33 STRATEGIES OF SPORTS: THE NON-ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY

Today, you're a zit riddled teenager no one wants to sleep with, but 15 years from now, you have amazing confidence, and can sleep with anyone.  Today, you create a work of art everyone laughs at.  50 years from now, you're a genius.   Today, you deal with a powerful enemy that humiliates you.  5 years from now, that foe loses his ass in the stock market and is suddenly not so powerful anymore.  You have them right where you want them.  What do these scenarios have in common?  Time.  This is the only element that has more power than money, sex and power itself.

Because everything eventually changes.  You just need to live beyond the terrible situation you're in today.  Not force anything and let nature take it's course.  This is how the referree's union beat the gargantuan NFL.  By waiting.

RETREAT TO ADVANCE

On January 20,2008, the Green Bay Packers were one game from the Superbowl.  The game was in Lambeau Field, where the Packers almost always won with franchise quarterback, Brett Favre and second year coach, Mike McCarthy.  They were facing an exhausted New York Giants team.  The weather would eventually reach as low as 5 degrees, reducing the field into an ice skating rink.  When the game went into overtime (tied at 20-20), the Packers had the Giants right where they wanted them.  They won the coin toss and Favre led his team up the field with ease... until he shockingly threw an interception.  The Giants kicked a field goal and won, 23-20.  The Packers home crowd (or Cheese Heads) were shocked by the defeat.  The Giants would eventually be the team to win the Superbowl.

Favre decided it was time to retire.  He was going to turn 39 and had enough. He called a sorrowful retirement speech.  And the Packers turned to their new young quarterback, Aaron Rogers.  McCarthy and GM Ted Thompson insisted they could still be a winning team without Favre and even expressed relief that Favre finally made a decision.  They both got 5 year extensions, while the legend of Favre retired.

But during training camp, Favre said strange things to the press, claiming he didn't really want to retire, that McCarthy and Thompson pressured him, the face of the Packers for the last 17 years, into making a decision.  And his desire to come back should be welcome and prompted with a red carpet.  McCarthy and Thompson discussed Favre's future with the team for hours and decided it was too late for Favre.  They would continue on course with Aaron Rogers.  Favre would be traded, if he decided to come out of retirement.


However, the Packers did everything they could do dissuade Favre from coming out of retirement.  They offered him $20 million.  Favre not only turned it down but wanted to play for the Packer's most hated rival, the Minnesota Vikings.  The Packers did not grant him his wish.  They traded the legend to the New York Jets under coach, Eric Mangini, for a fourth round pick.

New York loved Favre, a born self-promoter.  He was given a key to the city, boxes of New York Cheesecake, but most importantly, he was winning games, while the Packers had a miserable season.  They ended 6-10.  Favre always dominated the news with his magical abilities, as well, with sound bites about the mistakes the Packers made letting him go.  He singled out Thompson and McCarthy consistently, as well as belittling Aaron Rogers.  He was a legend, afterall.

The nightmare was only cushioned by a Favre injury, a torn bicept, late in the eason, which cost the Jets 5 consecutive games.  The Jets would also miss the playoffs.  Favre's age had finally caught up to him.  After the season collapsed, Eric Mangini, who named his first child "Brett", was fired.  Favre decided that 18 years was enough and retired for good.

Thompson and McCarthy survived this miserable season but at the least Favre and his mouth were gone for good.  Or were they?  During the summer, there were reports that the Jets officially released Favre, allowing him to sign with any team as a free agent.  But summer camp went by and there was no sign of Favre.  Had he finally retired?

On August 18, 2009, a week before pre-season, footage dominated the news of head coach Brad Childress driving Favre from the airport, headed toward the Minnesota Vikings' practice facility.  It was horrifying news for the Cheese Heads.  Brett Favre, the man who brought the Packers back from obscurity, who ended a near 3 decade title drought, the only football player to ever win 3 consecutive MVPs, the man who literally started every game for 18 consecutive years, was now going to play for the Packers' most hated rival, the Minnesota Vikings.


It turned out, the nightmare had just begun for Thompson and McCarthy.  On Monday October 5, 2009, Favre finally got his wish, and played against his old team.  He humiliated the Packers in a 30-23 victory, jumping like kid chasing an ice cream truck every time he scored a touchdown.  After the game, Favre continuing dominating the media with his sound bytes, ripping McCarthy like the loaf of bread he looked like, while the Vikings players expressed puzzlement that any franchise would let go of such a legendary quarterback in lieu of unproven Aaron Rogers.  On November 1st, the Packers would get a rematch against the Vikings, but it got worse.  Favre won again, 38-26.  Favre would act like he won the lottery everytime he scored, jumping up and down.  The Packers home crowd eventually even cheered form him.  He rubbed it in the face of Thompson and McCarthy indeed -- through his actions.  Favre stopped talking shit, but the media went wild with Thompson and McCarthy's titanic error of letting the legend go.

