Winning isn't everything
Benjamin Levine
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Op/Ed
Our parents often told us when we were little that winning isn't everything. I, like most people, accepted this as another lame thing which our parents tell us to make us feel better when we are sad. To me, "winning isn't everything" was the verbal equivalent of taking me to get some ice cream after losing a baseball game or getting a slice of pizza after a soccer game. I remember sitting there in my mud soaked uniform, after a tough game, at the point of tears, and all the consolation that could be offered was "winning isn't everything." Wow, thanks Aristotle. That is up there with money can't buy you everything. We pretend it can't, but deep down we know it really can.
But the older you get, the more you realize that winning isn't everything. Championships come and go. You sit there staring at the television, watching your team jump up and down with looks of utter delight on their faces, and you feel the same euphoria that they are feeling. How long does that feeling stay with you? The satisfaction of a championship is as fleeting as a joint at a Grateful Dead concert: it's not going to last! Most of the time, a championship was expected. Most fans go into a season expecting nothing less of their team than a title. Almost all of the time, by the time your team has made it into the championship game, or series, it is expected that they will win. Rarely, your team is a complete long shot, no chance in hell, underdog. If this is the case, your joy may last longer. That is, if it finally hits you that they actually won. Regardless, the euphoria will inevitably abandon you within a week of seeing your team win. What's left? Bragging rights? It is truly a fantastic feeling when your friend brings up how his team is better than yours. Then, you coyly ask, "who won it all last year?" This will make him quieter than C-level on a Sunday morning. While pouring salt in his wound is fun, and expected of any true friend, it can only give you so much happiness. Before you know it, it will be the off - season and that championship, which was so inspiring and made you feel so happy at the time, will just be a memory.
But the older you get, the more you realize that winning isn't everything. Championships come and go. You sit there staring at the television, watching your team jump up and down with looks of utter delight on their faces, and you feel the same euphoria that they are feeling. How long does that feeling stay with you? The satisfaction of a championship is as fleeting as a joint at a Grateful Dead concert: it's not going to last! Most of the time, a championship was expected. Most fans go into a season expecting nothing less of their team than a title. Almost all of the time, by the time your team has made it into the championship game, or series, it is expected that they will win. Rarely, your team is a complete long shot, no chance in hell, underdog. If this is the case, your joy may last longer. That is, if it finally hits you that they actually won. Regardless, the euphoria will inevitably abandon you within a week of seeing your team win. What's left? Bragging rights? It is truly a fantastic feeling when your friend brings up how his team is better than yours. Then, you coyly ask, "who won it all last year?" This will make him quieter than C-level on a Sunday morning. While pouring salt in his wound is fun, and expected of any true friend, it can only give you so much happiness. Before you know it, it will be the off - season and that championship, which was so inspiring and made you feel so happy at the time, will just be a memory.