English Exercise

Alexis King
3 English AP
Mr. Bourjaily
March 13, 2013

Defeat

Eight seconds left on the clock. The score, your team, 40, the opposing team, 42. Sweat rolls down your forehead, your body trembling, the only thing on your mind is: “What must I do to win the game?” You push the ball up the court. Seven seconds, six seconds, five, four, three, two, one. The time on the clock reads four zeros, the score remains the same as it did eight seconds previously. “Good game, good game”, is what you say as you shake hands with the opposing team with your head down. The next day, you read the local newspaper and the headline says “(Your school's name) Has Been Defeated by (Your opponent's team name), 42-20”. Defeated. “I've been defeated”, is the…show more content…
The first game ever played was a key win; taking down a state ranked team is something big in the world of sports, especially if the winning team was one who was unranked and never in the conversation. Three games later, a tournament championship is brought home to Evanston, the first one in a long time. The winning streak continued and continued, first GBS, then Maine South, and next would be Waukegan. Early December came and there was a game scheduled on the roster, a game against number four ranked Trinity, a game that everyone thought the Lady Kits had no chance in. That was a game in which the Lady Kits walked on to the court with the pressure of proving themselves on their shoulders, and walked out of the gym with their spirits high and their egos boosted. Winter break for the girls was on its way around the corner and another victory could be achieved. That Thursday, the bell had rang at 3:35 p.m., the sign that the students could finally relax and take a break from everything, that was not the case for the girls varsity basketball team. Their winter break would not begin, could not begin until later that night, after they would take on the New Trier Trevians at Northwestern University. This is not just any regular conference match up, this isn't just any old school rivalry, this is war. Beating the Trevs on the gigantic Northwestern court was something that the Lady Kits have failed to do for some time. That would all…show more content…
If we want to be successful, we're gonna have to put our all into this”- Coach Elliot Whitefield. These words of wisdom proved to be true for the Lady Kits. Their season was far from perfect, whether that refers to games, practices, or team relations. Before the season ending loss, the Lady Kits record shows they had only suffered three losses, but even within their wins, they suffered losses. Most people would consider these losses as defeats because most view losses and defeats as being synonymous of each other. For the moment, I'll look at it this way as well. These losses, or defeats, that they suffered are what helped the to become successful. From their losses (defeats), they learned from their mistakes and they were motivated from losing, or being defeated, which then lead to them winning and being successful, not only on the court, but also within the team. This is very relatable to theory that in order for one to achieve success, they must face challenges and overcome these challenges. This is kind of what Donnie McClurkin was trying to get at in his song “We Fall Down” when he says that “A saint is just a sinner who fell down, but he couldn't stay there, and got up”. In this song, McClurkin is saying that, in life, you will suffers losses, you might feel defeated, but in order to be successful, you must get past these things and rise up. What I'm trying to get you to see is that defeat is a word much too powerful to just be applied to