It was a dark and dreary day in 1916, a day well suited to the most brutally devastating rout in all of American football history.
One look at the two teams showed trouble ahead.
On the Georgia Tech side were semi-human monsters, gorilla-like behemoths trained by John Heisman, the man football’s highest award was later named after. Heisman was a fanatic. He would not let his Yellow Jackets use soap or water because he considered them debilitating. Nor could they eat pastry, pork, veal, hot bread, nuts, apples, or coffee. His reason? “They don’t agree with me,” he growled, “so they’d better not agree with you.” The Yellow Jackets, with eight All-Southern players, were intent on building their reputation. They lured lowly Cumberland to the game with a $500 guarantee.
The Cumberland team had several players who had never played football before. The official who accepted the offer had long since graduated and left the team in the hands of the team manager. Even the trip to Atlanta had been a disaster: Cumberland arrived with only 16 players. Three were lost at a rest stop in Nashville.
The game began. Georgia Tech scored 63 points in the first quarter, averaging touchdowns at one-minute-and-twenty-second intervals. Even after such a lopsided start, the rest of the game was filled with tension and drama! No one questioned who would win, of course. But could Cumberland players be convinced to finish the game? The manager, George Allen, paced the sidelines, exhorting the team to “hang in there for Cumberland’s $500.” They did, and with it collected the honor of the worst loss in American college football history: 222-0.
Cumberland also left posterity one of its most memorable football plays. A Cumberland kickoff returner fumbled, probably from sheer weariness. He yelled to a teammate, “Pick up the ball!” Replied his teammate, “Pick it up yourself! You dropped it!”
Cumberland was only in the game for the money. But Georgia Tech was in the game to WIN!
Cumberland was in the game to simply survive. But Georgia Tech was in the game to Win!
Cumberland was disorganized, but Georgia Tech organized everything to Win!
Cumberland was unskilled, but Georgia Tech developed their skills to Win!
Cumberland functioned as individuals. But Georgia Tech was a team united to win!
When it comes to the game of life, why are you in the game?
Are you focused on simply acquiring riches?
Or are you focused on living the Victorious Christian life?
Are you focused on simply surviving the game?
Or do you want to leave a legacy, to build your reputation as an ambassador of God?
You need to choose your goals in life carefully.
It is possible you may achieve your goals, yet lose the game.
Maybe the reason you feel defeated is because your goals are not the right ones!
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.