Thankful for losing

I am someone who hates losing. I hate losing when I play anything...a card game, bike ride...video game. If it's a competition and I participate I get mad about losing. I'd take pride in beating my sister and family from the checkout line at the grocery store to our car when I was younger. I also hate it when a team I am rooting for loses. It puts me in a foul mood even though I don't play and have no control over the outcome. Maybe that explains why I have high blood pressure. It's not really good that I hate it when my favorite teams lose but at the same time atleast I care, even if I care too much.

I also can't stand when people talk about losing because I strongly believe that if you believe you can lose you will lose. Your mind is already accepting the possibility of defeat so you give up more easily, whether you realize it or not. If you expect to win you keep playing to win no matter what. If you think you will lose and you lose it doesn't provide the same motivation to correct your mistakes as playing to win, expecting to win and then losing.

One would think that I would be mad that UConn lost and ended it's streak. The streak was getting to be too much. It meant too much to fans and the women's basketball world. It was placing way too much pressure on UConn. The streak was going to end. My family was talking about the game at dinner and I said I think that UConn will lose tonight.

I certainly didn't root for UConn to lose, but I was happy at the end of the game. That happiest I've ever been when my team lost. I don't know if happiness is the right word, maybe it was more apathy for the streak at this point because I knew it was going to end and I'd rather it end to a really good team, on the road in a month other than March or April. To me the worst recipe for disaster would have been going into the championship game or final four undefeated. The pressure of winning would be so great at that point and there is nothing worse than going undefeated all year, as a fan or player, and than losing your last game. Just ask the Patriots and Patriots fans.

To me the best thing about the loss is that it allows the team to refocus on what matters, a National Championship. I can't imagine how difficult it is for a coach to get a players attention when that player has won 90 straight games. There has to be an aura of invincibility, which is good, that comes with a streak. But at some level I believe that it also makes it more difficult to get through to players. I think it's human nature to become complacent when things are going well. Usually undergrads do better on their first test than any other in a class because once they do well they think they can afford to not spend as much time studying for the class...and I'd know because I've done that. It's why people who lose weight often put it back on. There are only a unique few who can consistently do something well when they know they are doing it well.

Ending the streak should do a lot to help UConn get better. I think they learned and will learn a lot from the loss and the loss REALLY pissed them off. They can think about that loss and have that loss hung over their heads during practices, workouts and sprints to motivate them.

They needed the loss to stop the streak and talk of it. They needed it to help them focus on working on what they need to do to get better because they know that there are teams out there that can literally beat them because they have. UConn is a Final Four team, but they need some adversity to prepare them for the Final Four this season because unlike other seasons the team is beatable this year. UConn didn't need any adversity the last two seasons because they were so good...SO GOOD...and hadn't won championships in a while.

At the same time Stanford needs to be careful. I'm not too concerned with how Stanford views themselves. I think they have enough experience to know that they aren't the greatest women's basketball team ever since they ended the streak. They can keep the win in perspective and use it for confidence as they should. Some teams might end a streak like this and become way too overconfident and that will create a disaster.

I didn't root for a loss but because UConn was going to inevitably lose this season, having lost so much talent, I am relieved that it happened now and not March or April...and hopefully it doesn't happen then. I think that this loss will motivate them and help them really focus on playing better. When you are used to winning and are a good team and know it, nothing captures your attention and motivates you more than losing.