The Vikings would end the season 12-4 and earn second seed in the playoffs.  The Packers would eke into the playoffs, but lose in the first round to Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals (on an Aaron Rogers' interception).  Meanwhile, the Vikings would face the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship.  Favre was once again only one game from the Superbowl.  There would terrible humiliation in Green Bay if Favre won.  In the last minutes of the game, the Vikings were in position to beat the Saints, but once again, Favre threw an interception that cost his team.  The Saints would advance to the Superbowl.  McCarthy and Thompson breathed a sight of relief once more.


Again, Favre retired.  At age 41, the man had taken a horrible beating that season.  He had now started every game for 19 years straight, an incredible streak.  Why would anyone return?  He had beaten his old team twice and proven that he could still play at an age were most football players are window shopping for a walker.  The media loved Favre.  He was the face of Wrangler jeans.  He poked fun at himself in a Superbowl commercial where he won MVP at age 50.  McCarthy, Thompson and Aaron Rogers certainly could do without the guy.  They just wanted to play football.  America saw this amazing guy who should be on dollar bills, but McCarthy saw a demon that never left their house.

Indeed, Favre waited until training camp was well over and before he ended his latest retirement.  Number four would return to quarterback the Vikings one last year.  But like many sequels, this year did not have the magic of the original.  The Vikings lost 3 out of their first 4.  Favre finally looked his age, making terrible mistakes that always cost the team dearly.  They were in trouble, starting the season 3-6.  And then Favre finally lost to the Packers, throwing an interception in the final seconds.  And the rematch was even worse; the Packers ripped the Vikings into pieces, 33-3.

To make matters worse, Favre found himself embroiled in a controversy from his New York Jets days.  Apparently, he sent a text picture of his penis to the team masseuse and the media tore this up like a pack of wild dogs.    Head coach Brad Childress let go of Randy Moss after being on the team only a few weeks.  The Vikings were collapsing inwardly.  Players complained to the media.  When the season became out of reach, Childress himself was fired.


On December 2nd, 2010, Favre was battered by Buffalo Bills linebacker Arthur Moats and sprained his AC joint.  The Vikings were done for the season.  And Favre's consecutive starting streak ended at 297.  The now or never season became never.


Meanwhile, the Packers, they barely made the playoffs, but this time kept advancing... all the way to the Superbowl and defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25.  Aaron Rogers was the MVP.  Coach McCarthy and GM Ted Thompson survived three brutal Brett Favre-less years, absorbing insults, media skewerings, but in the end they waved the Lomardi trophy, putting the final nails on Favre's coffin, ending his career for good.

INTERPRETATION

Brett Favre was the face Green Bay Packers for years, and accomplished incredible feats, breaking records that may never be shattered.  He was amazing.  But the same reckless mentality that made him who he was stood in the way of the Green Bay Packers success late in his career.  He needed a coach that was bigger than him.  Mike Holmgren was the last coach with such a presence, and the coach who he won his only Superbowl with.  Without such a figure, Favre was simply chaotic energy that always came short of a championship.

Under soft-spoken coach Mike Sherman, the Packers would go into the playoffs, only for Favre to throw an ill-advised interception that cost his team a trip to the Superbowl.  This occured almost on an annual basis and Sherman, like Mangini and Childress, was fired.


GM Ted Thompson knew he needed a headstrong coach who would not bend to Favre's whims and ego.  This came in the form of Mike McCarthy.  A man who coached his way and was never afraid to tell Favre when he fucked up.  Favre did not like McCarthy or Thompson.  He felt he should be treated like the superstar he was.  Favre also thought it was joke that they considered Aaron Rogers a better quarterback.  And the public was generally on Favre's side.  He had earned that respect.  McCarthy and Thompson had to live through the perfect storm of Brett Favre before they could go forward.  They knew even a superstar of his magnitude would finally dim.

KEYS TO ENGAGEMENT

As Robert Greene puts it, "a key concept in Taoism is that of Wei-Wu, the idea of action through inaction.  Of controlling a situation by not trying to control it... Wei-Wu involves the belief that by fighting and reacting against circumstances, by constantly struggling in life, you actually move backwards, creating more turbulence in your path... sometimes it is better to let the winter pass".

Dealing with a Brett Favre, or someone who has so much more powerful than you, can be overwhelming.  When you're overwhelmed, you don't think straight.  When you don't think straight, you make mistakes and get crushed.  It's happened to all of us.  It's better to allow the Favre-type his victories, since you are probably no match.  One day, even Favre weakens and that is the day you strike.  Striking today will be your undoing, but making time your ally and waiting heightens your power exponentially.


Four weeks ago, the NFL considered the referee's contract unimportant.  After last Monday Night's ill advised call, and the 71,000 emails the Commissioner received the next day, an agreement was finalized in two days.  The refs applied the law of Wei-Wu and completed their agreement.

