100% Failure Rate

100% Failure Rate
My son Brandon and I had secured some upper level seats on the baseline that ended up having a perfect view of the attempted shot. We stood and screamed with thousands of others. It was bedlam until Vince shot the ball.

Less than two seconds were left in the game between the hometown Dallas Mavericks and the powerful Spurs. The Spurs led by two points. In a final timeout, the coaches each drew plans for the last play. The Mavs had the inbound possession. The referee handed the ball to Calderon. Nine players on the court start jostling, shoving, pushing for position, elbows flying, defenders grabbing. The player designated to receive the pass was covered. Impossible to get the ball to him. In the corner stands Vince Carter. Calderon throws a last second desperation bullet pass to Vince. The defender tries to block. Vince shoots the ball for a three-pointer. The horn sounds. The red light signals Game End. The ball is in the air...

Then all that sound suddenly suspended quietly in the atmosphere as the ball launched…into the air…toward the basket... Brandon and I were sure it was off. Then, somehow, it went in. It was a legal shot! We win! Game over! Fans screaming like the sound of a thousand jet engines filled the arena.

The percentage of hitting a shot like that is less than 30%. That means 70% of the time, the shot will fail. In the regular season, on average, 65% of all three-point shots will fail.

Here's the real issue for us as men... If you and I missed 65-70% of our decisions in life, we'd feel miserable. Yet, for every one iPhone idea are hundreds of inventions that don't make it.

Life DOES hold a guarantee, though. It’s this: If you don't attempt the shot, the odds increase to 100%—you’re 100% certain to fail. If we don't attempt to rescue men, 100% of the men we target will be unreached. If we don't attempt a men's meeting, mentoring session or just calling someone, then ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE TIME, it will not happen! If we don't attempt to reach the men in our city, our church, our neighborhood, the failure rate is 100%.

We may stumble. We may miss a few shots. But we must take the shot.

Go for it. Call the guy. Schedule the meeting. Get the books. Take the shot.