Disbelief melted into euphoria in our small TV room in the Stanford in Washington house. I jealously watched everyone back on campus rush the field and half-listened to the seniors around me complain that on the only occasion in their Stanford careers that we win the Big Game, they are away. But as the Versus channel (which broadcast the game) started rolling the credits and we began preparing to run through downtown D.C. with Stanford “S”s painted on our chests, I couldn’t stop thinking about luck. There is no better evidence that you can make your own luck than Big Game 2007.

It would be a lie to say the game was pretty or that Stanford dominated from start to finish. Stanford’s missed tackles mounted like the “accidentally” incorrect statistics that Rudy Guiliani keeps citing in debates (Zing!). We missed a short field goal and fumbled when we were within reach of running out the clock. We negated Cal’s incomplete pass on 4th-and-11 with 2:15 left in the game with a silly offsides penalty.

So we missed a lot, but we won because we were ready to exploit any break.

“You don’t deserve anything in Division I — you’ve got to go get it,” senior receiver Evan Moore told reporters afterward, and it became apparent that coach Jim Harbaugh’s “enthusiasm unknown to mankind” might have transferred to his players.

Was it lucky that Cal absolutely wrecked itself with penalties? Maybe, but we minimized our own and made use of the free yardage. Was it lucky that Nick Sanchez slipped and fell on his coverage, only to find an interception plopped in his lap? Maybe, but Clinton Snyder’s pressure on the quarterback prompted the bad throw, and Sanchez had the presence to react. Was it lucky that three very close overhead reviews went our way? Well, actually, yes. Trust me, after seeing the replays in HD, those officials will not be working a BCS game anytime soon.

The point is that luck doesn’t just happen. Even on the calls that Cal will no doubt gripe about for ages, we had to make plays to get to that position (or come close enough that it looked like we made them). Cal didn’t have the mindset to let themselves get lucky, and it showed.

In a feat of brilliant cinematography, Versus kept cutting to views of our ever optimistic Axe Committee staring down their Cal counterparts. The two guys from Cal actually in charge of holding the Axe looked miserable, even when the Bears were down only one touchdown with most of the fourth quarter remaining. Would I still have had faith if Stanford were down in that situation? I’d like to think so, and I’m positive the Axe Committee would have.

About the same time, another shot showed a Cal lineman sitting on the bench with tears in his eyes, and as far as I could tell he wasn’t injured. There’s nothing wrong with crying, even if you’re a macho football player, but the game wasn’t even over yet, and far from decided. And this is where a life lesson can be repeated. How are you ever going to succeed if you’ve already resigned yourself to failure? Cal was resigned, and Stanford stayed tough, even when things weren’t going well.

Karma could also be a factor. Another visual you missed if you didn’t see the game on Versus was a Cal receiver absolutely decking a cameraman as he ran out of bounds with about five minutes left. The cameraman was hit so hard he actually bounced off the ground, but from the 10 or more replays we got to see of the hit, there was no apology. A Cal player could have at least helped him up. Meanwhile, one Versus announcer decided to let the audience know during a picturesque view of the Band (trombone player wearing a speedo) that “Cal has a band, Stanford has kids holding instruments.” Thank you, Versus. That must be why we call them “The Stanford Kids Holding Instruments.” The unnecessary jibe, without even mentioning our Band’s unique history of awesomeness (perhaps because there were so many replays of “The Play”) created a righteous anger that I am sure transferred somehow across the country and to our players.

So, did we win Big Game because we got lucky? Hell no. Thomas Jefferson once said, “I’m a firm believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” Stanford football made its own luck, and those guys, like all our athletes, work ridiculously hard to play their sport and keep up in class. Everyone contributed. The players who made the big plays, the backups, the guys who are injured and even someone like linebacker Fred Campbell who had to retire from football after an injury in the first game of the year. They all deserve every microsecond of the resulting glory.

For two sweet games this year, Stanford Football was a luck creation machine. Hopefully, next year we’ll stay tougher longer and get to the bowl game we already have the potential to earn. Life, like Big Game 2007, is about seizing the chances that come your way. You have to be ready for opportunities, you have to go out and make them, and you have to be ready to find the positives.

Michael is proud of his friends on the team. He and Sagar Doshi write from Washington, D.C., and can be reached at sagarandmichael@gmail.com.