In sports, the underdog holds a special place in most fans’ hearts and the reason is simple: it gives people hope. An underdog is someone that no one thinks has a chance to win, that has the odds stacked against them time and time again, yet prevails, and in doing so, inspires ordinary people.
At Blackburn College, people come from all walks of life and the athletes come from winless programs to state championship winning teams. But once an athlete arrives here, one thing becomes clear: Blackburn is the underdog. No one expects anything from Blackburn because “we’re just Blackburn.” Throughout the basketball season, Coach Fonseca urged her team to forget that mindset and flip it from “we’re just Blackburn” to “we are Blackburn” giving her players a desire to show people what they are truly capable of. With flipping the mindset, suddenly there is a greater sense of purpose and a belief that we are not just anything, but we are everything and anything that we chose to be.
Freshman biology major and basketball player Marcus Bryant described the inspiration he felt about the underdog, saying that “it pushes you to go harder. In basketball, the satisfaction from a victory feels so much better because you may not be used to it.”
Bryant also said he likes being an underdog. “Blackburn is considered an underdog and teams take you lightly, but if you prepare and work hard, you can be really good and it’s more motivation,” he said.
Despite the corniness to the line “anything is possible if you just believe,” there is some truth to it. Throughout history, the underdog story has brought communities together and moved people to strive for more because it opened their eyes and allowed them to see that it is possible for them to have more. That they can reach for more. That they do not have to settle for expectations. That they can chase their dreams.
The 1980 USA men’s hockey team inspired the country by proving that brute strength and a decorated history is nothing compared to heart and passion when they pulled off the “miracle on ice” by defeating the Soviet Union on their way to winning an Olympic gold medal.
The Marshall University football team rose from the ashes after a plane crash in 1970 that killed everyone on board and almost led to the termination of the football program. Instead, the program was rebuilt to give the community – that had suffered tremendous losses – something to believe in and root for again.
With a lot of hard work, heart and a common goal, an average athlete or team can come together and do something magical, and maybe, just maybe, replace that “underdog” label with “champion.”