In sports, as in life, one often hears the phrase “things happen for a reason.” This cliché is usually employed relative to a piece of bad news, and is meant to soften its rough edges and perhaps to motivate the recipient of the message to preserve and overcome the adversity.
Of course the reality is that the cliché is hooey. Things really don’t happen for a reason. Things just happen. There might be a cause, but a reason? That doesn’t really make sense. But that doesn’t mean the phrase has no value.
The value lies in the intention of the message, not the message itself.