FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — If Alabama captures the BCS National Championship tonight with a victory over Notre Dame, give Yankees closer Mariano Rivera another save. Tide coach Nick Saban said he showed his players a film of the Yankees great to get them to understand the importance of focus.
“We just watched a video of Mariano Rivera, and he talked about how he struggled at some time in his career because he was trying to be a perfectionist,” Saban said, “and that when he’s in the bullpen, he sees the crowd, he hears the crowd, he knows sometimes that he’s being”‘”‘ getting a lot of positive self”‘-gratification for what he does and sometimes getting a lot of negative self-”‘gratification for what he does.
“But when he runs out and they hand him the ball, he’s got one focus. He’s not worried about the crowd, he’s not worried about any of the external factors. One focus: ‘Three outs, how am I going to get three outs?’
“I think a team’s ability to do that, to stay focused on the things that are going to affect the outcome of the game, are critical in games like this. And you know, you could say, well, that’s nothing. Well, believe me, being around young people, being in games like this, that’s something, and it’s something big.’’