”You Gotta Believe” is the battle cry for the 2003
Hillsborough Protocol. Lets stop these FIDE SHAMPIONSHIPS and get
serious about World Championship Chess. Tug McGraw coined this battle cry in 1973. Tug was
a pitcher for the New York Mets. His
team trailed by 12 games late in the season. Tug was able to energize his
teammates and the fans of New York. The Mets went on to over come this
deficit and win their division. Tug
played a major role on and off the field. The Mets also went on to defeat
my beloved Cincinnati Reds in the pennant. However they came up short
against Oakland despite having had a 3-2 lead in the World Series.
Chess needs a Tug McGraw like inspiration. I remember Tug, walking
off the mound, pounding his glove against his thigh. I saw Tug at an appearance in a local mall in long island. It
was in the early 70’s. Some kid wanted Tug to sign a new pair of white
sneakers. They were still in the box. I recall Tug eating a slice of pizza
and all he had left was the crust. So instead of signing the sneakers, Tug
slipped the pizza crust inside of one of them. That moment was a
hilarious.
So what does Tug have to do with chess? Well chess needs a battle
cry, a world championship battle cry. We need
something to inspire FIDE, the players, and the fans.
This inspiration might bring corporate sponsorship to the game.
We lost Tug McGraw on 1/5/2004. He was 59 years old. “ You Gotta
Believe” has been my battle cry for a number of issues.
I wonder what that pizza crush would fetch on EBay?
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