Competitive sports can be amazing entertainment, and it can also be amazingly frustrating. Playing to win brings out the best in athletes, but it also means that all of those athletes, at some point, are going to lose. Roger Angell of The New Yorker believes that baseball is the best sport because, as in life itself, there is more failure than success. After all, even the best hitters in the Major Leagues only reach base three out of 10 at-bats. There is more Met than Yankee in all of us, as Angell says. That statement, so true after last fall's World Series, could be my dying words if Mike Volonnino, my old editor, reads this column.

It's ironic that Zevi Metal is the one writing about losing, since I covered the 1998-99 women's hockey team, the last Harvard team to win a major national championship. That was an unforgettable season, when the top line of A.J. Mleczko, Tammy Shewchuk and Jennifer Botterill combined for more than 300 points and the Crimson defeated New Hampshire in overtime of the title game at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis.

But I won't forget this past season either. Botterill and Shewcuk have become even better scorers -- they were two of the three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award as player of the year, which Botterill won -- and the other players I have watched for four years improved as well. The Crimson reached the first-ever women's NCAA Frozen Four, once again at Mariucci Arena. Harvard gave eventual champion Minnesota-Duluth a run for its money in the semifinal, staying even with the Bulldogs for the first 40 minutes. The third period, which saw a combined seven goals scored, was the most exciting 20 minutes of women's hockey I have seen, but the Bulldogs pulled away for a final score of 6-3.

I was proud of the Harvard team and satisfied that the players I knew had given their best efforts despite the loss. I congratulated Tara Dunn, who had switched from forward to defense early in her senior season, after the game. She politely thanked me, but the hurt of defeat was painfully evident on her face. Dunn, and her teammates, had played so hard because they believed they would win the championship. For me, a reporter and fan, winning is a nice goal but I'm happy if I see a great game, even if my team loses.