Failure

My eyes lock in on the rim. The ref says, “One and one, play it off the miss.”
I feel, put this one in to seal up the sport. It’s 63-60 with 18.9 seconds left. One, two, three dribbles. The shot goes up. That wasn’t a very good launch, it’s off. It rims out.

The clock winds down with the coed part chanting “DEFENSE! DEFENSE!” They make one cross and throw up a deep three pointer. No method that’s entering into. DJ had a hand proper in his face and he double-clutched it. Swoosh, 63-63. We cross the ball in. I search for.
Okay seven seconds left. I dribble up the precise sideline however then get minimize off by a defender. I am going round my again with the ball to alter course. Then the whistle blows. The ref factors down on the line and indicators the opposite method. Our coach calls time.

We’re fantastic. We’re going to get a cease proper right here and ship it to additional time. three.2 seconds left.
They inbound the ball after which make on extra cross. The shot goes up. Miss it, miss it. The ball bounces off the backboard and falls by means of the ring. Sport over. And season over.
One crew, 4 coaches, and 1,000 persons are left upset. I had two alternatives to Help our crew win the sport and I failed each occasions. Failure is part of life and everybody does it in some unspecified time in the future. However failing offers me dedication to succeed. It offers me the motivation to try for perfection. It offers me a never-give-up mentality.
And regardless of what number of occasions I fail out on the court docket, I’m at all times going to need the ball in my fingers on the finish of the sport with the ref saying, “One and one, play it off the miss.”