"we just wanted it more"

[Totoro Man]

this phrase gets used to explain why one team prevailed and another team failed. personally, it always felt like a cheap cop-out answer to me. it's a way of diplomatically 'explaining' the victory without saying anything bad about the other team. but I've know quite a few people who play sports who actually believe this to be true.

if somebody explicitly stated how and why they won that might be considered offensive and unsportsmanlike. especially if this means pointing out blunders or failures on the other team. so the cop-out answer is a good way to 'answer' the question without being too offensive.

now, I'm not big into sports. I'm a student of military history-- so my natural reaction is to think that the 'will for victory', in and of itself, is not sufficient to secure the desired victory. you could want something demonstrably more than your enemy and STILL lose because you lack the administrative abilities, coordination and communication, and resources to triumph over your enemy. case in point... during the Polish Uprising nobody wanted to win MORE than the Poles in Warsaw. but once the Allies made it clear that they wouldn't support them in their combat with Germany their defeat was inevitable.

back to sports... I could see the whole 'willpower' and 'wanting it more' being a thing for boxing, mixed martial arts, or endurance based sports like marathons... but for highly coordinated team sports it's just hard for me to buy into that line of argument.

so... what do you guys think. "we just wanted it more." is a good enough explanation or not?

[Arfguy]

I buy it. Sometimes, the will to win has lead to vastly superior teams being beaten by inferior teams. Whether the inferior team had a chip on their shoulder or not, they had no reason to win, but did.

I'm a hockey fan and I could have told you going into the most recent Stanley Cup finals as to why San Jose should have won. They had better all around scoring. Their defense core seemed stronger and their goaltender had more playoff experience than the other team.

In the end, Pittsburgh Penguins won the Cup. They definitely wanted it more than San Jose, who looked like they were unwilling to do anything other than what they knew had worked for them before. They weren't willing to change and adapt. You could see some of the faster San Jose players being beaten to the pucks by slower Pittsburgh players.

The desire to win may be stronger in some than others. Given the right circumstances, I can full out see a team wanting to win more than others.

[LordMikel]

I always liked this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sUKoKQlEC4

Because it does simply help explain the concept of "we just wanted it more." Did you go in thinking you had a chance or had you already lost before you even entered.