Better to Win

Losing sucks.  It blows.  I'm not one who thinks anything good can come from losing.  Especially in a tournament.  Especially in the finals.  Second place is the worst place.  It eats at you.  It makes you uneasy.  It makes the rest of the day seem worthless.  And you see it throughout all sports.  The guys who place 10th in a golf tournament are much happier with the way they hit the ball then the guy who lost in a playoff.  That guy can only remember the bad shots that coulda shoulda woulda gone in that didn't.  NASCAR.....a guy comes in 15th after starting 30th and is pumped how well his team "battled" and got the car to do as much as it did.  The guy in second...."We should have won.  I want to thank the #18 M&M Toyota team.  They put me in a position to win it and we just couldn't bring it home for our fans.  The NOS Energy Drink, Coca-Cola....."  Pissed.

There are a couple ways to get second place.  The first is that you just choked.  Or you just had an off day.  Or you just couldn't quite rise up on the big points.  The Serena Williams loss.  You beat yourself.  It didn't matter how good the other person or team was....it was all on you.  You lost because you shanked a shot, you couldn't clear a ball, you missed a gimme from 3 feet, you got loose on turn 3.  Whatever the case.  It was your fault.  You were bound to lose after whatever mistake(s) you made.

The other way is much more depressing: you weren't good enough.  The other person/team was simply better than you.  You played your game, you did your best, you gave it your all.....and still came up short.  That hurts.  I've recently fallen victim to this sort of loss.  The sort that makes you ill thinking about it.  It shouldn't.  They were better than us.  There was nothing more we could have done.  And that's the part that sucks.  To know that your best is shit isn't the best feeling, especially when you've gone as far as the finals.  You're just as good as everyone else who lost.  Nothing to show for it.

So how do you move on?  You talk shit.  You talk A LOT of shit.  You talk about how they're younger.  They didn't drink as much.  They're not as banged up.  And then you slash their tires.  You make a pass at their girlfriends.  You spray water in their face on purpose by accident and never make eye contact, all the while talking shit.  You make it miserable for them to enjoy their title.  You showed them didn't you?  You piece of garbage, you.  Sore fucking loser.  Oh well.  I bet if we played them on sand instead of mud, or played them indoors, or we weren't banged up/drunk as piss, or maybe darts, or.......I fucking hate losing.