Number One?

Number One

All of this comes as a result of dealing with loss. Specifically, I refer to the most trivial of losses, that of a college football team. Let us be clear on the fact that there has never been a college football team in the 150 year history of this current version of the college football association that has never lost a game. No Tide, Tigers, Canes, Aggies, Terps, Vikings, Middies or Sooners are currently riding the crest of an undefeated all-time record. Everybody has lost. And lost a lot. After a century and a half, many teams are struggling to get back to .500, winning as many of their games as they have lost. That is a lot of losing.

One would think that with his level of reality we, as fans, alumni, sponsors, or simply family and friends, would be used to it by now. Seriously, 150 (years) x 12 (ave. games per season) x 100 (ave. number of teams) pencils out to be (plus or minus and give or take) around 180,000 flips of the coin. Out of 15 games last season my team lost 3 of them. Not bad, eh?

Not apparently good (enough) either.

We hold our teams to a higher standard, expecting roughly 50 young men between the ages of 18 and 22, to unite in a common objective and deliver the glow under which we can bask as non-participatory team mates. That way we can all share in the victory, the success, the pride, the bragging rights, the adulation of our peers and the envy of our foes. That is the good news - when we win.

But what about when we don’t?

Saturday night at Husky Stadium in Seattle we hosted the Cal Bears for the first conference game of the Pac-12 season. They throttled our offense last year and bludgeoned their way to an improbable 12-10 win. And the fit hit the shan, and flew south, in a pear-shaped, big-assed hurry. A season ending catastrophic laying of the rotted egg. Resulting in misery, suffering, depression and record sales of fortified liquor. Husky Nation, well versed in the world of pain and suffering, was aghast, agog and appalled.

Interestingly, the planet Earth continued to spin on its axis and, after a few days of doom and gloom, we all returned to, more or less, normalcy. With one important feather added to the cap we call experience.

We were now faced with dealing with the fallout, learning from our mistakes and moving on, looking at the present to determine the trajectory of future events. In other words, we were about to undertake the most important test any kid, coach, parent or fan can take. Learning the lessons that only show after losing.

How DID that happen? And more urgently, WHAT are we going to do about it? Are we going to mope, assign blame, concoct excuses (such as the almost three hour weather delay) and point fingers - or assume the responsibility of initiating change of a magnitude powerful enough to move back to - and past - the levels of our united competency before the aforementioned fit hitting the nightmarish shan?

Or not. Some never recover from the shock of being shown to be made of slightly less power than a Marvel Superhero. What a jolt to the ego of Captain America to lose in the last minute to whatever adversary wants him taken down. Nobody ever chants We WERE Number One.

Please don’t get me wrong, having an ego, playing with an attitude and showing swagger are all important components of champions.

As are humility, a type A work ethic and the unwavering commitment to continual improvement.

Where do we go from here? We have options and we can choose. I was reminded just before 0200 Sunday morning that this is one of the main reasons I always provide to explain my love for the college game. Because these kids are prone to making mistakes. My great joy is in watching them err and immediately get coached up. Identify the flaw, mistake or omission, correct it, practice the enhancement and then get back out there and try it again, with hopefully a different result.

Certainly losing hurts. It is painful and depressing. Nobody goes into a game wanting to lose. If you enter a contest trying NOT to lose, it may be a fait accompli. Play fast, play hard, play with attitude and play loose. Relax into your power and trust both your training and the dedication of your team mates. There is no shame in losing.

There is in not learning the lessons from it.