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+---- Thread: *Ishigawa's Statement on Playoff Loss (/showthread.php?tid=5396)
*Ishigawa's Statement on Playoff Loss - ExemplaryChad - 10-20-2017
A visibly emotional Haruki Ishigawa enters stage left following the Chicago Blues’ playoff loss to the San Antonio Marshals. He ascends the stairs to the podium, eyes cast downwards, a Blues hat covering much of his face. The timbre of his voice is low and quiet as he begins to speak.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, thank you for coming out today. I have a statement that I’d like to make, and I won’t be taking questions afterwards.
As you’re all well aware, we lost today. It was a close, hard-fought game, but it was one where we didn’t come out on top. I’d like to take a minute to address our season and tonight’s game, so thank you for indulging me.
You know, people have been doubting us all season. They were saying that we didn’t deserve our ten wins, that we had just been lucky, that things would have to start falling against us eventually. They said it after our first three wins. Then five. Then seven. We finished our season strong, winning our last three games to move from seven and four up to ten and four. We clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs. And now, having gone down to a six and eight Seawolves team in the conference championship, some of those people feel vindicated.
You know what? Fuck that.
We accomplished a hell of a lot this year. This is the first year that this league has even existed, much less our team. We posted the best regular season record. No one can take that away from us. I’ve just lost this game and been knocked out of the playoffs, and you know what I’m hearing from the public now? It’s not, “Congratulations on a great season,” or “You guys really gave it your all out there.” It’s infuriating garbage like, “Always knew you guys sucked,” or “Even the commentators, @kckolbe and @Sweetwater, were saying how lucky you were this year.” We’ve known all along that there were people who doubted us out there, and we knew that, win or lose, they weren’t going to go away.
I’m sure I sound angry at the haters. And yeah, at least part of me is. Not because they’re insulting or denigrating me, but because they’re doing it to my teammates. They’re doing it to my coaches and my mentors. These are all women and men who dedicate their lives, every single day, to making this team better and improving themselves and each other. When I see them getting snubbed of the recognition that they deserve, it makes me mad as hell.
There will always be doubters. I know that. But you know what else I know? The only way to shut them up, and to get respect, is to be respectable. It’s to win. It’s to make sure that there can be no doubt when it comes to our effort and our results. So this is the principle I’m rededicating myself to. I don’t want to have this feeling, this losing, doubting, questioning feeling, ever again. I’m not going to be pointing fingers at anyone, blaming coaches or schemes or any of that. It was my unit, my defense, who allowed the hundred rushing yards to our opponents. My unit that allowed the late touchdown that sealed the game for those other guys. I’m taking charge of myself. I’m taking responsibility for the guys around me. When they fail, I fail. When they succeed, we all succeed. I refuse to be responsible for this kind of feeling again.
I can’t change the way people perceive me. But I can define me.
I just want to finish by saying thank you to everyone who made it possible for us to get this far. Our coaches, our teammates, our family and friends, our trainers, and a ton of other people I’m not mentioning. I know there are valleys like this one, but I also know that there will be plenty of peaks in between. So to everyone here, and everyone who couldn’t be, thank you, and I’ll see you next year.
Word count: 687
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*Ishigawa's Statement on Playoff Loss - PDXBaller - 10-20-2017
Such passion! I love it!
*Ishigawa's Statement on Playoff Loss - ExemplaryChad - 10-20-2017
(10-20-2017, 08:26 AM)PDXBaller Wrote:Such passion! I love it!
Thanks. You should know that you're a very encouraging person.
*Ishigawa's Statement on Playoff Loss - 7hawk77 - 10-20-2017
Awesome.