Matt Haig wrote that every story "is about someone searching for something." Sports gives us the highest highs and the lowest lows.
When we care about someone or something, loss creates disappointment, sadness, and sometimes depression. "Heartbreak is part of the game." Distinguish the heartbreak of disappointment from personal tragedy.
Red Auerbach shared that his worst loss came as a private school coach, when, leading by one late in the game, a player threw a behind-the-back inbounds pass that was stolen and converted in the winning hoop.
Everyone has a hierarchy of play:
1. Team wins, played well (contributed to success).
2. Team wins, played poorly (bad win).
3. Team loses, played well (good loss).
4. Team loses, played poorly (I own this).
Sherri Coale shared a story about a player who wasn't happy unless she was scoring. Sometimes there's a heartbreaking reality behind the scenes.
One person's heartbreak is another's joy. And heartbreak isn't always losing games.
Billy Rohr would only win two more games in his career.
Exhilaration for Celtics fans was tragedy for Philadelphia.
Dennis Eckersley says that some fans still taunt him about Kirk Gibson's walk-off homer.
Detroit got heartbreak on a Bird steal and DJ layup.
But the greatest heartbreak comes from human tragedy, like the deaths of Hank Gathers, Reggie Lewis, and Len Bias. Or the death of a parent or a child. Or serious illness or injury in a teammate. I had a teammate commit suicide in early adulthood.
Do the right thing, support players and families. Blaming an individual player for a loss never makes the situation better. We're better than that.
Lagniappe: 2 on 2 shell. I'm not into "penalty running." We can condition within drills.