You know, I kept saying I was going to blog, but then I kept putting it off because I was emailing alums & parents often enough. So, in the bottom corner we have seen “New Hope” for most of the season. Well, the “New Hope” is gone, and we are smack in the middle of a season, okay probably end. However, in many ways it is just the beginning. First, let’s look back over some of my thoughts on the season.
Difference Between Winning & Losing
In the movie Friday Night Lights, the coach says “There ain’t much difference between winning and losing except the way the world treats ya.” I don’t know that I totally buy that, but there is something to that. I am not playing the what if game, more the reality of this team. We lost to Kentucky by 1 and Illinois by 1. We lost to GT by 3. In our first three games we were 0-3 with a goal differential of -5. A few breaks the other way and we could have easily been 3-0 with a goal differential of 5. It just speaks volumes to the type of team we have. While the world may look at us in one light because of our 4-7 record, I look at us differently. We are learning and getting better. We are 4-4 after our 0-3 start and have the opportunity to finish our last 11 games with a winning record (7-4 or 6-5).
There is another team that looks like this. They happen to be Johns Hopkins. Do you know that Hopkins started their 2007 championship season 4-4. It isn’t how you start, but how you finish. This team is setting up to finish strong and at just the right time. We head into our last 3 games on a 3 game winning streak and have all but cemented a spot in the conference playoffs. Don’t get me wrong, we have tons of work to do and we need to put together 3 more 1 game winning streaks, but is a good thing to be where we are.
Winning & Hard Work
For many of the seniors this is the most continued success they have experienced at Marquette and the first winning record in conference in sometime. How we as a group, seniors, younger players, and coaches handle that will dictate a lot of what happens over the next couple of weeks. Learning to win and how to handle it is one of the hardest things to do. Coach John Paul at Michigan referenced trying to find ways to keep the guys as motivated as they were after losing to the #13 seed Northeastern in 2007. They went on a 49 game tear before losing, but it is hard to do. Not accepting where you are, is not something everyone is good at.
As we head into practice tonight and games this weekend, we must remain hungry. We have to want every groundball, every clear, every ride. If we play like that, we are going to find we can do better than we might have expected. We cannot become complacent with where we are. I don’t think this team will, but it is definitely something we ALL must stay aware of.
Team Notes
We have been a bit unfortunate this year in that we have been hit hard by injury and the illness. What I think is most impressive is that our injured guys get it. They are still attending practice and team events. This is good, because that is what families do. It isn’t so easy for guys to always get that, and not everyone does, but for the most part these guys seem to. This is a great time for them to contribute to our team and help us accomplish something special as a result.
Parting Shots
- The Beatles are one of the best bands of all time. Seriously, I love that I can throw on their disc and listen to it all the way through without hitting skip (or fast forward for those still using tapes).
- Guitar and/or playing an instrument is soothing. I used to play piano and guitar but hadn’t played in years. I picked it back up a few weeks ago and forgot how soothing it is for your soul. You can say so much with just a couple of chords. Say things that words cannot capture.
- This is the last regular season conference weekend for our seniors Matt Morell, Brian Cassidy, Ernest Echols, and Peter Hoffman. If you can get out there to support them, that would be great, they certainly have earned it!
- We are trying to get our facebook fans up to 100 before the weekend. Become a fan here. You can also follow us on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/marquettelax. Thanks to Jordan Schrader, Charlie Klabunde, and Paden Reed for keeping our twitter up to date in games. They will be at it against this weekend.
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