The Secret of Winning (In Ping Pong)

It was again one weekend of table tennis pastime…

I received a text message from Brod Jeff. He asked me if I was doing right so I replied that I am. Another message appeared on my phone: "Brod, we (Brod Jeff and Brod Ernie) will be going there (my home) later. Let's play table tennis." I told him to text me whenever they're coming. I was at the mall counter that time queuing to pay for the groceries.

When I reached home, I fixed the stuff I brought. I was preparing food for dinner when they came. I eagerly welcomed them with our usual handshake.

It's been a long time that Brod Ernie and I saw each other. He seldom visited us since he was assigned in Tacurong. I asked him about his wedding this coming December. He told me that it's final on the 29^th. We laughed at how things got to be but it's not a case of white elephant because he blurted that both of them liked each other though he said he was not ready. "It's there and I can't make another mistake." he explained.

We ate dinner and then assembled the table and net in my garage. They played first. I did the scoring. Brod Ernie was high spirited and energetic. He played well and won in the close score decision game. I got my turn to match with the winner. I won in the decision game. When Jeff and I had our match, I wondered why I lost the first and the decision game. Was it luck? Jeff might be doing some tricks. Brod Ernie and Jeff played again this time Jeff won. Jeff and I had a rematch and I made it. Then I defeated Brod Ernie in another game as well as Brod Jeff in our third rematch.

Everytime we play, it is not unusual that we recall our past games. Brod Carl was with us before (He's in Oman right now.) We were always amused of how Brod Carl would react whenever he lost a game. "It's not my game. Let's just play soccer." But Brod Ernie would answer back, "Gab-i naman Brod para e-soccer! (Brod, it's already dark to play soccer!" And we would burst in laughter. He would sometimes be very conscious about the score in a close match (because the scorer sometimes got confused) and say, "Sa scoring lang ta mapirdi ba! (We can only be defeated in score!)"LOL He would also criticize a serve made that he can't get as "daya" (illegitimate).

We missed Brod Carl a lot, his unique language, his being warm and transparent and his angry face when agitated of the situation.

At the end of the game, when I usually emerge as the champ they would exclaim, "Well, it's home court advantage!"

"You see", I told them "Technically, I'm not expert but you lose control in the course of the game. I observed your weaknesses and then I attacked it from there. I don't care if I win or lose. I play in the spirit of sportsmanship."

Attitude plays an important part of winning, not just in a game but even in every aspect of life. Our attitudes can make or break us. They say that success or failure is a state of mind. YES, I believe it is. It is how you respond to defeat that matters.