superbowl

Super Bowl Deja Vu

Oh the pain! The pain! The year was 1980, I was in third grade, and the Philadelphia Eagles were in the Super Bowl. They were playing against the Raiders and they were demolished. And I do mean deeeeeemolished.

I can’t remember the score (on purpose) but I do remember going to school the next day. Everybody, including my third grade teacher Ms. Douglass, was highly upset. We made it to the Super Bowl, we thought we had a good chance, however the Eagles…well…they just blew it.

This year’s Super Bowl was like deja vu. Well maybe not exactly deja vu. Obviously we didn’t get demolished because 21-24 is as close as it gets. We thought we had a good chance, however the Eagles…well…they just blew it. I mean come on now, that had to be the worst 2 minute offense I’ve ever seen.

Anyway, there is a point to all of this complaining. For quite a number of years I’ve been noticing a “we did this, but they did that” phenomenon.

At a program that I delivered at a high school last week a counselor said to me “We have a good class, but I don’t understand why they are so immature”. Hmmm. Interesting, right?

Someone once told me. “ In my family, we are all intelligent. But at family reunions they act so ghetto”.

A pastor, who shall remain nameless, once said this to me. “ We know how to praise God the right way over here. But good Lord they some broke behind folks!” Now that’s deep, right?

The reason for this behavior can be explained using a few of the basic human desires such as the desire to bond/connect, the desire for acceptance, and the desire for status.

Since you were knee high you have probably been like most people. You want to bond or connect with someone or some group; you want to be accepted by someone or some group and you want to be important to some one or some group (status).

Because of these desires you associate yourself, when possible, with the “in thing” or the “cool thing”(i.e. winners) and disassociate yourself, sometimes unconsciously, with something that “ain’t cool” (i.e. losers).

I could go into great detail on this topic. So if it’s something that you would like to read about or see on an episode of The State Of The Mind Address send me an email. But for right now it boils down to this:

All of this Psychology 101 stuff is satisfying to the logical side of me. As far as the emotional side of me goes…

We’ll do better next year, right? Yeah, okay. Whatever. We had good chance to win. A really good chance. But the Eagles…well…they blew it, man. They just blew it.

To receive full reprint one time rights please contact Al Duncan at

Al Duncan Enterprises directly via email at al@alduncan.net . I appreciate your interest and will reply to your message promptly within 48 hours.

The following biography byline must be added to the end of each article along with photo (if possible).

Al "The Inspiration" Duncan is the co-author of Unleash the Greatness Within You. He is an expert in the soft skills of Emotional Intelligence, Persuasion, Self-Motivation, and Communication. Al is a National Seminar Leader and Soft Skills Trainer at a number of colleges and universities including the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education, Macon State University, and Clayton State University. He is also an instructor at the Knowledge Shop of Atlanta. Visit him online at www.alduncan.net