I'm not sure if all the lessons from the Dallas road trip have been learned.
There's been a bit less tolerance for new players/players in training since the Dallas trip. All around.
Some of that is projection. Who were the scrubs in Dallas? 'Twas us! Nobody who's been playing as long as we have is going to like that feeling, but it was palpable.
And while the dedication to get better, by playing better and cleaner and against better competition is admirable, the poor folks at Riata are not responsible for our loss. So we shouldn't take it out on them.
The second example we should learn from Dallas is how they treated us. Day 1, rolled right over us, established dominance, treated us like children, and told us to get our shit together by day 2. Hey, that's just what we do!
That was lesson #1. We usually teach that lesson; we just didn't like it being taught to us. So we appear to be redoubling our efforts to get on top of lesson #1. There's definitely something to that.
However, I'm getting the sense that people are making excuses, saying that playing with less skilled players or those who are not of the AWVP and hence scrubs is degrading our game, so you blame them for our loss. That's projection, and denial is apparently not just a river in Egypt, baby.
Who realizes there were other lessons to be learned?
Lesson #2. They gave us a chance in Dallas, and were even willing to mix it up/play with the Austin scrubs on day 2.
And, with one defeat of their A team under our belts that they very much did not like, and battling back to around .500 on day 2, including one win with our B (or at least not full A) team against one of their B squads, we were able to prove we don't entirely suck, and earn another invite.
We could do it because there's a lotta experience on our Dallas road trip roster. But let me emphasize that they gave us a chance. They had a tournament planned. They appear to be big planners, unlike this crew. And I supsect they tossed that whole tourney schedule out the window because, as planned, we would've been knocked out of the box quite early and sitting all day.
The road not taken by the Dallas home team is just what you pandas appear to want to do at the exclusive resort community to enforce lesson #1. Our response to being given a chance seems to be to give less skilled players in our environment less opportunites. This makes me think you failed to learn lesson #2.
We're now expecting new people at Riata to be able to fight right away, or be found unworthy. Expectations only a very few of them can meet.
What is to be done about that?
Lesson #3, which should inform how aggressive you want to be on Lesson #1. The Dalls Colusseum is an invite only private residence. While we tend to treat the venues that we play like we own them, last I checked none of our names are on the deeds to the Argosy, or Riata. And only one of those rebel bases exists anymore. Anyone care to speculate as to why?
Need I remind you what has happened when people forget that--the experiments at La Mirage, and Deerfield?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbkmjctIaXI
While I understand that we are nearing playoff season, wherein pandas fancies turn to BBGs, and a focus on building better A Teams is good for the league:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1HMCArgqWM
The Argosy way of ball certainly involved owning your territory, but also eventually "shaeritorry" How many are willing to work with me on that front? To make sure that people get to play enough that they don't get pissed off and complain?
Because there are long term and short term goals here. Short terms is building a good team and kicking ass on any given weekend. Long term is to set up a plan that allows you to play on any given weekend perenially.
With this in mind, I suggest that the first and last words out of your pie holes for those who such as I who are mercenaries are: "We serve at the pleasure of the residents." Read it, know it, live it.
If you don't, and instead choose to focus solely on lesson #1, I think we know what happens. It does not end well, and no one has planned for it.
Complaints are rising I hear, about how things are being run out there. And the answer is to kick more ass? Anybody willing to step up and say it won't hapen, this time? This time the scrubs and civilians will just shut up and take their medicine?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-043a58Mgo
Lesson #4 we were all scrubs once.
Tread lightly, pandas, because just when you think things are going great, blammo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PXoggIPSeg