Two Choices: Point the Finger and Do Nothing, Or Be the Change and Do Anything

Last week was a tough welcome back to Germany on the court.  We dropped our first game to USC-Heidelberg by not 1 or 2 points, but an unfortunate 20 point loss.  On top of this we lost our other American player, a shooting guard averaging around 10ppg.

On the surface, you would think oh yikes this team is going to have a turbulent second half of the season... and aren't people supposed to come back from Christmas break refreshed?  Well, in all honesty sometimes it takes a giant poop-bomb blowing up for people to finally rally together, and that's exactly what happened.

With our next game against 3rd ranked Wurzburg (who we only previously beat by 1 point) looming ahead of us at the start of the training week after our gigantic loss to Heidelberg we knew some things needed to change in a hurry and that it was time to stop blaming anyone or anything but ourselves.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do in any aspect of life is to step up and accept that the only thing you can control is yourself, and that even when you think that life's problems are never your fault and that you are a victim of circumstance, your problems are really only a product of something within yourself.  Now I understand there are many ways to try and poke holes into this theory, like hey, what about general misfortune like cancer to an otherwise extremely healthy person or a fatal accident that could of been as incidental as a meteor striking your car on the I-5?  This is true.  Sometimes it really isn't your fault, and there's nothing you could of done... but, purely in my opinion and from experience, we are responsible for the vast majority of our problems.

Something I see fading more from younger generations (my own included) as I get more involved with people and youth in general, is that personal responsibility and accountability are no longer a priority.  It's too easy to put the blame outside of yourself.  I'm lucky to have people in my life who tell me to step up already and do something instead of whining about my problems or pointing the finger.

Jeanne demonstrating how it's not easy
to be a post. 

Anyway, the game against Wurzburg rolled around at 4:30pm on Sunday (German time).  Viernheim24, an organization within Viernheim that promotes our club, used this game for free promotion and handed out free entry tickets to the game all week.  This resulted in a few more fans than usual (yay!).  Apprehension simmered in the air as we warmed up... how were we going to do with the obstacles we had to overcome this week and were our new mindsets of self-accountability going to pay off?

We shake hands with the refs and the other team and the ball is thrown into the air... let's go!

The first quarter ends... we're down by 11.  Here we go again... nothing has paid off, and it's hard for me to play as ever with the other team packing the paint and checking me (like we're playing football or something) everywhere I go.  Why is no one else stepping up??  ...Oh yeah, that hold yourself accountable thing, c'mon Alysa.

Jules giving a Wurzburg player a taste of her
own medicine.

With my frustrations boiling beneath my exterior, I release going into the second quarter that of course this is going to be a hard game...I already knew that... now what am I going to do about it and how can I motivate others around me to do something about it too?

With a clearer head and restored determination, we battle through the 2nd quarter and end within single digits of the other team (I forget exactly the score, but we were still down at the half... I think by 8).

Sid going up for a shot... before or after
throwing up?

Adversity is thrown at us yet again in the third quarter when our point guard (aka Sid, the best player) suddenly gets very sick and has to sprint off to the bathroom to throw up.  We scratch and claw without her, working together as a team, and pull ahead by a few points to end the third.

Going into the fourth, Sid toughs it out and makes it back onto the court, giving us all a reason why we should have no excuses.  The fourth quarter is just as unrelenting as the first three, but multiple players step up and make big plays - mainly on defense, where true hustle and heart is shown.  Final score: 68 - 59 ... TSV Viernheim wins!

Putting up some crazy shot.

Sid's under 19 (U19) team - that she coaches - watching to see if coach knows what she's talking about.

Stay tuned... next game is against Rhein-Main this Sunday!