REVERSAL

Retreating is a source of strength if you eventually fight.  If you just keep retreating, it's basically surrender.  Derek Jeter was a joke two years ago.  Jeter usually just gets to first base in an era where home runs are in vogue but now he's done it 3,000 times.  Reaching this milestone has helped Jeter regain his respect and fanbase.  But he was aiming for 3,000 all along.  The idea is, if you cannot win the fight, trade space for time.  Time always levels the playing field.

33 STRATEGIES OF SPORTS: THE CHAIN REACTION STRATEGY

Terror is a paralyzing weapon.  Since 9/11, we have been terrified of what terrorist "might" do to us, spending billions to change our way of life.  But the strategy of "terror" is used all the time - by bosses, parents, friends and more than we'd like to admit, by loved ones. 

In sports, this very tactic has won numerous championships.  The Oakland Raiders in the 70's.  The Pittsburgh Steelers in any era.  Greg Popovich used this strategy to defeat Mike D'Antoni's superior Phoenix Suns year after year, until D'Antoni got frustrated and joined the Knicks.

As Robert Greene explains it, "the goal of terror is provoking maximum chaos and forcing the other side into overreaction".  This is as dirty as it gets and applying it is done with the maximum of risks, as you will see in this familiar story...

 

THE ANATOMY OF PANIC

In 2008, three years after head coach Sean Payton was hired, the New Orleans Saints endured another disappointing season.  Payton created one of the most dynamic offenses the league had ever seen, but no defense to speak of.  The Saints could pile up points but could not stop anyone from doing the same thing - and usually lost.  Payton was frustrated.

Payton decided to hire one of the most sought after defensive coordinators, Gregg Williams, who's relentless defenses usually ranked in the top 5.  Payton was so desperate to shed the "soft" image of his team, that he took a $250,000 pay cut to hire Williams. 

It was worth every penny.  The Saints became a feared defensive juggernaut.  Their attacking style netted 35 takeaways (2nd in the league), which they would cause by constantly attacking the quarterback, who would lose his cool and pass earlier than he should (to avoid getting blasted).  Gregg Williams' defense seemed more interested in hurting a quarterback than winning - but it was working.  The Saints entered the playoffs with home field advantage.

Their first foe were the Arizona Cardinals, led by Kurt Warner (who took the Cardinals to the Superbowl only the year before).  But before Warner could display his brilliance, he was knocked out of the game - and the Saints offense, led by Drew Brees, piled up points in a dominating performance.

The Saints next faced the Minnesota Vikings led by the legendary Brett Favre.  They knocked the 40 year old quarterback like a rag doll.  But no matter how hard and they hit him, Favre kept getting up for more.

With less than a minute left, Favre had the Vikings in the perfect position to win.  With the score tied, Favre would only need a couple more yards to put his kicker Ryan Longwell in a position to score 3 points and win. 

Gregg Williams' strategy appeared to have failed, until the moment when Favre had a choice to run for a few yards (which he easily could have) or pass the ball to one of his receivers.  Brett chose to pass and was intercepted.  Williams' strategy  - battering Favre like a pinball - instilled enough doubt in the quarterback's decision making to cause him into making the wrong decision at the worse time.

The Saints advanced to the Superbowl for the first time in their history, facing a quarterback who lived to break down defenses, Peyton Manning.  The Indianapolis Colts' star quarterback had two weeks to study tape and would be prepared for Gregg's William's relentless defense. 

The Colts were also the only team to win more games than the Saints.  And the championship game proved to be a mano y mano battle of wills that went back and forth until the finally 4 minutes, with the Saints leading by a single touchdown, 24-17. 

Manning was on the verge of tying the game, leading the Colts to the red zone.  Now would be the moment when Gregg Williams' hire would prove it's greatest value, or failure.  The Saints blitzed Manning like a pack of wolves, forcing him into a pass.  Saints corner Tracy Porter intercepted Manning and returned the ball 70 yards to seal the Saints' first championship, 31-17.   In his first year with the Saints, Gregg Williams netted the Saints' much coveted championship.

INTERPRETATION     

When Peyton Manning studied the tape of the Saints defense, he saw two things, 1) how to defeat them and 2) How the Saints battered quarterbacks.  Including what they did to Kurt Warner (they ended his career that night) and Brett Favre, whom they lambasted long after the whistle had blown, even aiming for his knee caps.  Manning did not endure the same hits as Favre or Warner, but knew it could happen at any moment.  He imagined that the Saints was faster than they were and threw too early. 

That is the essence of terror.  To create a fear in your opponent they cannot get rid of.  They know you are willing to hurt them.  And this is why applying this strategy is highly risky and not something I - or Robert Greene - condones.  But it is an important concept to understand since it is applied so frequently in daily life.  Not just physically, but psychologically. 

