Outlet for Optimism

I’m close to being an eternal optimist. No matter how bad any situation gets, I am always hopeful that things will turn around. While this can be helpful, it can also, at times, be unrealistic and naïve.

Being a sports fan, however, is the best possible outlet for my optimism. My grandpa often laughs at me for this, but whenever I watch Yankee games I can never find it in myself to give up on them. It can be 10-0 in favor of the opponent in the eighth inning and I will still believe that the Yankees can pull it out.

Now I understand that I’m spoiled, because with the talent and, yes, the payroll that the Yankees possess, they are often in a better position to comeback in a game compared to most teams. Furthermore, as a Yankee fan I have gotten used to winning, and because I’ve been able to witness so many remarkable come-from-behind moments. My tendency to remain optimistic has only grown and been rewarded.

But this optimism I have when it comes to the sporting world has extended beyond Yankee Stadium. Throughout my time at LMU, the men’s basketball team has put together a combined record of 36-49, yet I can’t help but believe that they have the chance to win every game they step onto the court for.

My optimism came in handy this weekend when I told many of my friends that I thought we could beat No. 9 Gonzaga on Thursday night. For those that somehow haven’t heard yet, we did.

Because of this inability I have to lose hope, I also think we still have a chance at a first-round tournament bye. Unfortunately, the situation is not completely in LMU’s hands, as they need the San Francisco Dons to lose their final two home games to provide us with a chance to take matters into our own hands. Luckily, I think the Dons will, unfortunately for them, oblige.

Therefore, we need to beat USD tonight and SMC Saturday to earn the bye. As long as we don’t play down to our opponents, we should easily beat the Toreros tonight, as we beat them by three points earlier this season without sophomore Jarred DuBois, freshman Ashley Hamilton and junior Larry Davis in the lineup. St. Mary’s will obviously be the tough game, but with our full roster back, and the way we played last weekend, I really feel anything is possible.

I sat in on a little bit of practice yesterday, and Head Coach Max Good and the Lions had the right approach. After practice I asked DuBois how important getting the bye would be, and he quickly answered, “It’s really important to win this next game before we think about a bye, because if we lose [today] there is no bye.”

At the conclusion of practice Good stressed the same thing: reminding the team that just because they beat some great teams this past weekend doesn’t mean that tonight’s game will be a guarantee.

This is the exact approach the team needs. Earlier this season the team was riding a six-game winning streak as they rolled into Pepperdine, a team they thought they could easily beat, and played one of the sloppiest games of the season, eventually losing to a team that they then beat by 16 points less then a month later.

This weekend’s games are obviously important, but I am glad to see the team is taking things one step at a time and not getting ahead of themselves. I hope they can take care of business in San Diego tonight and than quickly turn their attention to St. Mary’s.

Tonight’s game will be shown live on ESPNU, but for those of you on campus who don’t get that channel, the Loyolan will be tweeting live from the game so log onto twitter.com/loyolansports for updates.