The Best Can Always Learn From The Hungry
Looking into the eye of the tiger changes you, even if you’re a tiger.
Two types of faces were on the rink. One showed sheer joy — a young man who had worked and toiled and then triumphed unexpectedly. The other type was the veteran champion, who had suffered his first loss, but marveled when he saw what it took to beat him.
On February 22, 1980, the United States beat the Russian hockey team in what many have called the “miracle on ice.” The Russians had beaten the Americans 13 days earlier by a score of 10 to 3. The Russian team consisted of veterans who had rarely lost in 20 years. The American team had a bunch of college-age kids who just loved playing hockey.
But on this day, the U.S. team won 4 to 3. While the game itself was remarkable, the faces at the end of the game told a story that not many have heard.
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The Best Team in the World
At the end of the game, the Russian team saw the joy of the U.S. players. There was jumping up and down, screaming, and laughter. The Russian players had become so accustomed to winning that it became routine. Victory was assured and games became almost mechanical.
The Russian hockey team had won gold medals in 1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976. The same Russian team also won gold medals in 1984, 1988, and 1992. In 1980, the Russians were the best hockey team in the world, but they still lost. There are lots of reasons why, but here’s the main one: the Americans wanted to win more than the Russians did.
The loss in 1980 showed the Russian team what they were missing. The passion that the Americans showed revived a passion in the Russian team. Even though the Russians had the best hockey team, they could still learn something about winning from a team of young boys. Watching the U.S. hockey team celebrate across the ice, with tears of joy and leaps of celebration, revived the hunger to win in the Russians. They won the next three gold medals in Olympic hockey over the next 12 years.
The best can always learn from the hungry.
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The Exhaustion of Winning and How to Revive
Michael Jordan said after his third NBA championship in 1993: “Physically I was getting exhausted. But mentally I was way past exhausted. When you try to do something repetitively you lose some of the hunger and some of the edge.”
Jordan had told a sportswriter in 1992 that he was tired. After the Bulls had won a second championship, he was asked to play in the 1992 Olympics as part of the Dream Team. I remember watching the games as a kid. But losing a summer of relaxation meant that after Jordan won the NBA championship in 1993, he needed more than a summer off.
The best player in the world retired from basketball in 1993 — to play baseball. Of course, he started in the minor leagues. He went from playing basketball every day with fellow millionaires to playing baseball every day with men who barely lived above the poverty line.
Here’s how he described the experience.
“For me, it was the best thing that could have happened for me because it allowed me to go back to the game with a stronger passion. At the same time, I was able to understand the love that these minor league baseball players had making $1500 a month.”
The pay was so much less than what Jordan made in the NBA, but for the other players, it was huge. Jordan went through his own struggles with baseball, but he spent time with players whose passion drove them more than anything else. The passion that he re-discovered drove him when he returned to basketball.
Jordan returned to the NBA in 1995. He rediscovered a passion for basketball, but he needed to revive his skills. In the summer of 1995, Michael Jordan was shooting the movie Space Jam during the day. At night, he invited the best basketball players in the world to play at a nearby court. Yes, he wanted to improve his game but he also wanted something else. Jordan wanted to be around the younger players. He wanted to capture some of their enthusiasm and drive. He had to revive his hunger for victory.
In both the time in the minor leagues and during the summer of 1995, the hunger of young people impressed Jordan. He learned something from them. He saw something in these men that he was missing in his own drive and sense of urgency.
He was the best. And he was trying to learn from the hungry.
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Eye of the Tiger
If you’re stuck, here’s what you need to know. After a few victories, it is easy to forget what it takes to win. It is easy to forget the level of urgency and desire that victory requires. It doesn’t matter if you’re super successful or a champion three times over.
It doesn’t matter if you’re the best hockey team in the world. Or the best basketball player. Or the best at anything. Sometimes, you need to see someone else’s desire to reinvigorate your own. You have to look into the eye of the tiger, even if you are a tiger.
Sometimes the best must learn from the hungry.
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