KEYS TO ENGAGEMENT

Terror is often a strategy of last resort.  And generally, terrorists are people with nothing to lose.  This is why they're willing to die for their cause. Sean Payton had grown so frustrated with his team, he hired Gregg Williams to run his defense and encouraged him to build a "nasty" defense at all costs;  a result of his own Cobra Kai-like desperation to win.  We know now about Gregg Williams' "bounty system", rewarding his players for carting off quarterbacks, but during the Superbowl, it was all fair game - and netted the championship trophy the city of New Orleans so desperately needed.

Should you be on the opposing end of a terror campaign, the best way to counter it is to keep our cool and not overreact.   As Robert Greene explains, "terrorists kick a rock in order to start an avalanche... if mayhem and chaos ensue, they have great power to influence events". 

Alex Smith was on the opposite end of Gregg Williams' final game as the Saints defensive coordinator, wherein Williams ordered his guys to break Smith's ACL.  Smith kept his cool and used the Saints' hyper aggresion against them, winning the game in the final minute.  The terror campaign directed at Smith did not rattle him.

REVERSAL

This strategy can result in violence and perhaps illegal behavior.  Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely and Sean Payton for an entire year.  We're talking football here.  In real life, the repercussions can put you in jail or lead you into a life and death situation.  A "terror campaign" is the ultimate act of anarchy in this society.  However, in the event of an apocalypse, where society is turned sideways, that could all change. 

33 STRATEGIES OF SPORTS: DETERRENCE STRATEGIES

Reputation =  the way people see you.  And the way people see you can get you a job, get you laid, married, it can make you President of the United States.   If you're negotiating for more money and you are seen as someone who accepts less, less is what you'll get.  If you're seen as getting more, that's what you'll get too.    This is why the way people see you is so precious.  But how do you control "the way people see you".

There are only two perceptions that count.  1) How we see ourselves and 2) How others see us.  Since we're narcissistic,  we generally get through our day with "how we see ourselves".    But truly powerful people master "How others see them".  In sports, the greatest athletes use this weapon incessantly.   At the height of his career, Mike Tyson won bouts just by showing up.  Tyson trained himself to be perceptive about his opponent.  That is how he knocked out so many guys in the first round.  Not through his deadly uppercut, but through understanding "how others saw him".  

Welcome back to another sports lesson, seen through the prism of Robert Greene's "The 33 Strategies of War".  If you understand how others see you, your life will have very few limits.

CREATE A THREATENING PRESENCE

In the morning of June 12th, 1972, Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star pitcher, Doc Ellis was enjoying his day off in Los Angeles.  He would pitch against the San Diego Padres the next day.  He woke up at 4 or 5 in the morning to take some acid (the acid from the night before was wearing off).  He would be high for the rest of the day, replenishing for the San Diego game the next day.

Ellis was staying at a friend's girlfriend place and he was extremely startled when she woke his ass up and shoved the LA Time in his face.  He was pitching today!  In a few hours!  An afternoon game.  It was not tomorrow.  It was today!  The day dissapeared under the weight of the acid.

Doc drove like a madman to San Diego, avoiding highway patrol, slapping himself, psyching himself.  High as a skyscraper, Doc missed the breakdown of his oppenent, the Padres because he arrived late.  Plus, it was "misty" in San Diego that afternoon.  The shape of the diamond was sometimes as a big as a couch.  The pitcher had to wear yellow tape on his hands so Doc would know where to pitch.  He "hit" batters constantly.  He couldn't catch the ball when the pitcher tossed it back to him.  The other team was actually frightened of Doc.  No one could predict what this "high" pitcher was going to do next.

Ellis didn't know what the score was or even that he was playing baseball (at one point, he actually thought he scored a touchdown?).  And when the mist cleared and the game was over, Doc Ellis had pitched a no-hitter... and still didn't know what the fuck was going on because he was still really high on acid.  Was Doc Ellis extremelly lucky?

INTERPRETATION

They say you can't do something "under the influence" that is not in your nature.  Doc Ellis was the All-Star pitcher for the World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates and was the most feared man in baseball at that time.  He was always made batters pay for hitting his balls.  He once knocked out Jesse Jackson after he dared to hit a home run against him.  He hit three consecutive Cincinnati Reds -- Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Dan Driessen -- to retaliate against being maced in the face two days earlier in Riverfront Stadium.  Doc sat close to angry fans and intimidated them -- and sometimes got into fights with them.  If you dared cross Doc, you would pay.  It was no accident that he is today known as the "Muhammad Ali of Baseball".

The famous "No-No on Acid" (or no-hitter on acid) game was a result of Doc Ellis' reputation.  Even at his most vulnerable, people were terrified of Ellis.  He pitched at them with even less predictability.  Some guys were hit.  Some walked.  Some just stayed away from the ball.  The most feared man in baseball was even more frightening "high" than sober.

