By Peter Fusilero
Executive Sports Editor
Let’s be honest. Nobody thought that football game played the other day would end the way it did. The Broncos, who apparently had the number one offense in the league were down 22-0 at halftime. The Seattle Seahawks went on to win 43-8.
The loss by the Broncos raised questions from the media about Peyton Manning’s ability to win big games. ESPN, NFL network and other popular TV outlets called out Manning’s leadership and character.
Any high school athlete could only imagine how any superstar like Manning handles a big loss.
It wasn’t as big as a stage as the Super Bowl, but the loss against Hersey two weeks ago was probably one of the toughest to swallow.
Two choices were in front of us now. Either put our heads down and feel bad about ourselves or respond, go into practice with a focused mind-set and be prepared for the next game on our schedule.
Losing has such a negative connotation, but I think losing is just an experienced learned from, and I don’t think every athlete understands that idea.
Think about it. The teams that consistently do poorly whether that’s at the high school or professional level don’t learn from their mistakes.
I’m not saying talented individuals don’t play a factor, but there are talented individuals on losing teams because those individuals don’t have the competitiveness to win.
The great athletes are the ones who hate losing more than they love winning.
When LeBron James lost to the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, he reflected on the entire season as a whole.
“I started to play the game of basketball at a level, or at a mind state that I’ve never played at before … meaning, angry. And that’s mentally,” James said in an interview with ESPN. “That’s not the way I play the game of basketball.”
LeBron’s 2012 season was a response to his 2011 bittersweet season. He learned so much about what worked with his team and what he needed to change individually. He definitely learned his lessons. The man now has two NBA championships.
Of course there will be losses, no team or individual is perfect. The real test of a champion is to see how many losses one can limit. I mean c’mon, that guy LeBron gets constantly compared to only had 10 losses in one season. I think his name was Michael Jordan?
