So I am sitting here watching the Spurs and Clippers game when I should be doing a million other things, but, well, I am distracted. I really shouldn’t be watching this game; it’s halftime and the score is 43-34, the Spurs are winning, and chances are they will continue to win. Yet I am intrigued by the game for one reason only. The Clippers basketball team, even though they are losing, is still playing with the same intensity as a team that is neck and neck with their opponent. 
           
The position of the underdog is an interesting aspect of sports to try to understand.  Most underdogs fade into the background. They are normally the bottom-seeded team that loses to the top seed in the first round of competition. Granted, every once in awhile we come across the “Cinderella” stories, but these are rare occurrences. For the most part, underdogs become known as the losers.
           
However, sometimes these so-called “losers” deserve more credit than what they are given despite the fact that they did indeed lose. Take the Dillo men’s basketball team and the post-season tournament they participated in over the weekend. On paper, the team lost two games and in both losses the point differential was in double digits. On paper they are losers and lost really bad. However, in my eyes and the eyes of the rest of Dillo fans sitting in the stands, this wasn’t the case.
           
The guys had the chance to lie down and die. By the beginning of the fourth quarter in both games the chances of winning was looking rather dismal. However, instead of throwing in the towel, the team continued to play. They knew that the chances of winning were growing slimmer and thinner with each second that ticked off the clock, but that thought never kept them from playing the game.
           
Teams put in the situation of having to keep playing a game when they know there is no chance of a victory yet still continue to play with intensity and heart are not losers. Instead, they should be applauded and given credit for never once giving up. No matter what, they played the game and for that they deserve all the credit in the world.