To me luck almost never has anything to do with sport.
Luck is the flip of the coin.
Luck is the bounce of the ball.
Luck is the puff of wind that affects the flight of the ball.
Luck is the Hand of God placing a tipped pass into the hands of Ricardo Lewis.
In sport, luck is something that is beyond the control of the players.
Performance can seem like "luck" and you may feel "lucky" after performing a play. Conversely, failure to perform can seem "unlucky".
When I coach (not football), I tell my players that "luck", as it is commonly defined, is something that you can create. You do not need a four-leaf clover, rabbit's foot or any other such talisman. What you need to create "luck" is execution of a task. Learning a skill, practicing a skill and performing a skill all lead to execution that can appear to an observer as "lucky". The reality is that the hours of drills, the years of playing, the confidence from past successes all make the execution possible and if the player is not willing to put in the work to make the "luck", they will not "get lucky" as often.
The short version is, the better you play - the luckier you get.
Dropping an uncontested pass is not "unlucky" it is a failure of performance. As I fan, I would rather blame "luck", but I am really just making an excuse. The QB, mis-threw the ball or the receiver mis-timed the catch. Luck had nothing to do with it. In a game that you are getting your hat handed to you, now are out of your comfort zone and are more likely to have unforced errors worrying about the defense.
Officiating: Some may say that game officials can fall into the category of luck. After all, they are beyond the control of the participants. Or are they? Does a pin-point pitcher get more close calls than a wild pitcher? Will a team that has a reputation for chop-blocks get called for them more often because of the reputation? If an official knows a player has a reputation for a illegal act will that official not have a heightened sense to look for that act? Blatant illegal acts will also attract more calls. So I believe that what the players do can affect the official's calls - not definitively but there is an affect.
I have said it before and I will probably say it again; I'd rather be lucky than good. But the truth is you have to be good in order to be lucky.
On Saturday at Grant Field, the boys wearing White & Gold were good.
