GRADED: Joseph Daniel, after the playoff game...

[Moka26]

At the final whistle, I was in tears... I couldn't keep London up, conceded horribly two eary goals, and the most painful of all, I did not do any semblance of a job, let alone a good job, as a tactician.

Yeah, I know, most of it was about collecting data and setting up test scenarios. But I secretly kept believing that somehow, some way, we could manage to stay up, maybe sneaking one or two goals early and riding the wave of game state... At least, that's the best I could come up with, at this point. 

It's a pain I almost never felt before... they say it's what makes football this beautiful sport, right ? Those epic moments, those triumphant wins... But as much thrilling as it is for the winning side, it's as much painful and heartbreaking for the losing side. 

That let me drift to some of the things I ruminated about before : why is there always a losing side, and why can't we all win ? Yep, it's a philosophical question about society and all, but I want to rant here, and I will rant...

Everybody wants to climb, and in our modern and advanced society (note the sarcasm here), everybody has to climb. But if everyone climbs, and worse, everyone climbs the same mounts, there is going to be someone in last place, no matter if everyone is spread evenly across the mountain or if everyone is almost at the top. In some contexts, there needs to be a guaranteed loser, with my two favorite examples being Alpine F1 in the 2025 season and the Premier League before the 2025/2026 season. When and where there is a guaranteed loser, there needs to be a comforting mechanism to justify their position.

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I feel a little better right now, after that rant. I wanted to say this : "In a battle of equal minds, the stronger will wins."

It's a quote I made up. It's to say that once you start justifying where you are, you stopped aiming better and higher. 

We got a taste of the top flight in the Minors, even if it's a bitter one. We know where the gap lies and what we're lacking. And once you got that feeling of being up there, all you want is to come back for more.

And be rest assured, we'll come back stronger than ever before !

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I guess I'll stop here. I thought of making a series out of it, but I can't be as consistent as Dante or McGlynn, or even Ayo, to do that.

Maybe I'll write some more. Maybe I won't and I'll only do graphics. Time will tell.

Bye,

JDK.

[DivogoJota]

448 words, and a resounding roar behind JDK. The journey of redemption starts with pushing oneself off the ground and lifting their chin up to face the noise. London will rise again and JDK will be a large part.