Almost There

After a long struggle, my team finally made it to the Eastern Conference finals where we faced the New Jersey Nets. After the worst season in NBA history, the Nets made moves in the offseason to acquire future NBA hall of famer Kobe Bryant. The series was epic from the start. Lebron against Kobe. Although my team accomplished a season sweep of the Nets, we didn't get off to a hot start. The Nets jumped ahead 2 games to 0 in a best of 7 series. In the third game, we made an unbelievable comeback but ended up losing in double overtime. We were down 3 to nothing and found ourselves in the inevitable hole that only the Boston Red Sox have ever been able to accomplish. The next three games, we dominated our opponent, proving that maybe video games aren't as realistic as we think they are. If only one team has ever won 4 straight games in a playoff series in the history of all the major sports, what is the probability that my team would be the second?

I began to doubt the system and resent the fact that my team could have such tremendous success. I would have almost rather my team lose just to prove that video games have some sort of reliability then to reach the goal that I had set when I first started playing. This was a defining moment in my video game playing because i proved to myself that i was willing to sacrifice success for reality. When I was younger, I was so anxious to win that I would do anything (including cheat) just to be victorious.

I find it so interesting that my opinion has shifted so dramatically over the course of the past few years. I am beginning to learn that life is more about "the process" than "the answer", and that by playing this video game, I am learning how to be more patient in my daily life.

The video game gods must have answered my thoughts because I ended up losing the next game, failing to reach my goal of winning a championship. Instead of hanging my head and questioning myself, I was relieved that video games can still be realistic.