Word: instincts
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Take the sleuths on the case. Sergeant De Grier and Adjutant Grijpstra cannot claim the instinct for violence or the deductive brilliance that makes for popular detectives. But the two plainclothesmen on the Amsterdam police force are far from plain. As they doggedly pursue their "eternal search" for "who knows something," they find sweetness in old whores, humor in dachshunds, beauty in drab streets...
...Killer Instinct" works because it is a highly personal account of what a few years of losing did to Cousy. This isn't Joe Willie or Clyde or Derek talking about the glamorous life. Cousy earned $100,000 a year as coach, but that didn't take away the sting of defeat. His fierce desire to win being thwarted unhinged him spiritually and drained him emotionally...
...Killer Instinct" puts into perspective the notion of competition and winning that all of us can understand. We at Harvard have been "winners" most of our lives--class presidents, football captains, number ones, whatever, and these days of the pre-professional rat race have heightened our competitive instincts all the more...
...playing career briefly. He talks about the pressure that he put on himself to win, how he saw each game as a personal vendetta against the opposing player, and how one championship with the Celts only increased the hunger for another one. He tells us what the killer instinct means--once you have an opponent by the throat you don't let him up, but keep him down. It's reminiscent of Bobby Fisher's comment that the enjoyment he derived from chess was not only winning, but crushing his opponent's ego as well...
...what happens if we suddenly stop winning, whether it's med school applications or with girlfriends? "The Killer Instinct" is Cousy's examination of the inherent problems that a winner faces when he suddenly becomes a loser, and what he has to say is applicable to all of us, regardless of whether or not we are in sports...