You stand, and you watch them lift it. That is the part nobody prepares you for. Not the defeat, the standing. You are out there because you have to be, a runner-up medal around your neck, while a few feet away, the other team walks up the staircase to the trophy you spent a season chasing. The flash of a thousand phones, the roar that is not for you. You try not to catch a teammate’s eye. You scan the stand for your family. Then the long walk down the tunnel, and the worst sound of the night comes from…

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