As Robert Greene likes to tell is, "when someone attacks or threatens you, you make it clear that he will suffer in return... you will make him pay for each victory... you take something he values, something close to home, you make him understand, every time he bothers you, he can expect damage... The only way to make you stop attacking him in your irritating fashion is for him to stop attacking you.  You are like a wasp on his skin.  Most people leave wasps alone."

Doc Ellis in his Pirates uniform actually resembled a giant wasp.  And no one ever crossed him without paying for it.  High on acid, pitching the ball in wild direction, his faculties failing him, Doc Ellis' opponents  failed to prey on him.

REVERSAL

Ultimately, you have to back up your tough talk with victories.  Mike Tyson's intimidating style became a joke when he attacked Lennox Lewis during their press conference.  In the actual match, Tyson was no match and was KO'ed in the 8th Round.  Tyson was washed up and his threats were empty.  One moment can create your reputation for years, but sometimes you'll have to replenish it, or risk creating a war you may not want.

33 STRATEGIES OF SPORTS: THE CONTROLLED CHAOS STRATEGY

Corporations have conspired to destroy freshness and purity from everything.  Look what happened to movies?  I have a tremendous threshold for bad films.  Some of my favorite memories are of sitting in a theatre, watching something godawful and enjoying it.  But movies today are not even bad.  Like our food, they just taste like food.  Movies only look like movies.  So, what is missing from food and movies?

This missing link can be found in sports.  Because, no matter how much manufacturing occurs in sports organizations, athletes must fight.  Movie studios can toss money at their problems.  By the time the audience realizes they paid $15-20 to watch shit stains dripping from a movie screen, it's already done $200 million up our collective asses - and sequel is being made to that very film.  In sports, the bigger the stage, the less money can help you.

The missing element is "unpredictably".  Ratings for sports has skyrocketed because -- like life -- sports is unpredictable, and people recognize that.  Whereas food and movies are predictable.

Since unpredictably is so common in sports, an athlete's greatest friend are speed and adaptability.  If you think fast and find ways to adapt to any situation, not much can stop you.

SEGMENT YOUR FORCES 

In 1999, Venus Williams ranked #3 in the world in women's tennis.  She was 19 and had done very well -- but she still had not won a Singles Grand Slam.  Whereas Martina Hingis, her greatest nemesis, had been the youngest Grand Slam Champion in the history of women's tennis (she won Wimbledon in 1996 when she was only 15 -- and now ranked #1).  There was a lot of talk of racism.  Afterall, tennis is a predominantly white sport.  It has been historically difficult for a non-white athlete to break through especially with country club sports like tennis or golf -- as was the case with  Tiger Woods.  But the truth might have been, Williams' game was too raw and undisciplined to survive the heady chess match of pro tennis.  Afterall, Venus had turned pro for 5 years now and always collapsed at the hands of either Hingis or Lindsay Davenport -- smarter, more clever players who actually agreed to prevent Venus and her younger sister, Serena, from winning titles.

The tennis world had written a lot of articles about Venus and Serena -- but the way Hingis and Davenport saw it, the Williams Sisters were simply entertainment.  They had a powerful serve.  But when the whole world was watching, when the game became "strategic", they were not smart enough to win -- and so far, Hingis and Davenport were right.

On September 10, 1999, Venus would face Hingis in the US Open Semi-Finals (Martina had defeated Venus 6 times).  Martina dominated the first set, 6-1, humiliating Venus... but Venus won the second set, 6-4 to tie.  Perhaps there was more to her game than a powerful serve?  Hingis disagreed and imposed her will, forcing her sloppy opponent into numerous errors, taking the second match 6-3.  Once more, Venus was dispatched by the #1.

Now, Hingis would face the younger sister, Serena, in the finals.  Serena was ranked #8 and played the same style.  Powerful serves.  Brute strength.  By the middle of the match, Serena would get tired and Martina could match her strength.  Here, Hingis would impose her will and take the trophy and $750,000 prize money.

But something bizarre occurred.  Serena did not get exhausted.  She delivered powerful serve after powerful serve.  Pounding Hingis like a piece of meat on a hook.  And before Martina knew it, Serena had downed her into a first match defeat, 6-3.

The tension in Arthur Ashe Stadium was fog-like.  Here was the world #1, the pride of the white tennis world, sweating, petrified, and down one set to a Williams sister, a black woman (not since 1958 has a black woman won a Grand Slam -- one, Althea Gibson, the "Jackie Robinson of tennis").  The purity of this white game was at stake.  Hingis duelled Serena with everything she had.  She  screamed louder on each swing, each yell more girlish, more helpless -- as if Serena was violating her.  Hingis was out of breath.  Her legs, wobbly.  Was that tears or sweat covering her face?  The #1 gave it everything she had.  And lost 7-6 in one of the greatest tennis matches of all time.

