Sometimes you get beat...

One of the last lines in the classic baseball movie "Bull Durham" states,

"A good friend of mine used to say, 'This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.' Think about that for a while."

And then there is, "sometimes you are the Louisville Slugger, sometimes you are the ball. Sometimes it all comes together, sometimes you're gonna lose it all..." and these lyrics by Dire Straits couldn't say it any better.

Finally, there is the age-old maxim "sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug".

Yesterday at Sterling High School we were squished. The Channelview Falcons are pretty good at baseball. Sometimes people who are good at baseball beat you, and there’s not much you can do about it. No matter our level of effort or desire, yesterday nothing seemed to go right for the BCA Bulldogs. When the dust cleared, we found ourselves on the wrong end of a devastating 20-3 loss. I once read some thoughts by a baseball writer about learning how to accept tough losses, and how accepting the bad beats in life is a learned trait.

"I watched the last few innings of the Little League World Series yesterday, and although I was delighted for the kids from California, my heart went out to the boys from Taiwan. I just wish the network hadn’t pointed the camera at them after the game.

Learning to lose well is an important part of becoming a man, but these kids aren’t men yet, and it’s hard to watch."

Our entire coaching staff is used to winning. We love to win, we want to win, and we expect to win. More importantly, we desire to see every boy on our team grow in to a man who is a winner. As we told them yesterday after the game, we coach boys with a desire to see them become men who will be winners as ballplayers, employees, and citizens. Men who grow up to love their wives, father their children, and work heartily unto the Lord. Men who know the cost that is often required in life in order to win, and who step up to the plate and pay up. A big part of this is learning how to lose well and move forward, even after the worst of defeats and the darkest of days. As the quote above says, sometimes it's hard to watch, but we all know the pain of watching those we care about deal with adversity. I am reminded of some words from a friend,

"The best thing about playing Little League for me was being on teams that got their butts kicked, not because it was fun but because years later I knew how to handle the sting of defeat and I understood that no matter how badly YOU wanted it there were other forces at play that could and would potentially affect the outcome. It also makes winning when you get there that much sweeter."

For those of you reading this, please rest assured that the lessons we hope to take from losing three out of the last four games to opponents that were supposed to beat us like they did will be learned. Our boys are not men yet, but I believe they are another step closer. The highlight of the day yesterday didn't happen on the field, although Clay Wiseman was 2 for 2 at the plate and several of our young reserves did wonderful things with the opportunities that they were provided, the highlight of the day occurred when the BCA Bulldogs looked one another in the eye for over an hour and let each other know that they are in this together. Being part of a true community, one of like mind and purpose, is one of the greatest gifts this life offers, and our boys are living it.