Tag: Minnesota Twins

78. Lucky and Good

78. Lucky and Good

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

We live in a bit of a trophy desert.

The Twin Cities have seen 32 years go by since one of the big sports franchises in town won a title.

There have been smaller victories: college teams that top the land, minor league titles in baseball and soccer, and a truly dominant women’s basketball team.

But ask most fans to talk about Minnesota Sports and the story they tell you is one of pain and defeat: with phrases like, “the Cuzzi Call”, or “Gary Anderson’s Wide Left”, or “Bountygate” sure to bring a rueful sigh and a wince of emotion. Heck just say “New York Yankees” and your mom and I may let loose very un-parental profanity.

Part of doing this writing project for the last three years has been to put some of those defeats into context. To write about how sports are not better or worse because you win or lose. To try to raise you boys up to accept the defeats with grace and good humor rather than embittered angst that you see in the sourest local fans.

But it’s also to appreciate the great moments for what they are: truly special.

Dear Boys,

Most years, there’s not much to cheer for as a fan. In 2020 none of our teams took a trophy. In 2021 two of them (Emelec and Montana) picked up three between them. 2022 saw another round of positive performances that never included a golden trophy. This year was only 61 days old before one of our teams won a trophy.

Chencho, Brandon, and Lallawmawma in a more desperate defensive position (view19.in)

That victory, that trophy, that triumph is undoubtedly special. We’re thrilled for the players, coaches and extra staff that work for Roundglass Punjab. It’s worth while just to sit and savor it for a moment. But it’s also a great opportunity to learn a lesson from it as well.

While Emelec ran away with their league and the Griz took one tournament title through grit and another by default. But Punjab’s triumph was less secure.

In fact, just a week before their triumph hopes were fading.

They trailed a rival (Sreenidi Deccan) by goal difference, and Punjab had arguably the harder schedule ahead. They couldn’t just win, they needed to win by wide margins AND get help if they were going to take the title. A glaring defeat to Deccan seemed to loom bigger and bigger as the matches passed.

And then, it all seemed to fall into place.

No championship is won without a clear plan and organization: chaos does not yield results with any consistency. They went unbeaten in their last ten games. Punjab had one of the most impressive attacking trios of the league. Their goalie has conceded only 1 goal in the last 540 minutes of play. Powerful offense and stingy defense…that’s a pretty easy way to win games. They built a team to do it, developed a plan for it, and executed it perfectly.

Ashish Pradan before a decisive bit of good luck. (view19.in)

At the same time, no championship is won without a sizable amount of good fortune and Punjab’s title certainly shows that too: Deccan’s 4-0 loss to 10th place Mohammadan SC was a huge boon to the cause. The availability of Chenchyo Geltshen to create a three-headed monster at the front of the attack was not expected but extremely welcome. An own goal scored by Gokulam FC accounted for a game that might have been a draw to give Punjab all three points.

Some people will tell you that it’s better to be lucky than good. Punjab is certainly good, and they might be a little luckier than most. But their victory shows an honest reality: the best results come when people make the most of the luck they get.

Success isn’t just about a plan, and it isn’t just happenstance.

Success is a combination of good planning and good fortune.

And as Minnesota sports fans know: success is truly special.

50. Dawn of the Dread

50. Dawn of the Dread

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

10 weeks ago I wrote about loyalty in the midst of losing. I did it after the Minnesota Twins lost–for the umpteenth time in a row–in heart breaking fashion. And now, shortly after Minnesota United Football Club managed to win a game for 75 minutes and lose it all in just under 15, it feels a little hard to hold on to that same “it’s okay to lose because it proves our loyalty” sentiment.

Dear Boys,

The hardest part of losing is the dread sensation that it’s going to happen again, and again, and again. That any moment of happiness or optimism you might feel now ought to be tempered because a mind numbing, heart-crushing debacle might be just around the corner.

When confronted with an often repeated, almost inescapable dread of opportunities, you might well become cynical, aloof, or generally dismissive of hope.

