If At First You Don't Succeed

Grandpa's favorite boxer was Andrew Golota. He fell in love with the Pole's style in the ring during his two matches against Riddick Bowe. In their first fight, Golota was winning until he was disqualified for continuously hitting Bowe in the balls. For their second bout, one would've expected Golota to refrain from smacking around Bowe's speed bags. But Golota was too stubborn to change. Instead, even though he was winning the contest, he once again repeatedly went after Bowe's balls until he was disqualified.

Grandpa said it best, "I love Golota. He found a losing strategy and stuck with it." If at first you don't succeed, keep hitting him in the nuts.

That got me thinking about other situations where a losing strategy is repeated until it's perfected.

• The Federalists put a Pinckney on the ticket in 1796, 1800, 1804, and 1808. Neither Pinckney brother ever became President or Vice President.
• The Lakers lost 7 times in the NBA Finals to the Celtics during the 1960s. One of those times, they should have done something different. Like win.
• The Germans lost a two-front war in WWI. They tried the approach again in WWII to no avail.

What did each of these three do wrong? They didn't learn from Golota and go for the balls. He may have lost those two fights against Bowe, but he won something far more important, my grandpa's respect.