INTERPRETATION

Martina Hingis might have won more than 5 Grand Slams and even become one of the greatest, had it not been for the damn that broke on the night of September 12, 1999.  The date the Williams Sisters began their reign of terror on the great white world of Women's Tennis.  The sport had been dominated by teenage girls in country clubs for as long as it existed.  Martina Navratilova, Christ Evert and Monica Seles brought a toughness, but their era had ended and was now threatened by the graceful prissiness of Martina Hingis-types, like Anna Kornikova (I can't tell you how many times I've seen her on Maxim, but I can tell you how many Singles Grand Slam she's won.  Zero.)

When Serena defeated Hingis, it would be the dress rehearsal for women's tennis for the next ten years and beyond.  Hingis could defeat one sister -- but not both.  Together, the Williams Sisters were too powerful for any opponent.  If you fought one sister, you would be too tired and sore to defeat the next.

"Those serves were, like, smacking," Hingis said after her defeat.  Davenport, Stefi Graff, Kim Clijsters, Kornikova.  Most of them had no chance against both Williams Sisters.  Venus won 21 Grand Slams.  Serena  27.  Injury has slowed them down over the years, but at the top of their game, during 2000-03, it was pure domination.  Along with Tiger Woods, they entered a sport with almost no black athletes and colonized it.

Their father and outspoken coach, Richard Williams, is a tennis lover and in fact attempted to train all five daughters into tennis pros -- but only the two youngest showed the gifts.  Two was enough.  The girls could barely walk when Richard taught his daughters every facet of tennis.  A powerful serve.  Forehand.  Backhand.  Drive volleys.  Overhead volleys.  And even the rarely used drop volleys.  Today, the sisters frequently entangle their opponents into brutal volleys that seem to last forever -- like a black widow wrapping web on her prey, before biting its head off.  Venus has the fastest serve in women's tennis history (130 mph) and Serena the second (129 mph).  Richard armed his daughters with every weapon imaginable, but the greatest weapon he gave them was the ability to play, like Transformers, separate and together.  He knew their greatest enemy would not be their opponents -- but the white status quo.

This monster reared its ugly head many times, but most notably in India Wells, California in 2001.  The sisters were to play against each in a semi-finals when Venus forfeited at the last minute (from knee tendinitis), allowing Serena to advance.  The audience did not like this.  When Serena faced Clijsters in the finals, the audience turned into an angry, racist mob.  One person threatened to skin Serena alive.  When Serena beat Clijsters in one of the great come backs in tennis history, she held up her trophy and turned the angry mob turned into a volcano and had to be escorted out.  The sisters have not returned to India Wells since.

They've instead chosen to dominate the greatest stage of the tennis world.  Wimbledon.  The Compton Sisters have made it their mission in life to own one of the most stuck up, white only places on Earth for the last decade, rubbing it in the face of the white status quo.

KEYS TO ENGAGEMENT

As Mr.Greene says, "the essence of strategy is not to carry out a brilliant plant that precedes in steps.  It is to put yourself in situations where you have more options than the enemy does.  Instead of grasping at option A as the single right answer, true strategy is positioning yourself to be able to do A, B or C, depending on the circumstances.  That is strategic depth of thinking, as opposed to formulaic thinking".

It is better to bring fluidity and flexibility to your group, as opposed to rigidly controlling every facet.  Bottle up chaos and disorder like lightning and use its unpredictably to gain an advantage -- its magic is frightening but very powerful, if you have trust in it.  People that ride horses say the horse can sense how you feel and react based on how comfortable you are.  The more comfortable you are with the unknown, the more control you truly have.  Richard Williams trusts his daughter's individualities, even encouraging them to dress how they want.  Freedom within their chaos is evident.

A Williams Sister championship would be celebrated by both -- as if they both won.  The sisters were separate but had to glue together when necessary.  Such as when they faced each other.  The would play with less intensity, chuckle, giggle, as the white media seethed and burned inside while the two black girls from Compton in loud dresses would turn their tea-sipping tennis courts into their personal playground.  And as doubles partners, the Williams sisters are virtually invincible.

Perhaps, Serena or Venus could have made a major dent alone, but working in separate forces that can glue together when needed has made them the greatest sibling sports dynasty ever created.

Meanwhile, Martina Hingis retired in 2007 after testing positive for cocaine.  She never won another Grand Slam Single after Serena "smacked" her that night -- despite openly swearing revenge.

REVERSAL 

There are times you have to give your team less freedom.  Sometimes, as Tom Coughlin demonstrated with two Giants to a Superbowl, it is better to be dictatorial.  The point is, maintain fluidity in your own leadership, depending on the circumstances.

