Throughout the course of the 2011-2012 season, MVNU sophomore forward Caleb Williams will write a weekly blog about what is happening with the team.

"A Loss for Words" (posted on January 8, 2012)

This blog sat blank on my computer screen for quite some time as I tried to think about what to write about and even now as I begin to put words on the page I am still full of uncertainty as to what the following words and sentences will consist of.

There is no way I can explain the feeling that is in our program right now. We came into conference play feeling refreshed and ready for whatever the MCC competition would throw at us only to see our conference record fall to 0-6 including 0-3 this past week. Our practices have been spirited and competitive. Our coaches have prepared us, and we are very confident in the talented individuals our team consists of. However, the results have not been what we expected them to be. Every guy on this team is putting forth great effort into each and every day, whether it is in practice or during the game. There is not one guy on this team who is not giving everything they have to offer, which has caused the deep overwhelming sense of frustration we all are dealing with. Adding to the frustration is the fact that we are not largely outmatched by our opponents. At Bethel on Tuesday, it was a 7-point game with about one minute to play, only to see the lead balloon to double digits in the closing seconds. We led late in the first half against Huntington, and only trailed by 3 with 3:00 to play, yet we came up short. At Saint Francis on Saturday, we went back and forth with them the whole first half and took the lead early in the second half, only to end up losing by double digits again. We can compete, we are competing, but we are just not winning.

I do want to make this clear as well. I do not want anyone to feel sorry for us…that will not help our situation. The teams that our beating us are doing their job. It is our job to get to another level we have not reached yet, and feeling sorry for ourselves and others feeling sorry for us will not help us reach that next level. As a captain, I am going take responsibility for our team not reaching that next level. We will get to that next level. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure we do.

I also want to mention that we are not satisfied with just being able to compete. There is not one guy in our locker room that was proud because we had a lead against Saint Francis. We didn't run the Crossroads at 6 a.m. to take the lead, we ran it to WIN. We did not run sprints up Porkchop Hill to be down 3, we ran it to WIN. As a team, we must do more. When we say we are playing hard, we must find a way to play even harder. We are going to get out of this funk, and our program is going to be better because of it. I was talking to a local high school basketball coach at church and he said that the times of the greatest adversity lead to the times of the greatest learning experiences, and these experiences lead to the times of the greatest accomplishments. I know this will be the case for our program. We have the right people in place to make the necessary changes and adjustments to turn this adversity into triumph.

We have two MCC games this week both at home which will give us the chance to get to that next level and get our season back on track. Tuesday, we play Spring Arbor which is a 7:00 start. Saturday, we play Marian and that is a 3:00 start.

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Peace be the Journey,
Caleb Williams #5

Feedback is always welcomed, so feel free to email me at cwilli10@mail.mvnu.edu or follow me on Twitter: @5CWill.

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