting questions they don't want to answer. Some combination of those. The biggest reason though, is the fact that they don't want their next opponent to have any more motivation than they need. Finally, there's probably a pride element of having egg on your face when someone you looked over in your comments upsets you.

I think it is human nature to "look ahead."

You can give it all of the lip service you want, but in the back of your head the big showdown or rivalry game looms and sometimes occupies the luxury suite of your anticipation penthouse. This was certainly the case when Brossart and Pendleton County, the two top teams in the 10th in 2005, drew in together in the opening round of the then unseeded 37th District Tournament. For weeks little else took precedence over our thinking of that upcoming winner-take-all ballgame. (Pendleton won incidentally).

 

Even coaches will start slipping subtle preps into practice that they intent to use in a big game that might be a couple of weeks down the road.

 

I like the idea that this year we play in an out-of-town holiday tournament prior to playing Campbell County rivalry game on January 4th. This focuses our attentions on the event at hand, and deters us from looking forward to that event instead of focusing on our next regular season opponent. I've also seen teams get too pumped, too early, that sometimes the playing of the rivalry game becomes anti-climactic when it finally arrives.

 

I also believe in letdowns and trap games. They are all products of the human psyche.

I think it is human nature to "look ahead."

You can give it all of the lip service you want, but in the back of your head the big showdown or rivalry game looms and sometimes occupies the luxury suite of your anticipation penthouse. This was certainly the case when Brossart and Pendleton County, the two top teams in the 10th in 2005, drew in together in the opening round of the then unseeded 37th District Tournament. For weeks little else took precedence over our thinking of that upcoming winner-take-all ballgame. (Pendleton won incidentally).

 

Even coaches will start slipping subtle preps into practice that they intent to use in a big game that might be a couple of weeks down the road.

 

I like the idea that this year we play in an out-of-town holiday tournament prior to playing Campbell County rivalry game on January 4th. This focuses our attentions on the event at hand, and deters us from looking forward to that event instead of focusing on our next regular season opponent. I've also seen teams get too pumped, too early, that sometimes the playing of the rivalry game becomes anti-climactic when it finally arrives.

 

I also believe in letdowns and trap games. They are all products of the human psyche.

 

Pretty much agree with all of this.

I was going to reply but after reading Mustang... Agree 100%