By Ben McLaughlin

There is nothing like the sweet taste of winning in sports knowing all the hard work put in to succeeding is worth it. Amongst the many tangible results of winning, the celebration, the hardware, and the accolades are the easiest to notice, but what about the agony of defeat? How does the losing team benefit knowing they put in the same amount of work, went through the same roller-coaster of a season, and worked closely with one another to achieve a common goal; what happens to them?

My favorite part of announcing baseball for the University of Nebraska is not the multi-million dollar ballparks, talking on the radio or talking to the wonderful fans. It is the relationships that I have had the privilege of developing with the players. Getting to know the players on a personal level and learning more about them than can be read on an online biography or newspaper article reaches deep with me. It adds the emotional aspect into what I do as a broadcaster and it make me want to see those student-athletes succeed beyond the game.

This past week I had to say goodbye to the 2015 season and seniors. Unfortunately for this team and these seniors, it ended in the agony of defeat. A majestic grand slam off a Michigan State bat to cap off a 6 run rally in the 8th inning did them in and the immediate feeling of your stomach being ripped out and handed to you on plate began to settle in. In that moment it felt as if all the hard work was for nothing, all the bus rides and all the offseason weight lifting were meaningless. It was the agony of defeat.

So back to that word ‘succeed’. How can you separate Michigan State’s success from Nebraska’s on one swing of the bat? Are the winning team’s lessons more valuable than the losing team? I believe they are not. The case could be made the lessons learned from the agony of defeat are more valuable. You learn how to handle adversity, you learn how to pick yourself up when things are at the lowest point, and you learn that team becomes family.

Everyone that has played competitive sports knows the agony of defeat, the feeling of having their heart ripped from their chest, and in the short term nothing can make that feeling go away. But, when life throws you a curveball, or adversity strikes, the feeling will not be unfamiliar. All the hard work will pay off, all of those offseason workouts will be worth it, and the pain will dissolve.

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