Wednesday, September 14, 2016

九死一生Kyuushiishou (Victory from the jaws of defeat)


Maybe I’ve been desensitized to it from watching too much sports last-second comebacks in the face of overwhelming odds or watching too many movies where the hero escapes 100 bullets that nearly hit him but just manage to graze him, but I’ve never thought that last second miracle-like comebacks were possible in my own life. But this past Sunday, fantasy baseball gave me a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
I’ve had plenty of winnable situations in my life where I grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory, but once in a while it’s nice to get one back.
To spare the gory details, I was in a desperate situation going into the weekend, had about a 1 in 50 chance to make the playoffs, but the bats came alive thanks to the efforts of the ageless wonder David Ortiz and the Korean troublemaker Jung-ho Kang (even my girlfriend, who’s Korean, knows about him and his legal troubles!) and I followed it all the way, with the final stroke being Wellington “BEEF” Castillo solidifying it with a last-second home run, changing a probable loss to a probable win. I was dancing in my bedroom with music playing in my head, and specific music……..sometimes songs just get stuck in there.
The song that epitomized the impossible situation today:
1.)    Listen to the song “Impossible” by Shontelle- I’m not sure why I liked the song originally, possibly because it has a nice beat, but its central theme: basically, do the impossible (it’s intended to be a love song, but hey whatever works),  is what I want to have in my head in impossible situations: for example, losing big time in a fantasy baseball matchup, down to 6 people against one (myself in a dodgeball game), etc.
“Shout it from the rooftops, tell them what I’d thought would be impossible……..”

2.)    “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry
So you want to play with magic, cuz I’m coming at you like a dark horse (again, another love song that I convert into an inspirational message…..running theme. There’s too many songs about love and breakups anyway)
Simple message: no one knows who we are (our team, myself, etc.), and if we mess with magic a little up, we can surprise the world like a dark horse (almost happened this season with my Ultimate Dodgeball Championship team (on trampolines!0 in Vegas, we upset the defending champions but could not follow through and lost a very close matchup in the Sweet 16. Really felt like we were the dark horse that no one knew about, opened some eyes.

3.)    Kanye (feat.sirenxxx) by the Chainsmokers – one day I’ll stand with a crown on my head like a God (originally meant to be about Kanye West, but it’s pretty evident he’s taken a bit of a fall from grace.” …… super inspirational. Basically, keep working, keep working, one day you’ll be the king. Hopefully that day is coming soon.
4.)    Don’t Let Me Down by the Chainsmokes (featuring Daya)
I’m really into the Chainsmokers now. This song used to be epitomizing my dodgeball teammates and “Don’t Let me down,” but now it’s changed to a song my girlfriend and I share and is actually a love song! Imagine that

5.)    Work from Home by Fifth harmony

No lyrics in this song except the repetitive “Work, work, work…..” but my girlfriend and I love it. Have to listen to it every time it comes on in the radio, and we do a little bit of a dance shuffle (in a car, mind you). You have to be there. 

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