More than 30 years ago, as a short, scrawny, Afro-wearing kid at Gonzaga College High School, I earned a spot on the freshman basketball team. Putting on the purple-and-white uniform was the highlight of the year. Because on the court, it was brutal.
We had 18 games against ninth-graders at other local schools. We lost all 18.
We got blown out. We got close enough that a made free throw or timely steal would have ended the streak. It got to the point that we sensed defeat about the same time we finished our layup drills. It didn’t help that my school competed in the same league with DeMatha and Mackin, two perennial D.C. powerhouses. In the process, I started feeling “less than�: not measuring up, not self-confident, not competent.
The Lady Spartans must know what I’m talking about. They’re stuck in a similar funk of full-court failure. This year’s squad has gone 0-fer: In 20 games, the players have racked up 20 L’s. Only seven games remain in the regular season. Second-year coach Tara Owens didn’t return my call to the sports department requesting comment. However, in a Virginian-Pilot article last month, she acknowledged some of the challenges.
Owens threw four players off the squad last year, and two others quit . This year’s squad has five freshmen and four sophomores, so they’re relatively raw. There’s not a lot of height among the players. And the team journeyed to some “guaranteed� road games — guaranteed to bring in money for NSU’s program, but also likely guaranteed to end in another loss. At the current pace, the squad would relish a chance to equal its five wins from the 2007-08 campaign.
Yet, Owens still sounded optimistic in the Jan. 15 article: “As long as I can see individuals improving every day, that’s all I can ask.�
That’s the proper attitude, said John F. Murray, a clinical and sports psychologist based in Palm Beach, Fla., who works with pro and amateur athletes. “I’d want to know how hard they worked,� Murray told me in a phone interview, after I explained NSU’s plight. “Are they focused? Are they being resilient, not getting down when the other team goes on a streak?�
That sounds fine if you’re a Little League team or some high school squad. I asked whether that is sufficient on the collegiate and professional levels, where the stakes are higher, reputations and jobs are on the line, and everything is under the media spotlight.
Sure it is, Murray said. Players and coaches need to improve measurable factors — number of turnovers, crisp passes, rebounds — that can lead to intangible rewards, such as teamwork, comebacks, leadership. Even just having fun is worth playing.
“You have to let go of the conscious fear of winning or losing, and focus on what you have to do right now,� he said.  It’s not life and death, after all, if NSU goes winless this season.
It sure would be nice to win, though. There’s a feeling of accomplishment, success, euphoria when you do. Maybe the Lady Spartans can turn it around this afternoon against Delaware State; last month, NSU lost a close one to DSU. There’s always next season. I should know: By the time I was a senior in high school, playing on the varsity, my basketball team ended up 16-14.
So here’s my Valentine’s Day wish for NSU: a turnaround, soon, in the team’s fortunes.
The Boss won’t mind that show of affection.
Roger Chesley is associate editor of The Pilot’s editorial page