That fall, Mark coached pee-wee football. On offense, his philosophy was “three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust.” Most plays, three yards turned out to be wishful thinking; so did hanging on to the ball. On defense, his philosophy was “bend-but-don’t-break.” The kids didn’t want to be bent or broken, and mostly got out of the way. The team lost its first three games by an average of forty points. Its only touchdown came after an opposing player muffed a punt. Mark’s wife suggested that he try a “punt-on-first-down” philosophy.

“That’s not a philosophy,” Mark said. “That’s ad hoc. I’d rather lose.”

And lose they did.

I wrote this story for the 100 Word Challenge #354 at Velvet Verbosity.