You may have missed it, or you may have hung on to the final whistle, but March Madness officially ended last night. When the brackets are set by really smart basketball analysts people, teams are ranked according to their probability of winning it all, with the #1 seeds carrying the targets on their backs. Congratulations to the Baylor Women on your championship! The #1 seed was fitting, and they proved it on the court.
Flash back to last year’s men’s tournament when Virginia came in as a SOLID #1 seed… then proceeded to be the first #1 seed in tournament history to lose to a #16 seed. Embarrassing, devastating, crushing, but not defining! Now, I’m not a Virginia fan, and no knock on the University of Maryland Baltimore County team that knocked them off, but it was a shocking defeat. Defeats are actually a pretty common occurrence in everyday life. EVERYONE suffers their share of defeats. BUT not everyone handles those defeats the same way.
Guess who showed back up as a #1 seed in this year’s tournament? That virtually same UVA team would be the correct answer. At the end of the night last night, they were the ones cutting down the nets as college champions demonstrating an amazing show of pesky resiliency to get there throughout the tournament. Their backs were up against the wall on one heart-stopping win after another, and they just kept after it. Texas Tech was a worthy opponent for sure. Hats off to them for making it a great game. They made their own history as well.
I’m sure that there will be many writers much more accomplished than me to write the UVA story, but I can’t help but notice the grit they demonstrated in their response to a humiliating defeat. They refused to be DEFINED by that historic loss and came back to make their own history, winning their first NCAA title in a dramatic fashion. What a lesson to remember! Our circumstances, and especially our painful ones, don’t have to define us. They may certainly describe us, but kudos to Coach Bennett, the staff and players who showed that champions get knocked down and get back up to make their own history. Way to step up to the challenge, Cavaliers. Enjoy the fruits of your labors and your attitude that refused to believe your were destined to always be losers! The madness is over and this morning, peace rests over Charlottesville. In your town, in your home, someone is going to fail royally today. DON’T be defined by that defeat. Get back up to train for the next battle. Get gritty!
