CJ McMann drives to the hoop

OK.  Those of you who know me – the loyal 10 – know that a moral victory is code for we finished second.  Last night we finished second – after three overtimes – to DePauw.  Final score was 114-110.

Slugfest.  Shootout.  Call it what you will.  Both teams gave it their all…and then some.

We battled back to tie the game after being behind for most of it – just like at Chadwick. In each overtime, there was at least one instance where I was sure we had the game won…and also an instance where I thought they had it.  The game was in doubt until the last 6.1 seconds of the third overtime.

So, on the drive home last night I was surprisingly upbeat (not the usual Grunge after a loss.)  I think it boils down to this – a life lesson last night.  Sure it was about basketball…but it was also about a lot more.  We’ll be a better team because of the experience.  But we’ll also be better at life.  We learned things don’t always go our way.  We learned others want the same thing we do…and they want it as bad as we do.  We learned that others will do everything in their power to get the win or gain the prize.  We learned that even when we think it’s over, it isn’t. We learned that bad things do happen to good people.

I know all of that because every time I thought I was about to take the defining photo…I did but didn’t.  Those shots ended up in the digital dumpster.  No matter how much I tried to tell myself I knew what was about to happen…I didn’t have a clue.

In many ways, the game was a microcosm of yesterday.

At the end, the students belted out “Old Wabash”…they knew.  They got it.  They helped me get it.

I will never figure out why some shots went in and some didn’t.  I won’t ever understand why some things were fouls and others weren’t.  And I won’t ever figure out why yesterday unfolded as it did.

This I do know.  Not a single one of us is perfect.  Nobody keeps a 100% scoring average for life.  Every one of us has zits.  Every one us of us has bad days.  But..we’re all in this together, that chemistry makes us stronger, and this is…a good place.