It is referred to as “swagger.”
The dictionary definition of the word swagger is: “To walk with a bold, arrogant or lordly stride; strut.”
Successful athletic teams all have it.Players with a swagger expect to win. Period.
They feel they are the better team and as long as they play up to expectations, they will emerge victorious.
Even if they don’t play up to expectations, they expect to compensate by outworking the opponent.
They won’t tell the media they expect to win because they don’t want to supply the opponent with bulletin board material and extra incentive.
They don’t want to exhibit their arrogance.
The New England Patriots are living proof of the power of swagger.
And maintaining humility.
When quarterback Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the season two years ago, they still went out and produced an 11-5 record with backup QB Matt Cassel.
Name another team that could absorb the loss of a Super Bowl MVP quarterback and still win 11 games.
They have done it again this season.
Is there anybody who would have predicted the Patriots would win 13 of their first 15 games and clinch the top seed for the upcoming AFC playoffs?
Not me. Not in my wildest dreams.
Their bend-but-not-break defense has started as many as four rookies.
Future Pro Bowl receiver Randy Moss was traded to Minnesota because he was being disruptive and was dogging it. Defensive end Ty Warren, who had started 92 of 105 games since being drafted in the first round in 2003, was lost for the season before taking a snap due to a hip injury that required surgery. All-Pro left guard Logan Mankins didn’t join the team until Nov. 2 due to a contract dispute.
There is a resolve and a resiliency that accompanies that swagger which enables teams to overachieve when they are facing adversity.
The Boston Red Sox went 89-73 this past season despite an uncanny rash of injuries to key players that would have left most teams at or below the .500 mark.
Teams with that swagger can win games on reputation. They intimidate opponents.
Opponents can hang with them for a little while but, in the backs of their minds, they are waiting for the other shoe to drop.
And it does.Swagger could dictate how far the University of Maine men’s hockey and men’s basketball teams can go this season.
The hockey team has had two impressive wins apiece over North Dakota and Northeastern and another one over a Providence College team that hadn’t lost at home. That is still Providence’s only home loss.
The men’s basketball team has posted eye-opening road wins over a Massachusetts team that was 7-1 at the time and a Penn State club that was 7-3.
Both Maine teams are legitimate contenders to earn NCAA Tournament berths.
It would be the Maine hockey team’s first berth since the 2006-2007 season and it would the men’s basketball team’s first-ever NCAA bid.
They have proven in the early going that their talent level is on a par with the best teams in their respective conferences.
But they need to firmly believe they can beat everyone in their conference and play with that swagger.
The hockey team needs to close out games. When they get a lead, they need to expand it. They have to stop letting teams back into games.
The men’s basketball team needs to continue to attack the boards and defend with the tenacity it exhibited at UMass and Penn State.