The Thrill of Victory; the Agony of Defeat

Probably every native-born American sports fan over the age of 30 is familiar with that iconic phrase uttered by sportscaster Jim McKay as he opened ABC’s Wide World of Sport television program from the 1960’s to the late 1990’s.  

That the agony of defeat is felt by every athlete and other competitors in the arena of life is not contested.  That it should be felt is another matter.  My experience in life has confirmed for me the counterpoint cliché, ‘It is not whether you win or lose, it is how you play the game,’ truly does trump the thrill/agony response.  The winner/loser dichotomy is a fiction. 

Let’s look at the realities.

Every baseball M.V.P gets out at bat more often than he gets on base.  Every skier or skater falls down or slips more often than they achieve a personal best or a gold medal.  In golf, more first putt attempts are missed than are made. Even elite basketball players rarely make better than about 60% of their competitive shots. Most research and development ideas do not become technological ‘successes’ on first attempts.

Contrary to the ‘absolute’ notion, most ‘victories’ are relative.  ‘Defeats’ are also relative.  There are many variables that lead to so-called victories or defeats.  The playing field, so to speak, is not always level.  Not only are the competitors often unequal in height, or weight, or strength, or body composition, or mental acumen, or coaching, or opportunity to train or compete with equal equipment or under optimum conditions, or provided equal financial support, but sometimes the ‘victory’ or ‘defeat’ hinges on such things as a ‘good bounce,’ plain luck, or a sound night’s sleep, or injury, or bad (or good) calls by officials, or distractions by fans, or by emotional distractions or changing weather conditions, or equipment deficiencies, or by supporting players, or fan influence,  or investment support, etc., etc. 

Success in school or in personal relationships or the business world is fraught with the same kind of variables.  Where one is born or lives, into what kind of family support system, under what kind of school environment, the quality of one’s teachers or one’s opportunities, one’s network of friends, one’s role models, one’s health, etc., all factor in.  

A win doesn’t always go to the ‘better’ player, or team, or person or even idea.  A loss is not always deserved; and certainly many ‘losses,’ when one gains perspective, are not losses at all but instead are springboards to growth.  Indeed, we should learn from every outcome—good or bad. 

How a person responds to challenges—artificial as in sport or imposed upon or fallen into as in life circumstance—is the greater measure of whether one is a ‘winner’ or a ‘loser.’  For ‘winner’ or ‘loser’ there should be no defeat if engagement in the contest was done fairly and to the best of one’s ability. 

The apostle Paul, as usual,  had it right: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). 

Every child or man or woman is not a winner—but everyone could be.  Just check your premises or criteria.