Athletes Who "Can't Win the Big One:" What's "The Big One," Anyway?

This thread was inspired by Peyton Manning, but feel free to replace his name with Fran Tarkenton’s or Jim Kelly’s or anyone else you like.

Suppose, just SUPPOSE that the Broncos had beaten the Colts in today’s playoff game. Is there any doubt that Peyton Manning’s detractors would be calling radio talk shows and making posts on Internet message boards saying, “You see? We TOLD you- Manning can’t win the big games.” Nope, there’s no doubt at all.

But Manning DID win today’s playoff game. So… doesn’t that mean this was a “big one”?

The answer is, of course, no! Today’s game isn’t a big one because Manning won it. It would only have been a “big one” to Manning haters if he’d lost it.

If the Colts lose next week to the Patriots, of course, Manning’s detractors will again say, “What do you expect? Manning can’t win the big one.” Of course, if he beats the Pats next week, but falls to the Steelers the following week, the victory over the Pats will be discounted! That game will only be a “big one” if Manning loses!

My general point, of course, is that quarterbacks have to win LOADS of “big ones” just to GET to the playoffs, just to GET to the conference finals, and just to GET to a Super Bowl. But somehow, the “big one” always seems to mean just the last game you lose.

After all, if Manning “can’t win the big one” because he lost in the AFC finals last year… well, Jim Kelly and Fran Tarkenton both won their conference championship games numerous times! Doesn’t that prove that Kelly and Tarkenton could and DID win “big ones”? Nope, not in the eyes of their detractors.

Personally, I’d like to see the phrase “can’t win the big one” abolished from sports chat. But IF the phrase must be used…

  1. Can we at least agree on what “the big one” is?

  2. Can someone explain why SOME guys in SOME sports (Ernie Banks, for one) received so much sympathy for their failure to win championships, while others receive only scorn?

“Can’t win the big one” is just an easy, lazy hook for sportswriters/sportshow talkers to knock someone. “The Big One” is a moveable target based on what the sportswriter/talk show host wants to berate the person about losing, but generally it refers to the final championship in team sports and the “grand-slam” and or Olympic events in individual sports.

You both have good observations!
“The Big One” is the championship,however, when looking back in someones history (aka Marty Shottenhiemer) it is the level of competition that person cannot attain. By losing to the Jets Saturday, Marty will continue to wear that collar, and Marty Ball will always be criticized.

When baseball scouts evaluate talent an intangible taken into account, is the players ability to help the team to next level. Often, a players mental toughness is what may be questioned when a choice between two players arises.

For example, who would you rather have anchoring your pitching staff, Roger Clemons or Pedro Martinez?

I’ll bump this thread once- JUST once, because I have enough of an ego to believe the topic is interesting.

(I’ve been wrong before, of course.)

“The Big One” is the big game, the championship where all the pressure is on the athlete. It takes mental toughness to stay in the game or the race when you know everything is riding on it.l A great example is Sally “Lay-down” Robbins who stopped rowing in the middle of her Olympic race. Even worse, she had actually done this before, flaked out during the world championships a few years earlier. Here’s a woman who had passed the horrendous tests to win a spot on the team, done the incredibly intensive training (that included race pieces of greater length than the Olympics) and yet she still didn’t have what it took to hold it together during the big one.

  1. As stated earlier, it would be the championship event in team sports, and the “majors” in individual sports.

  2. In team sports, it’s an issue of expectations. No one ever expected the Cubs to ever get in (much less win) a World Series, so Ernie Banks’ failure to get them into it wasn’t held against him. However, Tarkenton and Kelly, due to their greater success, had much higher expectations on them, which made their failure to win a Super Bowl annyoing to the fans.

In individual sports, the above dynamic doesn’t exist. I don’t know enough about tennis or bowling to comment on those sports, but, in golf, it isn’t not winning a “major” that’s the problem, but, rather, coming close to winning one, and then blowing it repeatedly that results in scorn, and, even then, this scorn has only really applied to one individual in the last 20 years (and it should be fairly obvious which one).