After the opening game win, the Leafs are on pace to go 41-0-0-0
Anyhow, I digress from what I want to post about today.
Posted above the whiteboard at the far end of the Maple Leafs dressing room is one puzzling slogan.
"Burn the Boats" reads the mysterious and striking mantra posted at the team's practice facility.
Legend has it that when Cortes landed in Mexico in the 1500s, he ordered his men to burn the ships that had brought them there to remove the possibility of doing anything other than going forward into the unknown
When we burn the boats and declare a point-of-no-return we can finally stop looking back and assess the way forward with clarity.
We want exit strategies and Plan B’s; but for some things in life, the only way out is by pressing further in. When we don’t burn the boats and we leave room for a way back, we also leave room for hesitation, fear, anxiety, self-sabotage, and resistance to creep in.
The mystery behind the message lies with Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. Carlyle delivered a motivational and seemingly moving speech to the team, weaving a tale into his efforts to illustrate the point.
"He had a story about people crossing the sea to take the treasure," says goalie James Reimer.. "When they got there they burnt their boats so they either had to take their treasure or die. That's what 'Burn the Boats' means."
"He had a story about people crossing the sea to take the treasure," says goalie James Reimer.. "When they got there they burnt their boats so they either had to take their treasure or die. That's what 'Burn the Boats' means."
Essentially the story and subsequent slogan comes down to one central message.
"We're all in it together," said Reimer. "There's no looking back. There's no turning back. There's no out. We're in it together. We're going to fight for each other. There's no safe zone to go back to and regroup really."
Okay, I guess they should have some kind of motto for their t-shirts.
Surprisingly, a couple of days later I heard the phrase again.
Chip Kelly was being introduced as the new head coach of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagle.
“We’re going to find a bunch of like-minded individuals that understand that the game of football is played by everybody, the best team wins,” Kelly said. “We’re going to surround ourselves with the best team. I’m all in. I think it was Cortez that burned the boats. I burned the boats. I’m not going back [to college], so I’m an NFL coach and this is where I want to be. I made the jump and I’m here.”
Really. You’ve got to be kidding me. Twice in one week from two different sports. Maybe it’ll join
“giving 110 percent”
we’re just taking it one game at a time”
“there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’”
“at the end of the day…”
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