Being a top rated team in the state (in almost every sport) is great! We go to playoffs most years and have a lot of exciting games to watch. However, what we really remember isn’t the game itself, it’s what we feel stepping off the field. As fans pick up blankets off the bleachers and check their phones for the time. When we get down to it, we focus on those feelings much more when the game was a total loss. When we have to go to school in the morning and hear about the defeat and how everyone is handling the loss from a rival.

While losing isn’t all that great, it teaches us some valuable lessons. Winning all the time might make us awesome, but what makes Bingham a family is supporting each other when we fumble a little. Having so many wins makes an expectation of always winning. We have a lot of predictable games (football v. Copper Hills… *cough cough, snore*) labeled as “boring” (for obvious reasons,) which give us anything but worry about our win/loss ratios. We’re good at winning, but we definitely don’t win every game.

Take our football game in state playoffs for example. It was a complete loss. We were pretty much shut out by halftime. We didn’t even do as well as we did against Bishop Gorman (#1 ranked team in the nation). We all know how much we expected to win state again “just like we do every other year”. Our student section is obviously super hyped during most games. We were even playing Lone Peak! You might say our school had crossed the line into overconfidence and cockiness. By the time we walked off the field at the playoff game, our lofty ideals were gone. Bingham has been considered the best by many for a very long time for our spirit, drive, and support for our sports and teams. When we win we have those epic celebrations and parties to relive that last touchdown or the awesome fumble on the fifty yard line. However some might say that attitudes after a loss are much different. Some may say that we look a little more blue than usual. “ We deserve it. We worked hard for it, and we put in the time. The team sacrificed half our spare time to it for months,” said student Todd Golder.

Confidence is almost always painted as a good thing, but sometimes it hurts to have an ego the size of Texas. So, some might say that a loss helps bring us back down to reality for a minute. Sophomore Jake Vosburg said, “Overall, I think it’s alright because it showed the team that we can still lose.” Maybe we do forget at times that we aren’t invincible, but even when we lose, our Bingham spirit still remains intact. That’s what makes us the best. Not the wins, giant after parties, or another trophy in the already full case. It’s the way we carry our heads high and support our team through anything.