The life of a fan isn’t all that fun. It’s dramatic for sure. But fun? Not quite.

Unless you were a Chicago Bulls fan during the Michael Jordan era, your team is bound to disappoint you at some point, and that’s definitely not fun.

Last year when the Cornerstone women’s basketball team lost in the second round of the NAIA National Tournament, it was completely devastating. The Golden Eagles did their best, but the true champion exploited their holes.

Most fans have some type of championship taste, but few are blessed to cheer for teams that constantly win championships. At Cornerstone we remember the 1999 men’s basketball team that won the national championship. But that was a long time ago.

It leaves fans questioning if they will ever win another championship, and what their team must improve. There are tons of theories out there and fans are always trying to nitpick at their teams to see which one fits the best.

But at some point even impeccable theories will fail. No team will play a perfect game each time out, and in a single elimination tournament like the NAIA National Tournament, teams can’t afford any failure. But great defenses do break down against better superstars, and brilliant shooters have their off-nights. Hustle players come up short occasionally, and coaches make bad decisions sometimes.

The women’s team looked poised to win the national championship after it beat then-No. 3 Davenport convincingly on Jan. 21, but one week later Aquinas dominated them.

You can’t guarantee when you will have a bad game, but you can guarantee it will happen at some point in every championship run, and the only way to cope with it is to be able to consistently win the ugly games you should lose.

It’s the teams that have their heart broken, only to turn around and break the other team’s heart two seconds later that win championships.

That’s what the women’s team did in its Aquinas rematch last Saturday when they gave up a go-ahead basket with 12 seconds left, and then Jenna Plewes came down the court and scored the game-winner seven seconds later.

Championship teams are the ones that can take the punches and hang in there until the end when they find a way to win.

Every team will have its off games, but championship teams respond by winning those games when all the signs point toward a loss.

Winning’s an attitude that says, “We’re going to win no matter what.” And then you go out and do it.

That’s what Plewes did to beat Aquinas last Saturday when she said after the game, “I was just like, ‘We’re not losing.’ I just wanted to win.”

 Sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes it’s hard. But champions always find a way to get it done.