Losing stinks. Tell me something I don’t know. Fortunately (or not in this case), there’s a reason for many of the clichés like that one thrown around in sports: they’re true.
The occasional close loss isn’t so bad if it’s loaded with individual improvements and comes when the team can afford it, though that rarely happens. On the plus side, winning can make almost everything better, if you let it.
That sounds fairly easy. It’s obvious that winning makes many different people happy: the fans, the players, the coaches, pretty much everyone except for the mascots, who have to be happy almost all the time anyway. However, there are some people who have immunity to a win-happy boost, for better or for worse.
I don’t know this to be the case specifically with anyone at the P-Bruins. I don’t want to make this seem like an anonymous takedown of someone in the organization, because it isn’t. I’m wondering though whether or not it’s a good thing.
Some people who work in sports don’t really care about sports period. They might have no idea what happened to the team on a given night, which can help them “bounce back” from losses because there’s no high or low that they ever have to bounce back from. In a job like sales, it’s perfect. You don’t get discouraged when the team is struggling, but at the same time, you wouldn’t get motivated by a win streak, either.
It’s funny how some of the people who are the most removed from sports can unknowingly follow one of the best pieces of advice within them: keep your highs low, and your lows high. An even keel helps people focus regardless of the scenario. There’s a reason Albert Pujols is worshipped.
It’s not because he hits .330 every year, or that he does so with runners in scoring position, or in a specific ballpark. It’s because he hits .330 anywhere & everywhere, in any inning or any time zone. He’s consistent, and you have to think it’s because he treats every at-bat the same, regardless of who’s on the mound.
(An aside: I probably would have thought of Albert Pujols in the first place, because he is the most consistent hitter on the planet, but it probably helped that I’m currently reading 3 Nights in August, which has been a great book so far.)
The P-Bruins had a torrid November on the road, but of the six contests they had at the Dunk during the month, they only won two of them. It means things could be that much tougher for those who care about the team since most don’t work on Saturdays, the most popular day for road games. I’m lucky that I’ve kept my lows high. Having high lows but also high highs is the real challenge, and I’m working on it one win (or loss) at a time.
Do you have a trick to help you focus when things aren’t going your way? Share it here.
The other installments of “From Minor League Baseball to… Minor League Hockey” are here:
Nick Gagalis 
Good article. It got me thinking. When things aren’t going my way, I find a way to quantify my problems. I gravitate to cold hard numbers. They never lie and separate the science of a thing from the emotion of it. It’s important to look at the numbers when you’re having low lows, they chart where you’ve been, so you can chart a correction; set a goal and get there–like batting .330 or keeping a winning record. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. More importantly, if you don’t measure, you can’t celebrate. For me, keeping an even keel is about focusing on improving my numbers, then having some high highs when I achieve or exceed my goals. Cheers.