Winning and Losing

If you follow basketball, then you probably already know by now that the Cleveland Cavaliers set an NBA record last week. However, this was not the kind of record that a team would want to brag or to put up a banner about; it was for futility in not only the NBA but in all professional sports: They lost 26 consecutive games.

When you consider that each NBA team plays 82 games a year, 26 games amounts to nearly one-third of a season. Some teams that don't even lose that many games all year, let alone one after another.

Over the years, I've been part of a handful of good Church ball teams and a few more bad teams, and never in our worst losing streak did it ever get up to 26 in a row. (We came close, but never did we equal the feat. But that's not the point.) It's gotta be a pretty discouraging feeling to go out and lose, time and time again. Cleveland is also the team, keep in mind, that LeBron James infamously bailed on last summer, leaving the Cavaliers in the dust as he left for greener pastures in Miami.


Why do I bring this up? Earlier today, while perusing a copy of Sports Illustrated (no, it wasn't the swimsuit issue, smart alecks), I came across a story about the Cavaliers and a spotlight on the girl waving the sign in the above picture. This photo was taken during Cleveland's 26th and final loss of the streak - and yet she continued to cheer on the home team and yell out support throughout the game.

I also bring it up because I feel like I've been on a sort of losing streak of my own lately, and I've been somewhat discouraged by a few happenings in spite of my best efforts. I met someone recently about whom I initially had the thought, "This is either going to be a great relationship, or it's going to hurt a lot" - and when things suddenly went sour, it ended up hurting a lot, as I had feared. I also have family members and friends who feel discouraged, too, for one reason or another - be it health, stress, work issues, and the like.

My point - and I do have one - is that I'm going to keep on trying, even in spite of the current losing streak. I'm still going to put on the uniform and lace up the shoes for the next game and give things my best effort, because it just might be my 27th game - who knows?

Incidentally, Cleveland's 27th game, the one that broke the streak, was a thing of beauty. Watching it live on TV, I gained a lot of respect for the Cavaliers and their fans. It was a overtime win at home, and the way that the crowd cheered, you'd have thought it was game 7 of the NBA Finals.