Belated Sectionals Post

Metro East Regionals is playing out as I type.

I wonder whether my team deserved to be there. The sectional-regional-national format doesn't get the best teams into the same place, it gets the top X of arbitrarily-defined geographic zone Y, sorry if you got stuck with a strong section or a weak format. But Rutgers is not in a strong section, or even a strong region. We did get screwed over in terms of the number of bids to Regionals, and in terms of the format: one large double-elimination bracket, Sunday postponed, not all games legitimately scheduled. Play through two hard games on the way to the back-door finals, then play the tournament's first seed in their first game of the day.

So we got the short end of a few sticks. But it seems to me that we did not deserve to be at Regionals, the way we played through the season. I realize we were looking to peak, but we never played well enough to permit ourselves to reach that peak. We chalked up early losses to inexperience, graduation of key players, missing members of the squad, and overall team youthfulness. I think that we found limited success because we missed practices. I think we were too quick to blame inexperience and be content with mediocrity on the field, especially in the early season. I would hear things like, "That won't happen when our marks are better," or "Once we practice zone O, we'll crush these teams." I was convinced, had confidence in the system because it looks good on paper, and it works really well when you do it right. But it takes repetition and committment to learn a structured offense, and it takes hard work to learn shut-down defense. I don't think you can say we lost for a lack of hard work, or an unwillingness to do what it takes--we all put in the effort during workouts, and we all bought into the system. I still think we did not practice enough. Too few practices in the early season, missed because of weather or other uncontrollable factors, brought us to tournaments underprepared. That is no foundation for future success. I'm not trying to say that we have to win early tournaments, but I am saying that we have to learn the system earlier, and not be content with hope that we will peak at just the right time.

Of course I'm going to think we deserved it more than the other teams who made it. But it didn't happen. Not making Regionals was a blow to my ego and a blow to my spirit. In high school, I felt like I had to be the general. I felt like it brought us to success. I watched a video yesterday of our game vs. Millburn at States, and it was ugly...I realize the game was windy, but I played like a moron, throwing turnovers left and right. I was a different player back then. Now, I don't want to be a player who carries the team, or even one that tries to. Now, I want to be a crucial gear in the Machine. I want us to grow together this summer, step up as individuals and move cohesively on the field. I expect greatness, now.

Now, there are no excuses.