Time to get better

The seasons wind down and a new season in another sport winds up. Here we are at the end of November and who would have thought that the hottest professional football team in Seattle would be the Seattle Sounders. Okay, for those of you that don’t like that term so be it.

I’ll be honest with you; I don’t understand the system for the soccer playoffs. I don’t understand what aggregate means when it comes to the playoffs either. All I know is that Seattle won the Western Conference championship of Major League Soccer (MLS) and that is all that matters.

I’d say that’s not bad for a team that started out 6-12-2, then fired their long-time coach Sigi Schmid and replaced him with interim coach Brian Schmetzer. Under Schmetzer the Sounders went 8-2-1 and will be playing for the MLS crown on December 10 against either Montreal or Toronto. (USA, USA!!) Sorry I got caught up in the moment.

They say it can be disruptive to replace a coach during the season but it is obvious this was a good disruption in Seattle. I know there are a few Sounders fans around and hats off to my nephew from Everett that has season tickets. If the game is played in Seattle the Clink will be rocking because Seattle may have the best soccer fan base around.

For the other professional football team in Seattle please be more consistent. It is getting tough to watch the offense when they can’t convert on third down. Failure shouldn’t be such a quick option. The offense is making it mighty tough on a depleted defense with so many starters hurting right now.

It’s been said that the best defense is a good offense but for it to be good they need to stay on the field longer and give the ‘D’ some rest. I know they have a big lead in their division but now they have to play for home field advantage.

Let’s get that done starting on Sunday, okay?

On another note, have you ever paid attention to interviews that are done on the field with a coach after a victory or at a post-game press conference?

It usually goes something like this, “I’m really proud of this team. They worked hard in practice all week and they overcame a lot of adversity today. When our starting running back went out with a bad ankle (or our stud center went out with foul trouble) or (our pitcher gave up that grand slam), we rallied like I knew we could and it was a great team win today!”

As the conversation continues the coach or manager will say, “But we need to keep improving to reach our ultimate goal the playoffs, or (the league championship). I think this team is destined for good things as long as we practice and prepare each week and get better!”

After the last game and a championship victory is secured it may be similar to the following: “This has been a special year with a special team. This group never quit and always worked hard with big goals and a lot of heart. No one thought we could win the championship but the kids in that locker room and their hard work and dedication paid off big time today!”

But what about the losing side, what will their coach say?

His interview may go something like this: “There are a lot of unhappy players in that locker room but I told them how proud I was of them and how far they came this season. They gave me everything in every practice and we’ll get over this and start over before next season begins and instead of knocking on the door we are going to break that door down!”

The important part of every conversation is hard work because few if anyone doesn’t succeed without hard work and dedication to a sport. The difference is that in real life we work hard every day and no one should have to remind us of that fact.

No coach or boss is going to say, “Take it easy for the rest of the week we are on a winning streak or our sales numbers are through the roof so we can slide for a week or two until the rest of the teams or businesses catch up!”

That is a recipe for a quick losing streak that may not turn around. So always do your best to get better; you won’t regret it.