"BUT WHO'S COUNTING?"
How many times have we heard this sarcastic expression...this expression that really means that we are keeping the exact score!
So here I am at my five-year-old grandson's Dynamo soccer game.
For those who don't know, at Dynamo Soccer, you root for the team ("Go Blue"), not the individual (not even my Grandson!!!). The score is not kept.
Should any of these kids ask about the score, the reply is "we don't keep score."
So I engage in a friendly debate with another parent on the sideline.
My friend thinks that "they're only five-year-olds, the score isn't important. Let them just learn to play the game and in a couple of years, when they are seven or eight, they can start keeping score."
I feel a little differently. "It's not realistic," I said. "They understand about winning and losing. They see us in total stress and anxiety when the Steelers and Penguins lose (and utter shock if the Pirates win). Let's teach them how to play, which means teaching them how to win as well as teaching them how to lose."
A great debate. Both sides have winning points! Whoops, I'll change that: Both side posit valid points. Whew!
THE GREAT RECORDER VS LOMBARDI
I spent nine summers at overnight camp as a camper and counselor. I spent nine years reading the following sign three times every day in the mess hall:
"When the great recorder comes to record against your name, He asks not who won or lost, but how you played the game."
However, I've also spent 49 years mulling over Vince Lombardi's legendary words:
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
Wow! This winning and losing stuff is intense!
SINATRA...AGAIN
As my man crooned it..."I've been up and down and over and out..." Me too.
I was delirious over Franco's Immaculate Reception.
I was there (no really, I was actually there) for Maz's historic home run in 1960.
I practically cried (in front of my kids) when Sid Bream slid home in the bottom of the 9th in the early 90's and cost the Pirates a trip to the World Series.
And Tim Tebow last year against the Steelers...I'll never get over it.
I don't want to predict the degree of my ourburst if my guy for Prez loses in November.
And personally:
When I was 10-years-old I lost a "do you want to be a sports announcer" contest that I knew I couldn't lose. Except for meals, I didn't leave my room for three days.
Or the second grade spelling bee that still haunts me...when I was one of two finalists to take the crown and was given the word "bird," to which I excitedly responded, "B-R-I-D."
And then, the worst. My grandson, again, having to hear an opposing five-year-old tell him that his team, Blue, "was really bad." I couldn't believe it. Trash talking, at the age of five. He cried and so did I (behind a tree).
So here we are, readers. Whether winning or losing, competition can be nauseating.
It was a rough sea and a number of pallid individuals were leaning over the rail of an ocean liner. A man, walking on deck, stopped to sympathize with one very obviously sick person. "Stomach a bit weak, eh?" he inquired.
"Weak, nothin'," gasped the sufferer, "if you'll notice, I'm throwin' as far as any any of 'em."
So who's counting?
These issues come up often in the agenda's of my coaching clients.
"I didn't get the promotion."
"I didn't meet my goal."
"Why am I losing (not closing) sales?
We grapple with these issues.
My role is to act as the catalyst to help my clients uncover solutions, to achieve goals, to leap forward, to learn how to win and what to do when you lose.
I do this with my seven grandchildren, too, as I pile up properties in Junior Monopoly or I get crushed at Sorry. Sometimes when I am The Hulk, I beat the brains out of Iron Man (my two-year-old grandson) and other times he is Spiderman and destroys me, Dr. Doom. Many times we talk about winning and losing, but always about being good people.
When they are just a little older I'll tell them this gem:
Some time ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled assembled at the starting line for the 100 yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but a yearning to run the race to the finish and win. All,that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other 8 heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. They all turned around and went back. Everyone of them.
One girl, with Down's Syndrome, bent down and kissed him and said, "this will make it better." All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Because deep down we know this: What matters in life is more than winning for ourselves. What matters in life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing the course.
Go Blue...and Go Jonah!
How many times have we heard this sarcastic expression...this expression that really means that we are keeping the exact score!
So here I am at my five-year-old grandson's Dynamo soccer game.
For those who don't know, at Dynamo Soccer, you root for the team ("Go Blue"), not the individual (not even my Grandson!!!). The score is not kept.
Should any of these kids ask about the score, the reply is "we don't keep score."
So I engage in a friendly debate with another parent on the sideline.
My friend thinks that "they're only five-year-olds, the score isn't important. Let them just learn to play the game and in a couple of years, when they are seven or eight, they can start keeping score."
I feel a little differently. "It's not realistic," I said. "They understand about winning and losing. They see us in total stress and anxiety when the Steelers and Penguins lose (and utter shock if the Pirates win). Let's teach them how to play, which means teaching them how to win as well as teaching them how to lose."
A great debate. Both sides have winning points! Whoops, I'll change that: Both side posit valid points. Whew!
THE GREAT RECORDER VS LOMBARDI
I spent nine summers at overnight camp as a camper and counselor. I spent nine years reading the following sign three times every day in the mess hall:
"When the great recorder comes to record against your name, He asks not who won or lost, but how you played the game."
However, I've also spent 49 years mulling over Vince Lombardi's legendary words:
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
Wow! This winning and losing stuff is intense!
SINATRA...AGAIN
As my man crooned it..."I've been up and down and over and out..." Me too.
I was delirious over Franco's Immaculate Reception.
I was there (no really, I was actually there) for Maz's historic home run in 1960.
I practically cried (in front of my kids) when Sid Bream slid home in the bottom of the 9th in the early 90's and cost the Pirates a trip to the World Series.
And Tim Tebow last year against the Steelers...I'll never get over it.
I don't want to predict the degree of my ourburst if my guy for Prez loses in November.
And personally:
When I was 10-years-old I lost a "do you want to be a sports announcer" contest that I knew I couldn't lose. Except for meals, I didn't leave my room for three days.
Or the second grade spelling bee that still haunts me...when I was one of two finalists to take the crown and was given the word "bird," to which I excitedly responded, "B-R-I-D."
And then, the worst. My grandson, again, having to hear an opposing five-year-old tell him that his team, Blue, "was really bad." I couldn't believe it. Trash talking, at the age of five. He cried and so did I (behind a tree).
So here we are, readers. Whether winning or losing, competition can be nauseating.
It was a rough sea and a number of pallid individuals were leaning over the rail of an ocean liner. A man, walking on deck, stopped to sympathize with one very obviously sick person. "Stomach a bit weak, eh?" he inquired.
"Weak, nothin'," gasped the sufferer, "if you'll notice, I'm throwin' as far as any any of 'em."
So who's counting?
These issues come up often in the agenda's of my coaching clients.
"I didn't get the promotion."
"I didn't meet my goal."
"Why am I losing (not closing) sales?
We grapple with these issues.
My role is to act as the catalyst to help my clients uncover solutions, to achieve goals, to leap forward, to learn how to win and what to do when you lose.
I do this with my seven grandchildren, too, as I pile up properties in Junior Monopoly or I get crushed at Sorry. Sometimes when I am The Hulk, I beat the brains out of Iron Man (my two-year-old grandson) and other times he is Spiderman and destroys me, Dr. Doom. Many times we talk about winning and losing, but always about being good people.
When they are just a little older I'll tell them this gem:
Some time ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled assembled at the starting line for the 100 yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but a yearning to run the race to the finish and win. All,that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other 8 heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. They all turned around and went back. Everyone of them.
One girl, with Down's Syndrome, bent down and kissed him and said, "this will make it better." All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Because deep down we know this: What matters in life is more than winning for ourselves. What matters in life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing the course.
Go Blue...and Go Jonah!
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