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Those who know me know I am a competitive person. I like to win. It doesn't matter if I'm playing ping pong on the patio, cards in the kitchen, softball at the park or my "team" is playing on the football field or any other sport. I like to win and I like to be around winners. Sometimes my competitive nature takes over and I make a fool of myself. Thankfully those occasions have become less frequent as I have aged! But the point is I like to win. I think you should always play within the rules, respect your opponent but you should do what you can to win. When my kids were growing up I very seldom if ever "let them win." I wanted them to work for it and earn the win so they would feel good about themselves and what they had accomplished.
Having said all of that I was not really surprised but a little saddened when I read two articles in Sports Illustrated last week. I just recently subscribed to Sports Illustrated once again. For 25 years I have been a Newsweek subscriber, but last month I canceled that subscription and used my refund for a year of SI! Not sure what that will do for me, but it's already given me a blog idea so it must have been a good choice. Back to the stories. One was about Michael Vick and the other about Rick Pitino. As you know Michael Vick spent time in prison for dog fighting, was recently released and now is playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, who by the way I cannot stand! Rick Pitino is the head basketball coach of the Louisville Cardinals who had a sexual encounter with a woman in a restaurant a few years ago. She became pregnant with his child (she says) and he gave her $3000 for medical insurance with which she says she had an abortion.
Both articles detail the pasts of these two men and both went on to say that their past "indiscretions" should have no bearing on their roles as player and coach. The articles said as long as they WIN it doesn't matter what they do outside of their respective athletic endeavors. One fan was quoted as saying the first time Michael Vick scores a touchdown in an Eagles' game all will be forgiven. Another fan said that if Louisville beats Kentucky this year no one cares what Rick Pitino does in his personal time.
From someone who is an competitive as anyone you will ever encounter I say those articles are WRONG! It does matter what people do in all areas of their lives. Both of those men are role models to the young athletes and coaches or our country. Winning is important but it's not the most important thing. Who wins the Super Bowl and the NCAA Basketball Championship this year will soon be a distant memory but Rick Pitino's wife and kids will have to live with his "indiscretion" the rest of their lives.
Winning is fun and winning is important but how we lead our kids to live their lives is much more important. Let me know if you agree or not.
