On Struggling, Downward Skids, and Losing Streaks...
Note: Forgive me for the basketball ALLEGORY. I thought about this late at night at the eve of UP's loss against Adamson. Please read till the end. The UP Fighting Maroons started the season with a 2-0 in the scoreboards, and, alas, that remains their two wins at the end of round one. We have been through this before; those losses, we’re numbed to that. What makes things different now? The ecstasy of winning, the hope and the evidence that we could ACTUALLY do this makes the loss a little tougher to bear and makes the skid hurt like hell. I don't really know what that does on our players' mindset, but I would venture on a guess based on my own experiences. First off, the hype is gone, but the hype always disappear. Win enough games, and the wins wouldn't matter any more; nobody will chant "Bonfire na yan!" after one win. Lose the next game, and it's just a fluke. Lose enough, then, we're back to where we started. Best thing to do: get over the hype (with the former as the prescribed route.) But for us who're set on the other path, "The struggle is real." As each loss lumps, it gets harder and harder to get back into the "winning mindset," and yet we fight for it to get it back at the start of each day, each game. "We can do it!" At halftime, "We can STILL do it." At the end buzzer, "We'll do it next time." And this we try to convince ourselves of, even if slowly, others have let it go. Seemingly, one step forward, two steps back. For us, we're still stuck in that slump, but we're not called UP Fighting Maroons for nothing. That's the most important thing, "Always Keep Fighting." The battle is in the mind. Every day, I'm fighting to keep my mind in the right head space, and to fight is to struggle -- to struggle in battle. So, let this be my final thought. We can't really be sure if there's going to be another win for the Maroons this season, but for some of us like me, we know that there is and plenty.