MEXICO
CITY — Before this season began, the Raiders, coming off a 12-win season and
loaded on offense, were a trendy pick to possibly unseat New England atop the
AFC.
In the
wake of his team’s 33-8 loss to the Patriots on Sunday, Raiders quarterback
Derek Carr stood at a podium in the shadow of Azteca Stadium and acknowledged
the standard still being set by the defending Super Bowl champions.
“They
don’t do anything special, they just do everything right,” Carr said. “You sit
there in the first half and they don’t have any turnovers, I don’t think they
had a penalty. They do the little things right. And it starts in the offseason;
it starts with the culture in their room and their building and all those kinds
of things.
“It’s
something that we’re building. It’s something that we’re striving toward, that
efficiency and all those kinds of things. But obviously, we have a long way to
go.”
As a
swimmer and/or a swimming coach Carr’s comments hit the nail squarely on the
head. “Do everything right” is a very demanding, tough task. But if you want to
be the very best at whatever you do then this is what you must do.
So
many people, regardless of their chosen path, are willing to do some things
right. A smaller percentage are willing to do many things right. A very few are
willing to “do everything right”; those that choose that difficult, demanding
and at times daunting path are rewarded greatly.
As Ken
says, there are three groups of people (swimmers on your team): 1 – those on
the bus; 2 – those standing at the bus stop deciding if they want to take the
ride; 3 – those who don’t even know there is a bus…
David
Carr + Ken DeMont = 2 smart guys
Thanks
to Matt Kawahara of SF Chronicle for the coverage of Derrick Carr