33 STRATEGIES OF SPORTS: THE GUERILLA WAR OF THE MIND STRATEGY

We love sports because it is happening now.  At the present.  The unpredictably is what thrills us.  We envy the presence of mind of an athlete, because the present moment, being in the "now", is very rare and precious in real life -- most of us are never in it.  Most of us live in the past, like ghosts.

Learn to react to the present moment, to let go of preconceived notions, cultural prejudices and wasteful habits, learn to tune out your own thoughts and listen to the person in front of you and you will not, as they say in sports, "choke" when an opportunity presents itself.

Detach the shackles of the past and you are free to react to the present, which is reality in its purest form.  Living in reality will give you strength and vision beyond your wildest imagination.  You will be reborn like Neo in "The Matrix".

THE LAST WAR

In 1998, the St.Louis Rams won 4 games and lost 12.  That was about average for the pathetic Rams.  Their biggest rival, the San Francisco 49ers, won 4 championships and were in the playoffs every year for almost two decades.  They were a dynasty under legendary quarterbacks Joe Montana and now Steve Young.  The Rams... they were a laughingstock that other teams loved  slap.

In 1999, the 49ers were aging, but they still had the greatest receiver of all time, Jerry Rice and a new star, Terrell Owens.  They opened the season with a defeat to Jacksonville Jaguars, but won their next 3.  Next, they would face their "get out of jail free card" team, the Rams.

To make things worse for the Rams, they lost their starting quarterback, Trent Green, to a rib injury in training camp.  They were so desperate, the guy running their offense was working a grocery clerk for $5.50 an hour that very summer.  His name was Kurtis Eugene Warner.  Dick Vermeil had been coaxed out of retirement to run this dead franchise.  He had been coaching for four decades and was considered washed up.  All the 49ers had to do was show up to beat the grocery clerk and his grandfather.

Sure, the Rams had won their first 3 games.  But they were by three weak opponents -- the Ravens, Falcons and Bengals.  The Bengals were the sorriest team in the NFL.  Even the Rams could smack them around.  

The 49ers weren't worried.  They still employed Bill Walsch's West Coast Offense.  This brilliant system moved the ball forward through precision and short passing routes.  If done correctly, it could not be stopped.  Afterall, it had worked for two decades.

This system was so effective that their back up quarterback, Jeff Garcia, could run it (Steve Young had suffered a concussion in week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals).

Steve Mariucci, the 49ers coach, knew he could beat them with ease.  Yes, the Rams had beaten their three opponents by an average of 28 points, but they looked wildly disorganized, like a track meet as a opposed to a football club.  The 49ers would put the West Coast Offense on cruise control and walk away victorious.

When the game began, it took the Rams 7:18 to score their first touchdown.  An 83 yard drive, capping a 13 yard TD pass from Warner to Isaac Bruce.  It took Warner half the first quarter to march the field.  Nothing special about that.  Warner could not do that the entire game against the 49ers pass rush who would soon see through his strategy.  The grocery clerk would make mistakes.

But 3 minutes 16 seconds later, Warner threw a 5 strike to Isaac Bruce.  Half the time of the first TD.  14-0, Rams.  No time to panic.   The Rams were riding off their confidence of the first three wins against bad teams.  Besides, three more quarters remained.  The 49ers continued to employ their feared West Coast system to gain 3 pts (a field goal by Wade Richey).  Score, 14-3.

The 49ers would inevitably climb back into the game.  But before the first quarter even ended, something bizarre occurred.  Warner passed for a third touchdown, a 45 yard arrow to Isaac Bruce, making the first quarter score 21-3.  With three more quarters to go.

The Rams employed a five receiver set at all times.  If the 49ers doubled on any one receiver, another was always left open.  And if the defense blitzed Warner, he would dump it off to his quick footed running back Marshall Faulk, who could turn 5 yards into 20 in the open field, or slot receiver Az-Hakim who could turn 5 yards into 40. The Rams offense seemed to have no technique except to go full speed at all times.  The 5 men ran like fugitives.  They were blurs.  But this was not how you played football with grown men.  Mariucci did not think this amateur way could last.  Afterall, it did not have the sophistication of the West Coast system.  And perhaps Mariucci was right.      

By the third quarter, the 49ers managed to whittle down the score to 28-20 by burning the clock and forcing Warner into a fumble.  It appeared like the same results would occur.  A 49ers victory.  Afterall, they were only down 8 points now.

In truth, the Rams had merely fallen asleep and in fact had not yet used all their weapons.  Tory Holt would return a punt for 97 yards and Kurt Warner would sling another 42 yard pass to put the game away by the beginning of the fourth quarter.  Rams 42, 49ers 20.

Meanwhile, the once potent West Coast attack, the bread and butter of the 49ers, was rendered impotent and could not bring them back 22 points in one quarter.  In fact, the offense would not produce a single more point.  The Rams could have scored more points, but why expend the energy?  Most of their starters sat around, drinking Gatorade, gazing constantly at the score board, chuckling with boredom.

