One of the good things about sports is losing.
UConn
women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma lost this weekend. He might have
forgotten how it felt, as it hadn’t happened in the Huskies’ previous
111 games.
“I
understand losing, believe it or not. We haven’t lost in a while, but I
understand it. I know how to appreciate when other people win.”
Grace
in defeat is commendable. The coach also praised his opponent,
suggesting Mississippi State “deserved to win. They beat us.”
Auriemma’s
team was supposed to have lost already this season. The core of four
straight title teams graduated and he built this squad around young
players.
“I’m
proud of what they’ve been able to do, how much they changed from last
October, you know. When we started October 15th to where we are today,
as I said, these kids were way older than they were supposed to be. They
should have shown their age early on in the season.”
Helping
young people mature as people and learn life lessons, including how to
deal with setbacks, is part of what amateur athletics should be about.
“This
is an education process,” said Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer
after his team, in turn, lost to South Carolina in the final. “I try to
hold people accountable.”
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| photo by Dave French |
South
Carolina didn’t win everything this weekend. The school’s men’s team
lost to Gonzaga in their semifinal. Afterward, head coach Frank Martin
said his players “impacted our community in an unbelievable way, which
is worth so much more than the score of a game. It’s what it’s all
about. These kids are great role models. There’s a lot of young kids
that want to be the next Sindarius Thornwell, Justin McKie, and I don’t
get to coach them anymore, but they’re part of my life forever.”
The
tough coach teared up as he spoke, clearly emotionally invested in the
students he’d supervised. A shared sports experience can build powerful
bonds that become lifelong relationships.
Also
this weekend, I spoke with a friend who is a team doctor for one of the
Women’s Final Four teams, and she told me about a student-athlete she
had treated. The player at one time had wanted to be a surgeon, but had
for various reasons abandoned that career path. My friend didn’t juts
repair her physical injury. She counseled the young woman and inspired
her to revisit the goal, and the student is back on track for medical
school. My friend enjoys fixing damaged knees and shoulders, but her
level of job satisfaction peaks when she feels she has helped a young
person advance in life.
As
I spent much of my weekend absorbed in the Women’s Final Four in
Dallas, and monitoring the men’s version on TV, I was reminded that the
college athletic experience is about more than determining the best team
on the court, rink, or field. It
was a lesson I originally learned many years ago from my father, who
spent his life as a professor, coach, administrator, and mentor to
college students. While he’s one of the most competitive people I know,
and aches to win at any contest, he always emphasized that the
university athletic experience is, first and foremost, about positively
affecting the student-athlete. It was a really good thing to see that
college sports remains capable of achieving that goal.
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