Those of you who share my love for college basketball, and even some of you who don’t, will no doubt have heard by now about last night’s historic upset.
For those of you who don’t follow March Madness, it was the very first time in the history of the NCAA college basketball tournament that a #16 seed (University of Maryland Baltimore County) beat a #1 seed (Virginia). In other words, a school most people had never even heard of defeated and humiliated what was supposed to be the best team in the country (and busted my personal bracket in the process, LOL).
Reacting to the historic and devastating loss with what I thought was impressive humility and class, Virginia’s coach Tony Bennett had the following to say:
I told our guys, we had a historic season. A historic season in terms of most wins in the ACC. A week ago we’re cutting down the nets and the confetti is falling. And then we make history by being the first one-seed to lose. I’m sure a lot of people will be happy about that. And it stings. I told the guys, this is life. It can’t define you. You enjoyed the good times and you gotta be able to take the bad times. When you step into the arena, the consequences can be historic losses, tough losses, great wins, and you have to deal with it. That’s the job.
Sports are often a good metaphor for life, and I couldn’t help but relate Coach Bennett’s wise words to BBA’s own unexpected struggles these past couple months.
