I Believe in Sport

I watch a lot of sports.  I don’t have a home team, favorite sport or favorite player.  That doesn’t keep me from watching.  I love close games between amazing characters of teams and leaders.  I’ve written about the Spirit of the Game before and really believe this.

If you have not seen the 5k final in the 1972 Olympics, you have missed one of the most brilliant moments in sport (Steve Prefontaine at 21 almost beats the then doping Viren).  Before the race, he said “I am going to work so that it’s a pure guts race. In the end, if it is, I’m the only one that can win it.”  Having the chance for first or fourth, he picks a shot at first.

I’m a very competitive person.  I will work harder, smarter and faster than you, whether it be sport or business.  But sport or business demand a certain level of sportsmanship that leads to making the whole process fun.  I ran cross country in High School, which is a fascinating sport because of all the runners, 99% will never win a race.

99% failure rate if you look at winning as the only result of participating worth celebrating.

Former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren once said

“I read the sports pages first because they record man’s accomplishments.  The front pages record his failures.”

Here is to the sports page.