Hating To Lose
August 13th, 2016
Players must hate to lose to win.
For the second time in as many games, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, suggested there is a losing mentality infecting the Bucs locker room.
Who could forget his rant after the Carolina game to end last season, when Jameis made it clear coaches cared about winning more than too many of his teammates.
Then, after the Philadelphia game to open preseason, Jameis noted when players start to hate to lose, the Bucs could be a good team.
Notice a pattern here?
So when Jameis was made available to the pen and mic club today after practice, Joe asked him if there are certain players that need to be purged from the roster to help delouse the team of this losing mentality.
Joe sure didn’t expect — nor was he trying to elicit — the response he got from Jameis who lit up like a Fourth of July bottle rocket.
“Oh, no, no, no,” Jameis said with a pained wince on his face. “I’m not talking about individual players. I’m talking about a mentality. I would never call out my teammates. It is a mentality that you have to have.
“It is an easy choice. You’ve got to want to win. As a team, we have to make that choice together. Just because I want to win doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t want to win. I’m saying all of us have to be together and be on the same page because if we are on the same page, we will be on the same focus and we will win some football games.”
If Joe is reading Jameis correctly, then it seems he is hinting the team is not yet a team. It is not gelled. It is not yet a unit.
Jameis referenced when the players are on the same page and when they have the same focus. Joe can only define that as the squad still has a semblance of an individual focus, perhaps not a team-first mentality. Seems like a work in progress.
Apparently, Jameis may be getting this hate-to-lose stuff from Dirk Koetter. This morning on the air with WDAE-AM 620, Bucs defensive tackle Clinton McDonald referenced a quote from the Bucs head coach that sounds to be a rallying cry for the team.
“You can’t start winning until you stop losing.”
In fact, Koetter said the exact same thing in his day-after presser Friday.
August 13th, 2016 at 12:48 pm
“You can’t start winning until you stop losing.” – Jameis Winston
“If you ain’t first, you’re last.” – Ricky Bobby
August 13th, 2016 at 12:58 pm
I think hating to lose has a bigger impact on winning than loving to win dose. I never heard Michael Jordan say he loves winning. I heard him say he hates losing on more than one occasion.
August 13th, 2016 at 1:04 pm
Hmmm..I think what needs to take place ASAP..is a good win..a really good blowout win..even if it’s just a preseason game..they need that spark and the taste of a win..especially after last season losing the last 4..
August 13th, 2016 at 1:09 pm
Speaking for Pablo
“Pablo just loves Hamus/Haboo!!!……Pablo know what Haboo was saying…..”If you’re not the lead chihuahua, the scenery never changes”
August 13th, 2016 at 1:21 pm
I agree… They need a really solid team win!!!
Couple that with the fact in that win we would expect to see…
100 plus yards rushing 1 TD
250 plus yards passing with 2 TDs
3 Sacks 1 forsed fumble
Under 100 yards rushing 0 TDs
Under 300 passing 1 TD
2 INTs
August 13th, 2016 at 1:21 pm
I don’t care about blowouts unless the Bucs are on the losing side of such a result. Just want to see an all around effort and determination to get that win and subsequent wins. That’s what I expect and think Bucs fans will see more of coming up. Time to let opponents know these are not the same old Bucs, but the new and improved version that hates losing. The wait is nearly over. I hold that feeling every year, I can’t imagine otherwise. Go Buccaneers!
August 13th, 2016 at 1:25 pm
@Rob in Land O’ Lakes that’s not Winston’s quote… it’s Coach Koetter LOL
August 13th, 2016 at 2:45 pm
sounds weird, but maybe they go 1-3, 0-4 in the preseason….and come-out even more focused to win. Remember, no one gave the 2007 NY Giants a snowballs chance in heck. The ones that believed in them….were themselves, and they beat the last Buccaneers playoff team on the road as an underdog, and that’s the last time we’ve been to the playoffs SINCE.
August 13th, 2016 at 2:47 pm
and starting out on the road might be the best thing for this club…have to play with more intensity, focus, and learn to form bonds early-on with the road warrior mentality. Just imagine their confidence *when they start off 2-0.
August 13th, 2016 at 3:21 pm
JBBF/Pablo
Great stuff. I laugh out loud at much of Pablo’s comments. However, I can’t get the view of the trailing chihuahuas out of my mind. Not a pretty sight.
August 13th, 2016 at 3:22 pm
Got to change the players who are just happy cashing a big check..
August 13th, 2016 at 4:28 pm
@grafikdetail…. but I did get Ricky Bobby right…. right? 🙂
August 13th, 2016 at 5:46 pm
Technically it was his dad that said that, and he said it when he was high, Rob.
On topic: This is a year for growth. We probably won’t make the playoffs. Just like the team needs to grow, that mentality needs to grow. Hopefully in the games we do lose, we lose because the other team was simply the better team and not because we’re constantly making mistakes. If we can do that, the winning mentality’s growth shouldn’t be stunted.
August 13th, 2016 at 7:48 pm
All we can judge by was their last game and looks like they are far from where a winning team needs to be. Could write a novel on the excessive amout of mistakes they made. The Bucs resembled absolutely nothing that looked like a team ready to win. There were some bright spots but the end product was just a pathetic excuse for a pro football team in my eyes.
August 13th, 2016 at 8:46 pm
Funny as H3ll. So in other words Jameis did expect them to have it together Thursday night. So did our HC. They expected a win but lost. And there are fans who like to jump on other fans who expected a win? Even though it was preseason. Glad some of us expect no less than Jameis.
August 13th, 2016 at 8:55 pm
The worst part is these penalties and bad turnovers. I want to see us play a crisp professional game.
August 14th, 2016 at 12:33 am
My focus is on Mike Smith and his defense. I saw team chemistry and men on a mission. They will bring a lot of pain this season. A great D line can get in a QBs head. Then they make mistakes. Their O line starts to break down and question themselves. Turnovers abound and your offense gets short fields. Losses become wins and they all start to believe. It all starts with defense though and this defense looks damn hungry and angry.
August 14th, 2016 at 5:58 am
if you want to stop the losing each individual player has to try to improve.
When the effort is there it will rub off on other players.Offense is behind the defense at this point.Two turnovers at start of game and inability to score points are a concern.other than that ,84 players in and out doesn’t help,the
momentum any.
August 14th, 2016 at 10:03 am
There is a big difference between wanting to win and expecting to win! The Super Bowl team expected to win and had a nice run with that mentality. I think that is the point JW is trying to make and that is why even though still young He has completely won me over.
August 14th, 2016 at 10:38 pm
It certainly looked like that defense wanted to win against Phili. That starting front four and a few backups were giving me the shakes, looking mean and hungry. I wonder what the opposing QB’s were feeling. Carson wentz is still feeling a cracked rib.