The Bitter Taste Of Defeat...

          So I just got back from the championship of our indoor baseball intramural league. Unfortunately, my team, Da Burninators! (in reference to Homestar Runner....p.s. anyone who already knew that gets at least 10 cool points in my book) lost in the final game. What makes it so much worse is that we had already  beaten the team we lost to once. I know that it really doesn't seem like a big deal...I mean it IS just an indoor baseball game at a college that nobody's even heard of, but I'm still super competitive and I hate losing almost more than anything. Don't worry, I'm not one of those guys who throws a temper tantrum anytime I lose. I'm a good loser on the outside, but on the inside, I'm pretty pissed about it. 

         I like to think I got my desire to win from my brothers. I grew up just getting destroyed in pretty much every possible sport/game you could imagine. Seriously, you name it, I got beat in it when I was a kid. I think that it got to the point where I really didn't want to even play anything against them anymore because I knew I was going to lose. But then, as if out of nowhere, I started to actually be pretty good at certain things. Of course, those things happened to be video games when I was a kid. My brother Evan and me used to literally spend hours playing Super Smash Bros, because he was convinced that he was just ONE game away from beating me (in his words). He hardly ever beat me, of course.

          But my shining moment came when I was finally able to beat my brothers in our favorite pastime as a family: PING PONG. I remember it like it was yesterday. We were playing in our basement (which was more or less a dungeon) and I happened to be beating him. I distinctly remember thinking, "hm, this is weird, why aren't I losing?". Then the happiest moment of my life happened: I beat Evan McHugh in a game of ping pong. The world must be ending, I thought. Of course, Evan threw a bit of a hissy fit, slamming his paddle on the table and anything else in his vicinity. I didn't say anything to him for a solid couple of hours, just because I was scared he would punch me, which was a pretty valid fear. Since that moment, the three of us have all been pretty much equal when it comes to ping pong. Obviously, I like to think that I'm better than them, but I'll be honest, they beat me every once in a while...if they're lucky.

           I've been listening to a band called Mike Mains and The Branches pretty much nonstop for the last few weeks. I can't take any of the credit in saying I found this band or anything, because ALL the credit goes to a friend of mine named Michael Dean. He randomly showed us this song by them called "Stereo" and pretty much since then its been stuck in my head. Basically, they're a band that writes catchy pop-rock songs, but still have those songs that are incredibly well written and do an amazing job of tugging at your heart strings. Check them out and let me know if you like them as much as I do!

BURNINATORS ALL THE WAY!!!

          -Colby McHugh