Round 1 Playoff: Outlaws 14, PC Bricks 7

One team came to the park today hungry for a win. They arrived early, warmed up together, took some batting practice, and played with purpose.

One team barely showed up. A handful arrived on time. Many came straggling in just before game time and some after it started. They weren't prepared to play.

The score is all you need to connect the description to the team. Let there be no doubt about it -- the Outlaws came to play and deserved to win. The Bricks have been going through the motions for over a month and deserved to be sent home early.

Actually, it's not that simple. The entire team didn't go through the motions in the second half of the season. There was a minority that came out to nearly every practice and on time. They arrived at our games early to stretch and warm up properly. They let their teammates know when they would be unavailable to play. They put in a great effort to sharpen their skills and be good team players. They gave 100% throughout the season and for these regulars, I feel sad our season ended early. For the rest, I think some introspection is in order.

The past two seasons, this team had very high expectations. We were not a team that came to the game in shorts and sneakers, more interested in stopping at the pub after the game than in the game itself. We were a team that wanted to play well and be competitive. It was a given that we would practice together at least once per week to become better players and develop a high level of teamwork. This was reflected in our play.

We didn't win the past two championships because our team was loaded with superior athletes. Some of the other teams had players who were just as good or better than our own. We won because we committed ourselves to playing the best we could. We strove to improve our abilities to hit, catch, and throw the ball. We did our best to learn our positions so we'd be in the right place to cover a base or back up a teammate. We worked on our approach at the plate to take advantage of the openings our opponents gave us. We developed a strong bond through teamwork. Sure, we made our share of errors but we minimized them with smart, opportunistic play.

During the course of this season, we lost our way. We started off 4-0, and to some, the need to practice must have lost its importance. I guess some figured we were so good we didn't need to practice. Perhaps it was felt that James or Carlos could pull us out of any jam we got into. This was a mistake we paid for the rest of the season. The competition is stronger than it was in the past. Most of the teams in our league are pretty evenly matched. We couldn't afford to let our level of performance slip if we expected to win.

After we reached the 4-0 mark, we played seven more games and won only two of them. One was against the last place team that was missing one of its best players and the other was a one-run win that could easily have been a loss if not for a couple of close (blown) calls that went our way.

With more than half our team skipping our practices, we lost our edge. This didn't just hurt the players who skipped practice. It hurt the entire team because without everyone present, we weren't able to run the drills and get the repetitions we needed to stay sharp. We ceased to be the disciplined team with sharp execution. We became another sloppy team like the ones we were used to beating. In the field we threw the ball carelessly all over the field and at the plate we gave away outs as if we had an endless supply. Success breeds arrogance and we were on a mission to prove it. Nobody was happier to see this than our opponents who were itching to give us our comeuppance.

Nobody enjoys losing but it's palatable if we give it our best shot and the opposition outplays us. In that circumstance, we can walk off the field with our heads held high because we gave it all we had. But when we can't get our team to practice or show up on time for a playoff game, we have no reason to be proud. We need to go back to the drawing board.

A few weeks ago, I asked what kind of a team we want to be. Do we want to be a competitive team or a just play team? The 2008 and 2009 seasons and the first month of this season say we prefer the former. The past several weeks say we prefer the latter. I think we're going to need some sort of team charter or compact to define what we're all about. If we're going to be a competitive team, we need to spell out our expectations and have our players agree to them. If we're going to be a just play team, we need to surrender any expectation of winning and guarantee that the playing time is shared evenly among all members of the team. We can't continue to divvy up the playing time as if we're playing to win and then make no committment to winning. Whichever course we take, we need to give those in disagreement an opportunity to hook up with a another team.