Final score, Rams 42, 49ers 20.

The dynasty that was left of the once mighty San Francisco 49ers was nothing but debris after this game.  They would win only more game the rest of the season, producing a 4-12 record, the identical record the Rams suffered the year before.  This game would mark the official death of the 49ers dynasty.  Steve Young would not play another game.  Two years later, Steve Mariucci would be fired and Jeff Garcia would sign with Cleveland Browns.

INTERPRETATION

The reality facing the San Francisco 49ers in 1999 was simple, their team was old, they were applying formulas that worked in the past.  You might find the 49ers an interesting part of sports history, but in fact you are likely applying your own version of the West Coast offense.  What limits you is the inability to see reality.  We are imaginative, and that is good, but we frequently use our imaginations to fool ourselves into believing a false reality.  The reality you live in is likely not real but a figment of your habits and dried out imagination.

You won't know you're doing this until you face a Rams attack that humiliates you and forces you to realize how old and useless your strategies are -- and how far from reality you have travelled.
One of the most difficult things in sports is to repeat a championship.  In football, it hasn't been done in six years.   Think about this.  If you win, your opponent will try ten times harder to beat you.  Everyone will study the secrets to your success.  As a result of success, you will soften because everyone will be kissing your ass and agreeing to everything you say.  Your weaknesses will be exposed because you are under the microscope.

New England Patriots Coach Bill Bellichick insists on having a staff that always challenges him.  He roots out yes men and forces all his coaches and players into critical arguments.  He insists on disagreement.  Bellichick knows it is unnatural for someone to be saying "yes" to you all the time, because they really aren't saying "yes".  They're just playing to your growing vanity.  Yet, most of us accept compliments and agreement like it's gold, like it means something in reality.  It usually does not.
The pride of the 49ers past made them the laughingstock the Rams once were.  The franchise spent almost two decades in recovery mode, firing one failed regime after another until Jim Harbaugh signed on.

KEYS TO ENGAGEMENT

Whenever you fail at grasping an opportunity, the thought that will enter your mind is... if only I had known more, I would have gotten that job or I would have gotten that girl's number, etc.  If only I could do it over -- like George Constanza and his "jerk store" come back.  But the info has nothing to do with why you didn't get the job or the digits.  You failed because you were not in the moment, you were not sensitive to reality.

The athletes we admire most are the ones who can deliver when it counts the most...  Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods... as opposed to athletes that choke, such as Tony Romo or Donovan McNabb (who got tired and vomited during a crucial moment in his only Superbowl appearance).

Kobe, Wade, Brady, Tiger are always in the moment.  They are not affected by the crowd, the pressure of losing, they are sensitive to their opponents and what it will take to defeat them.  They know when to make an adjustment, an act of aggression, or a non-action as the opponent shoots itself in the foot.  They are so deeply focused on the reality of their situation, they see nothing else.  This is why we admire them.  We are always chasing the present ourselves.

It can be valuable to analyze what went wrong in the past, but it is much more precious to learn to think in the moment.  As Robert Greene states: "think of your mind like a river.  The faster it flows, the more it refreshes itself and the greater its energy.  Obsessional thoughts, preconceived notions, past success and failures are like mud and boulders".

When you were a kid, you would always come up with another creative strategy to attain that ice cream.  Children's minds are always moving because everything is new to them.  They learn to adapt on the fly.  Like great athletes.  Most of us have lost this ability through repeated success or failure.  Success makes us lazy and failure makes us hesitant.  Our habits have cyrogentically frozen into us like Han Solo in "The Empire Strikes Back".  This is why relationships go sour.  This is why careers end.  This is why people grow bored with life.  They are boring themselves to death.

The St.Louis Rams were the highest scoring team in NFL history.  Nobody saw them coming.  They were a human video game, gaining 20, 30, 50 yard chunks like children in adult bodies. The Rams treated the football field like an ice skating rink and would be nicknamed "The Greatest Show on Turf".

The '99 Rams were like a guerilla army.  Guerilla armies never stop.  They operate underground.  They move with speed and not weight.  The ground is like water to them.  By the time teams figured out a way to adapt to the Rams, it was too late.  They won the Superbowl by a single yard in a 23-16 battle against the Tennessee Titans.  Kurt Warner, the ex-grocery clerk, would win the MVP award and return to the Superbowl two more times.  His uncanny ability to read defenses and release the ball quickly would make him one of the best to ever play the game until his retirement in 2010.

REVERSAL

There is no value in "fighting the last war".  But be cautious of dealing with a nemesis who is adapting to you like a super bacteria that won't leave your body no matter what you do.  Prepare yourself to never be too surprised by a person or a situation.  You want to "set the tone" as much as possible, and react as least as possible.