60 Minutes

"We've heard no decision yet. Everybody is milling around on the FIELD—AND THE BEARS!! THE BEARS HAVE WON! The Bears have won! Oh, my God! The most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heart-rending... exciting, thrilling finish in the history of college football! California has won the Big Game over Stanford! Oh, excuse me for my voice, but I have never, never seen anything like it in the history of I have ever seen any game in my life! The Bears have won it! There will be no extra point!" Cal Broadcast Reporter

In the famous college football game between Stanford and Berkeley on November 20th 1982, 'The Play' ranks among the most controversial and compelling football stories of all time. With four seconds on the play clock and poised to lose a key game to the Stanford Cardinals, the Bears recieved a squib kick and, won the game by completing five lateral passes and eventually scoring the winning goal. While the film footage has been viewed and reviewed thousands of times I am most impressed by what the Berkeley Bears coach said to his winning team after the game was over.

Coach Joe Kapp gathered his team in the locker room after the game and reportedly said to his elated players, "A football game lasts for 60 minutes, not 59 minutes and 56 seconds. The game lasts for 60 minutes." This statement is significant and I often think of it as a metaphore for the hardships that often occur in life. While it is too simplistic and naive to hope that patients suffering losses and struggling with disease could hope to draw strength from this phrase, there are moments when doctors need to help their patients rally and fight. Sports metaphores are often helpful in this regard because cheering for our favorite athletes and teams offers us a vehicle for self introspection and our heroes are often a source of personal pride.

The game of life does not end at 59 minutes and 56 seconds.

The game of life lasts for 60 minutes.

Click here to see 'The Play': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZCCAqoSwY