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SPORTS CHRONICLES CHAPTER VIII: WHY 'NOTHING TO LOSE' IS A BUNCH OF BOLLOCKS.

In competitive parlance, there is a quote you hear often; “They played like they had nothing to lose”.

I have never believed in this theory. Because in competitive sport; every participant has a game to win or a game to lose.

Whenever I ran a race or played a game of basketball, I don’t recollect ever playing with the feeling of “I have nothing to lose” or “I am not going to win this race anyway, so might as well go all out”. I don’t know of a fellow team mate or competitior who did so, as well.

There are 2 reasons for this:-

1.       IN A COMPETITION, THERE IS ALWAYS A WIN AT STAKE – Every finalist in a race thinks in two ways. The frontrunners believe they can win because their performance leading to the race have been solid. The underdogs believe they can pull off an upset. There is no competitor standing at the starting line saying “I am just going to enjoy this sprint”.

2.       LACK OF PROCESSING TIME – In a race or a basketball game, your response time is limited to a few seconds. The race is over under 25 seconds and a basket is either scored or not in roughly the same time. There is no processing time that allows for any positive or negative emotion.

You may increase intensity or lose interest, depending on your position in the game. But I don’t think anyone ever begins with the feeling of “let’s go all out because we aren’t going to win anyway”.


I never heard any coach ever say that to us. And if we were ever to say it to them, I can guarantee you that the response would have a fair few expletives to underscore their disagreement.

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