More to games than winning

You'll be hard pressed to find someone else who wants to win or cares about winning more than I do, and that's the honest truth.

But that's not to say it's the most important thing that I value, and here is a great example of why from this past weekend.

Up in Sacramento, it was the State Championships for basketball, pitting schools from Northern California against Southern California.

We, if you consider we as Northern California, did not do so well.

Out of 12 games, we won only two.

It very well could've been three, but Isabella's future school, St. Joseph's, choked at the end in heartbreaking fashion.

They were clinging to a two point lead, and had four free throws that could've iced the game. Hit two of those shots, the game would be over...

Just hit one -- at worse, it would've been overtime.

So after missing all four, Horizon Christian had the ball with the final shot and a chance to win. Here's what happened:



This is not a loss that you ever get in over. And to be frank, it will haunt them from the rest of their lives.

Colin Kaepernick, after the Super Bowl this year, echoed that sentiment when a reporter asked him how long will the loss sting.

"For the rest of my life," he replied.

I coached one team years back and lost a championship game in the worst way possible. And for their sanity, I will not rehash it, but it's something that until this day I don't think they have gotten over, and frankly, neither have I.

But in a weird twisted way, that's what it's all about. It's because we care so much for the game, and care so much for each other -- that a moment that would've been just picture perfect, was taken away from us. And it's a moment we will never ever be able to experience.

And that's what happened to the boys basketball team of St. Joseph.

Don Lippi, the head coach, has been around for 35 years, and put into perspective.  And we will end on that.

That was a tremendous day for our program. Of course we wanted to win the game and the trophy...but it can't be what we play for. Everything we do in this life should be for love and I'll tell you what, those kids in that locker room afterward showed that. They squeezed each other a little harder after a loss like that.