Corinne P. remembers the first time she had the chance to be a game hero. She was at the free throw line with four seconds left on the clock. She had made the first shot and if she made the second she would tie the game for her 8th-grade team.
“I was freaking out, thinking if I don`t make this we`re gonna lose,” says the senior at Hinsdale South High School. She took the shot. “It was perfect, right on line,” she says. The only problem was that the ball didn`t make it anywhere near the rim, never mind make it into the basket.
“I started bawling, I was so upset,” she remembers. “I thought it was totally my fault we lost.”
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One thing about games, though: There is almost always another one. You remember that ad where Michael Jordan talks about all the shots he has missed over the years?
When she was a freshman, Corinne found herself again in a game with time running out. This time her team was down by three points. When she got the ball standing 5 feet behind the three-point line, she didn`t have time to do anything but shoot it. “I thought, `Oh no, I threw it too hard.` ” But it went in! Tie game. (They lost, but at least it wasn`t Corinne`s fault.)
Jonathan S., an 8th grader at Irving Park Middle School, has been there: He has made shots and missed them. If he makes them, great. If not, he says, he can deal with it. “I would still be happy. I just want to play the game.”
The same goes for Christina R., another 8th grader at Irving Park Middle School. “The most important part is to be there for your teammates,” she says. “If somebody gets hurt, we`re there. If somebody did something wrong, we tried to fix it.” And if somebody lost the game? ” If you play, you better learn you`re gonna lose sometimes.”