The Excuse

"That's a BS call"
"He cheated"
"I got beat by the clock"
"My stuff wasn't working, it threw me off"
"He hits so hard"
"The director screwed me"
"The strip was terrible"
"I would have had him if it wasn't for (insert any technical failure here)"

This is what I really hear whenever I hear the above:
"I'm too afraid to admit that I lost because I wasn't good enough and this is my mechanism for coping."

I got 3rd this weekend at the Leon Auriol and was knocked out by a better fencer than me. He beat me in an honest competition of skill with an impartial referee. I am proud of my result but disappointed that I couldn't do better. But you know what? I LOST! And I'm okay with that because I'VE DONE IT BEFORE!!

I've even lost to people with referees who didn't like me. I've also beaten people under referees who didn't like me. I've beaten people despite technical failures and a crappy floor, and I've lost to them too. But the bottom line isn't that I'm all tough, it's that I take responsibility for what happens regardless of variables. This is a sport, and life isn't fair. Sometimes you get screwed, most of the time you end up screwing yourself. The real test of strength is knowing to admit it and fix it for next time.

Whenever you use an excuse you take an amazing opportunity to learn something and throw it out the window. You also cheapen your opponent's victory, which never endears you to them. Take my advice, suck it up and admit that you lost because of YOU.