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How to Win

2018-05-01 · letter vlog · John · 3:28 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Sports · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook, community lore

Nervous before a relegation decider for Nerdfighteria-sponsored AFC Wimbledon, John retells 'the Walsall event', a 3-2 comeback won in the final seconds after captain Barry Fuller saved time by running the ball back, to argue that luck and other people's help matter hugely, but you still have to hope and believe the game is winnable.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Temporary glasses; John's nerves; Nerdfighteria's sponsorship of AFC Wimbledon and the relegation fight

  • ★ John is wearing temporary glasses and tells viewers not to freak out. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John wants to talk about how to win in life and sports because he is very nervous and wants to send winning, or at least tying, energy into the world. (playful) — 00:00:02
  • ★★ John says the community sponsors the third-tier English team AFC Wimbledon, its logo sitting between the left thigh and buttock on their uniform. (playful) — 00:00:14 · Nerdfighteria, AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★★ John says Wimbledon has had a difficult season, losing more than winning: with two games left they are 19th of 24, and the bottom four will be relegated to the fourth tier. — 00:00:25 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ To avoid relegation Wimbledon must win or draw one of their last two games; the first starts about an hour after John records. — 00:00:38 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ Though nervous, John says this is actually Wimbledon's best position in months, largely thanks to 'the Walsall event'. — 00:00:48 · AFC Wimbledon

00:00:53 — Seasons and endeavours come down to little things; Hank's Harry Potter song featured by YouTube in 2007

  • ★★★ John says it is amazing how a whole football season, or really any endeavour, can come down to ridiculously little things. — 00:00:53
  • ★★ John often thinks that if Hank's Harry Potter song hadn't been featured by YouTube in July 2007, none of this would exist, though countless other things had to happen too. — 00:01:00 · YouTube
  • ★★ John says we all live, for better and for worse, with what happens to have happened. — 00:01:13

00:01:17 — The Walsall event: from 2-0 down to 3-2, and Barry Fuller running the ball back to the center circle

  • ★★ With five games left in the season, AFC Wimbledon were 2-0 down to Walsall at halftime. — 00:01:17 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ John says the last time Wimbledon came back from 2-0 down was a 2-2 draw against Bury a year and a half earlier. — 00:01:27 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ Early in the second half Andy Barcham was fouled, the penalty was saved, the rebound fell to Joe Pigott who scored, and Lyle Taylor's 65th-minute goal made it 2-2. — 00:01:33
  • ★★★ While everyone celebrated, Wimbledon's captain Barry Fuller picked up the ball and ran it back to the center circle to restart the game as quickly as possible. — 00:01:50
  • ★★ John says added time is supposed to account for this, but in practice everyone knows running the ball back saves a few seconds. — 00:02:02
  • ★★ The time saved was at most 15 seconds, one 360th of the game, but as it happened a vital one. — 00:02:12
  • ★★★ In the final seconds Taylor was fouled in the box, Dean Parrett scored the penalty and Wimbledon won 3-2, earning three points instead of one. — 00:02:25 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ John says those three points look like they might be absolutely essential at the end of the season. (hedged) — 00:02:32 · AFC Wimbledon

00:02:41 — Why it happened: luck, other people's help, and choosing to run the ball back and believe the game is winnable

  • ★★★ John says the Walsall event happened through accurate shooting, referee decisions and bounces, but also because Fuller ran the ball back, knowing it raised the chance of winning only by a fraction of a percent. — 00:02:41
  • ★★★ John says there is so much luck in this world that no one should forget it, and we all depend on strangers' good judgment and help from friends, colleagues and teammates. — 00:02:58
  • ★★★ John says you also have to hope and go on: even when losing and a tie feels like winning, pick up the ball, run it back to midfield and believe the game is still winnable. — 00:03:08 · hope

00:03:26 — Sign-off

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: AFC Wimbledon · Barry Fuller · Luck

Also: People: Andy Barcham · Dean Parrett · Joe Pigott · Lyle Taylor

Works: Accio Deathly Hallows

Organizations: Bury F.C. · Walsall F.C. · YouTube

Concepts: hope

Only in the description or credits: EFL League One

Also centred on Luck: Luck vs. Work vs. Skill vs. Privilege

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