Gracious Losers

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Today I am grateful for gracious losers. . .like the Badger’s from Madison, Wisconsin. There have been a few loose comments about bad calls by the refs, but nothing else negative. There is pride in their achievements and even though they played a great game. . .they lost. How refreshing! Way to go home state!

Here’s the deal about team sports. One team wins. One team loses. That’s a fact, folks. It’s sad. You feel bad. You’re disappointed. We get it. But it is not acceptable to burn down your city if you lose a game. Ever. It’s a GAME! Did no one teach you this? Don’t let the “big business” of sports teams cloud your judgement. Act right!

When one of my grandkids was on a T-ball team no one was supposed to keep score. I asked, “Why? What’s the point of playing?” They said it was because the kids who lose feel bad. Boo-hoo. What is so awful about feeling bad? Feeling good feels better when you know what bad feels like. What are we protecting them from? Feelings? That’s wrong! You feel bad, your parents tell you to suck-it-up, try harder next time and stop being a sore loser. Brush it off. Sincerely congratulate the winners. Get on with it. That’s life.

What happened to good sportsmanship? Some kids are involved in team sports from the time they can walk. Who is not giving them this message? Coaches? Parents? Peers? We learned it playing kick-ball in our back yards! “If Jimmy’s going to be a sore loser then he’s not going to be on my team next time!” Jimmy straightens up his act fast!

I mentioned to my husband that I was appalled that people in Kentucky were so upset by losing the game to Wisconsin last week, they were rioting in the streets, looting, beating the crap out of anyone around and burning everything in their path. He said, “Some fans do that whether they win or lose! That’s kind of why I hope the Eagles never win a championship! They’ll burn Philadelphia down!” Really? How awful. But we’ve seen it happen over and over. Extra police are put on duty! Your tax dollars at work. . .putting first responders and others in harm’s way. . .because of nut cases who can’t handle losing. . .or know how to properly celebrate winning!

When did a simple game of sports allow this to become expected practice? Big money? Probably. But how does it make sense to throw a six pack of beer through the dry cleaners window? Did the owner of the burning Walgreens miss the last four shots causing the team to lose? Do you blame the Shop-Rite you trashed for your players fouls? I’m angry! We should all be angry about this! Throwing a rock or lighting a match won’t help anything.

I will tell you something right now with 100% certainty. If ANY of my kids had behaved this way when they lost a game I would have pulled their asses out of the league in a heartbeat! And I’d have a house clean enough for Queen Elizabeth to visit! Ask them. They’ll tell you! Accountability! It’s a privilege to be on a team. You abuse the privilege, you’re off the team! Final! End of discussion. You disrespect the coach or your teammates. . .or the other team. . .same thing. Done! You rub your win in your opponent’s face, bragging and posturing about what losers they are and how great you are. . .and it’s over for you. At least for a while until you straighten up your own act. I don’t care how good you are! It’s the bench!

Okay, I know that it’s usually the fans, not the actual players who riot, but someone has to express outrage or it will continue! And it has continued. No game loss gives anyone the right to destroy property and put innocent people in harm’s way. That’s not fun. It’s vandalism!

But how do we expect young adults to know this, if we don’t teach them how to be gracious losers as children? We don’t. We need to do better or we will witness the devastation in Lexington, Kentucky repeated over and over. I’d rather fans sent a more positive lesson. Like the dignified fans in Wisconsin. . . proud of their teams tenacity and achievements. Even though the Badgers lost. . .they won!

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