Congratulations, you have adopted Blood Bowl! This game will reward you with rich experiences while easing the stress of everyday life! Or maybe not … Especially if you have a bad competitive attitude, in which case you will continually ruminate your last few horrible games. It will be even worse if you are a hardcore phenomenon as you will find yourself pathetically pulling every defeat to your grave.
We are all competitive by nature and this necessary survival mechanism is rooted deep within us. As a result, feeling some discomfort in the face of defeat is perfectly normal. Also, casually claiming to have no competitive attitude at all is like blowing smoke in your opponent’s face while fouling his agility 4 werewolf on turn 16. But even if no coach is a pure monk, we can still achieve inner peace by learning to live in harmony with our competitive selves. Let’s take a look at what experts say on the subject.
Killer Splash, Ph.D., director of the Life Kills Center and psychology teacher at the Big Bad University
“Playing against a streak of formidable opponents too early in a coaching career can be demoralizing. When victory is almost impossible, we must learn to accept defeat by not giving it too much importance. It also helps to remember that everyone loses from time to time, even those big badass legendary coaches.”
Crappy Shield, Destroy Detroit’s former head coach
“It’s the balance between coaching skills and challenges that makes Blood Bowl so much fun. Coaches who define a realistic goal in reaction to a challenge see their skills improve and get more satisfaction out of the game. They can then confidently compete against stronger and stronger opponents, even if they still make mistakes.”
Rock Rockins, Ph.D., director of the School of Physical Dissection at the Yuck University
“Blood Bowl itself is neither good nor bad. The positive and negative effects are not in a game’s outcome but rather in its experience. Blood Bowl provides a positive experience when a coach is up against an opponent sporting a good competitive attitude. Showing some respect to the rules and to your opponent whatever the game’s outcome is a value transmitted between coaches. At Blood Bowl, victory at all costs is at the origin of the many evils that can sour games into grotesque situations.”
Steely Baller, Ph.D., and teacher at the Grumble & Hate University
“It’s important that Blood Bowl must be just one part of an active and balanced life. Coaches who spend far too many hours a week on the pitch’s sidelines do not have time to play other games or be social. Coaches have to live all kinds of experiences. For example, it’s important to play other board games. It certainly is a cliché, but it reduces pressure and remembers coaches that having fun is at the heart of every game.”
Vlad Kraken, Ph.D. and Blood Bowl underground psychologist
“There’s a parallel between Blood Bowl and a virus. A single heavy exposure can sicken and stress a coach. On the other hand, small exposures at regular intervals let him learn to use his occasional stress to his advantage.”
Frank Stutter, Ganga Puff’s all-star coach
“Playing Blood Bowl becomes too stressful when a coach believes that his peers’ esteem varies according to his game results. Research has shown that the fear of failing to provide a performance that meets the expectations is Blood Bowl’s main source of stress. Coaches unfavorably comparing the competence of their peers to their own is one of the roots of all evil. If a coach wants to build a competitive attitude, the only one he should be competing against is himself.”
Conclusion
Myself, I often recommend coaches against being all stressed up about the outcome of the game as it hinders their natural coaching abilities and clouds their train of thought. This can only lead to missed play opportunities and poor sportsmanship. We must all practice to let go of our coach ranking, to keep it fresh as a cucumber between our ears and to concentrate on the game … While, hopefully, having a great time in good company.