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Originally Posted by demonrail666
Not sure I understand the point you're making there. Are you saying Spain simply ran out of luck?
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Yes, in part. Sports is equal parts effort and luck. The ball bounces your way, but that is not enough if you don't capitalize on your opportunities. However, no matter HOW talented or skilled you are, if the ball doesn't bounce your way you're fucked, period. So, when teams go on long winning streaks, clearly the ball has bounced their way more times than it hasn't. That being said, it is pure logic and math that inevitably they are going to get a few bad breaks. It doesn't mean they are finished, but these instances of suddenly increasing bad luck tend to have a more powerful psychological effect on talented or winning teams. When the ball stops bouncing their way, even while they've been giving it all they've got, then they start to break down mentally. It becomes, "What is next??" Sometimes winners get so used to winning that they can't fathom when those lucky breaks stop falling their way. Its not a death sentence, but it means they have to work that much harder to overcome it and survive until the ball bounces their way again, which it may.
If you flip a coin ten times and get ten heads in a row, then you know there will be some tails coming up soon. If you get 5 tails in a row, that can be your season right there! If you are really that transcendentally good you can overcome the bad luck and keep playing until you get a heads or two..
For example, the LA Kings and Rangers were playing for the Stanley Cup in hockey last night.. The game went to double OT, and there were like 7, probably even 8 shots that hit the post! That can be totally deflating. The Kings were looking all the more weary, because they were outshooting the Rangers 49-30 until they finally got the winning shot towards the end of 2OT (by the way it was the longest game in Stanley Cup history)... Had the Kings folded under their clearly bad luck (they had FIVE of those post hits) the Rangers may have been able to capitalize on it. Instead, the Kings just kept subbing fresh legs into the game, kept attacking the goal, and finally managed to flip their luck and got one in to seal it and take home the trophy. Anyone watching could see that those 5 post-hits were totally just bad luck on Kings part, they were all great shots that just didn't go in.
To make it simple, when teams win A LOT they have sort of used up their luck, and they can expect some boneheaded mistakes, some bad officiating, or some rare missed shots that normally sail right in. A dynasty level team can overcome even these, but not usually.