To be honest, it’s a fair response. One I’ve succumbed to my own share of times. (I may be an adoptive Minnesotan, but, by gum, it only takes so many soul crushing defeats by your teams to feel like: “maybe, if I don’t let myself feel hopeful, it won’t hurt again.”)

If you don’t hope that it can turn out well, you can remain dispassionate about it all. You can critique your own team freely and openly. They’re going to hurt you in the end anyway. Why not curse their failures and bemoan their mistakes? What better way to prove that the outcome can’t hurt you than by affixing responsibility for the hurt with every stumble and error?

If you’re not going to be critical, you can be fatalistic. “They were always doomed, they’re from Minnesota.” “Of course it was heart breaking, it’s always heart breaking.” If it’s your identity to be cursed to lose in painful ways, it’s easier to anticipate the pain before it lands.

But the problem with both of these is that it doesn’t fundamentally change the pain. You’re not above caring if you’re critical, you care enough to criticize. You aren’t beyond caring if you’re fatalistic, you care so much you’ve made defeat your identity.

All of these attitudes allow you to worry about the outcome before it happens. And there’s a Roman philosopher who captured the problem with that rather well.

We don’t need to adopt a defensive attitude before our defenses are needed. We don’t need to critique before there is something to criticize. We don’t need to foretell our own inevitable doom if we’re going to feel it anyway.

Instead of critiquing, bemoaning, or anticipating the worst. You can take a deep breath, look back on where you came from and utter a few words of appreciation. Or, as a fellow Loons fan put it this week after the Suffering in Seattle.

https://twitter.com/jakerueter/status/1336175134261063680

I realize that I’m writing this for two boys, and I’m trying to temper my own swearing around you. But goddamn it, Jake is right. The Loons weren’t doomed. They weren’t star-crossed. They don’t stink because they lost this particular game.

They played extremely well in nearly impossible circumstances. They made a run with a dynamic attack that can come back and try it again next year. You don’t have to imagine that all of that was meaningless because it ended painfully. You don’t have to imagine that all hope is null and void if it doesn’t end with a rainbow and a smile.

You don’t need to worry about losing, especially when you can just enjoy living.

40. It’s going to be a long year…

40. It’s going to be a long year…

by scruffyrube ♥ 1 Comment

I love sports, they just don’t always love me back.

Dear Boys,

If sports loved fans, the way we loved sports, everyone would always win and achieve a noble victory. But that’s not the way of things.

Before I wrote this blog for you, I wrote one about baseball with your mom. It was a way to be silly and talk with each other and share our love for the local team. (Before we acknowledged our love for each other)

The sad part is, while we watched some good games and cheered hard, the Twins always fell short. Sometimes they were the worst in baseball, sometimes the were the best…but still got beaten handily en route to another playoff exit. [As they were…AGAIN…this week]

Don’t think twice it’s alright….(Inside Hook)

Our expectations were always high and our disappointment was, correspondingly, deep.

Our attention to Alebrijes de Oaxaca hasn’t lasted nearly as long, but this numb, depressing, losing streak has still hurt. At a time when small clubs are struggling already, seeing Oaxaca suffer defeat upon defeat just compounds the pain.

With defeat and loss so common, it’s fair to wonder, why pay attention at all? Why put your heart out there if it’s probably going to end up in pain.

I’ve already said that trophies aren’t as important as learning from it. But if, like the jinxed Twins and the forlorn Alebrijes, you never seem to learn from your mistakes or change the cycle, then why?

Because learning loyalty is rewarded with loyalty of its own.

You don’t have to blindly adore them. You don’t have to spend money on them. But if you show your gratitude, show your concern, and offer your support you get so much back.

We will stand by the Twins even in the heartbreak of a record setting losing streak.

Another long, sad, walk home (Medio Tempo)

We will stand by Alebrijes even in a cellar dwelling campaign.

We stand with teams in the bad times and the good and we learn to do the same for others. Every time you show loyalty, your friends, neighbors and fellow fans will learn to keep the faith in you too.

Loyalty to losers is how we build community for the bad times. Hard as it is, this is a good time to love the Twins and love Alebrijes. This is a good time to build loyalty.