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On January 5, 1971, Louis Herman Klotz did something no basketballer dared to repeat.

In the small town of Martin, Tennessee, in front of a packed house, the man known as Red broke one of the most sacred unwritten rules in sports. As the team captain for the Washington Generals, Klotz shot the winning basket to beat the Harlem Globetrotters. A feat never attained before or repeated after.

In an interview later, Red Klotz said, "They looked at us like we'd just killed Santa - boos and jeers rang from the rafters."

It has been over 50 years since that event, and ever since, on an almost nightly basis, the Globetrotters have ruthlessly taken their revenge.

But I don't want to talk about the Globetrotters. I want to talk about the Washington Generals.

What would make someone trained as a professional athlete want to be a General? Intentionally losing night after night goes against the very ethos of sports.

The Generals are the rarest of sporting commodities: the underdogs you're not supposed to root for and the team that will NEVER win.

Although, as a General, winning isn't defined by the score. It is characterized by smiling children, happy parents, and memories that last a lifetime.

Former General Antoine Maddox shares, "It was the best experience you can ever have coming out of college. I ended up hitting 26 different countries in my three years."

David Birch, who spent five years with the Generals, remembers high-security trips to Army bases in Japan, Germany, Lebanon, and even Afghanistan, where he stated, "If you stepped outside your base, you had to wear a helmet and vest."

As a music educator, it feels a bit like being a General. You and I are classically trained musicians with decades of experience. We know excellence and have the knowledge and skills to produce it. We enter into each practice, class, and contest with high hopes of grand achievement and accomplishment, often leaving feeling dispirited and defeated. And like the Generals, we play events in packed houses, oblivious to the trials and tribulations of our jobs and performance. And yet, they cheer wildly at our mediocrity.

In a way, music teachers and the Generals, have a lot in common.

Like our athletic counterparts, winning is characterized by smiling children, happy parents, and memories that last a lifetime. Cur me up some Sweet Georgia Brown.

Yes, it would be nice to leave the rehearsal room or stage feeling like we won or achieved something extraordinary. It would be great be the GOAT instead of the goat? I crave a rehearsal filled with right notes, perfect intonation, and precise rhythms. And yes - just once, wouldn't it be nice to hit the game-winning shot ii front of 20,000 people?

But that's not our job.

Our job is rooted in humility and service. We play a game that rarely keeps score, and when it does, it makes winning almost unattainable. Your team is imperfect, undersized, and outmatched. The game is stacked against you, and victory, while in reach, will rarely be yours.

As a General, You're not allowed to stay on the court and get pictures. You're not allowed to do autographs. You're not allowed to do any press," says Birch, a Washington General. "In the beginning, that's an ego check, because part of you wants that stuff. I came in as a basketball player and left as an actor."

Does that resonate at all with you?

In his final interview, Red Klotz said, "People that would ask: 'Hey, why don't you just go win one time?' But that is not our job."

Sound familiar again.

It's why that infamous win in Tennessee likely occurred from a combination of timekeeper error, rare wasteful shooting from the Globetrotters, and a legendary General who could get away with it.

After all, Red Klotz's franchise may have lost more than 17,000 games, but he maintained until the day he died in 2014 that his team always tried to win. And to my way of thinking, they did. They kept score by the number of smiling faces, giggles, and lifetime memories they created.

What if we did the same?

As for winning the actual game -will it ever happen again? You never know, but we can all agree, that the Generals are certainly due.

And so are you!

Have a great week everyone.

-Scott