First weeks of season sports proverb?

[bapopik at AOL.COM]

If you get past the Barry Popik article on page one of today's New York Sun, there's this:
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New York Sun, 10 November 2005, pg. 19, col. 3:
To paraphrase an old saying, you can't win a spot in the playoffs in the first weeks of the season, but you can lose one.
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Any cites?