Sitting with Hattori Hanzo

I get into this argument all the time. After our movie ride this morning, a 2:23 leg burner to Blood Diamond, we sat in the wonderful last day of summer sun and enjoyed a casual BBQ on the deck. Of course the conversation quickly opened with a ‘how ‘bout them Huskies’ comment. I smirked, rolled up my shoulders in what the Italians call cosi-cosi (so-so), and mumbled an audible ho-hum. “Well they won’. 

Yes they did.

But.

I am a fan on a much deeper level than simply the final outcome. It is more important to me to witness the transcendence of the overall team growth, their improvements, corrections, their maturity, their cohesiveness and coming together as a unit, than simply us scoring a larger number of points at the sound of the final gun than the opposition.

Way more. 

I always get strange looks when I say this.

Yes it is. Truly.

Let me provide an example.

Please do.

Now please remember that I cache all this from the standpoint of the head coach, quality assurance evaluator, and perpetual season ticket holder rolled into one. I am in for the long run. When I see an eighteen year old true freshmen play I am projecting his true value to the program four years down the line. 

When I say, as I did today, that I would rather see a team play with balls-out intensity and lose, than a team play with disinterest and win, it comes as close as shrapnel to nailing the gist of the matter. 

Some people do not like to hear this. A win is a win, they pragmatically extol. Nothing wrong with winnin’ ugly, they say, often citing the manta of Al Davis in his Raider heyday, ‘Just win baby,’ or mangling Vince Lombardi’s famous quote about winning being the only thing.

It is not.

It is way more important to take a crude piece of clay and mold it to your understanding of doing whatever is necessary to win, the long hours of practice, time in the weight room, a total commitment to the team and unwavering allegiance to the principles of success, than to go undefeated for the year. It is the path, the journey, the camaraderie, the maturation of the team, the bond, the belief that counts. Not style points. Not your won-loss record.

Don’t get me wrong, I most always backpedal, I am happy they won. We are still in the game, on the trail - the hunt is the action. It is sitting with Hattori Hanzo. 

I just want them to become the players they are destined to become. I want this team to realize its true potential and walk the walk. I do not seek perfection, what I, as a fan, long to see, is continual growth. 

And while sometimes reflected on the scoreboard, more often than not, it has nothing to do with it. 

It is like quality. I challenge you to define it. We say that, although we cannot adequately label it, we know it when we see it. 

Same thing here.