See, year after year, tournament after tournament, loss after loss, we all come with the overly confident "nothing's gonna stop us 'cause we're from New York and nobody can beat us at our own game" approach. Clearly, that hasn't worked since 2003. Quite frankly, I'm just tired of all that nonsense. Losing, pointing fingers, re-structuring the team...over and over again. When every new plan the team comes up with has failed, what's next?
Hell, I wasn't even gonna play in the tournament until the very last moment. Yea, I had my doubts and said to myself "why would I wanna travel up to Toronto just to lose again?" After being convinced by almost everyone on the team, I decided to sign up. At first I regretted the decision because I thought that everything will turn out to be the same. The politics, lack of participation and the wasted time at every Friday night practice. But, somehow, things seemed different this time around. I couldn't quite point my finger on it. Maybe it was the fact that "Coach Caaaarter" had come back from 'retirement', or that older players decided to step-down and take one for the team. Whatever the case may be, things started to look good. As far as I'm concerned, everything that occurred during the previous 5 years is done with. Needing to prove myself over and over, getting disrespected by the two who I admired the most, and finally still needing to fight my case to even be considered NY A-Squad material - all of that is in the burner, out the window, 6 feet under...however you wanna phrase it.
This is why I'm setting a different mentality for myself. To me, it's just another game. Another day on the blacktop with my best friends, playing the game because we love it. Not to win or lose, not for bragging rights, not for un-doing the 5 year drought...none of that. This is for fun, for teamwork, and for the one chance to say that we played the tournament of our lives - regardless of the outcome.
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