Most games aren't won, they're lost. I've been playing or coaching organized sports for 40 years (I'm 45), and there is one constant that you fight against. Making unforced errors.
No one can be perfect, I wouldn't expect them to be, but the easy play, the pitching and catching, the making the correct cut or blocking out, those are things that you cannot do enough of. If you can minimize mistakes, you won't ever totally eliminate them, you have a better chance of winning than your opponent does.
I watch my children playing now and see it even more. Just do what you've done many times over and you will win. If you don't some, it will be close. If you never do, you will get blown out.
On the flip side, you must take advantage of the mistakes of the other team. You cannot be "nice" until the game is comfortably out of range, and for some that's more or less than others. I've seen too many games where one team starts being nice and it gets close or they even lose.
You must have class, but the goal is to win...or not lose.
