A number of years ago I noticed a phenomenon that was spreading, primarily in the NFL at the time. It was the increasing occurrence of individual players just going completely ape shit (oops) in celebration after successfully performing an assigned task. A cornerback would knock down an incoming pass, a linenacker would make a one-on-one tackle of a running back running straight at him in the narrowest of gaps 1 step after receiving the handoff and no head of steam. I certainly understand getting fired up but it started reaching level Stupid as they would celebrate to the level of a Best Ever accomplishment on even the most routine and basic of tasks.

The pattern I noticed was after each successive idiotic celebration of "doing their job" any failure at all had an inverse proportion of a negative affect on them, even when someone failed at what was a near impossible attempt. Before long that negativity and sense of now extreme failure needed ownership assigned. A receiver gets past the corner and the safety is caught off guard, instead of going all out after the receiver he would slow up and turn back to yell at the blown coverage. Once the team reaches that point, it's very difficult for the group to reset and overcome it. It can happen with great leadership though.

The earlier you see it, the more likely it is for that team to lose. Making a routine tackle on the kickoff, the defender just goes nuts as if it was the best play ever. It's very difficult to best that sense of success with more routine plays. Before long they feel let down by their teammates.

Anyway, too many words for a simple idea.