Winning and Losing

I just watched the Women's Triathlon.  I know this goes against my "pretend I am writing at the end of the previous day" norm, but it is relevant.  American Sarah Groff finished fourth.  The run part of the triathlon began with about 20 women together in a pack.  Various women slowly dropped out of that pack, including Groff, who fell out in 6th place.  Usually, you see this, and you know that person is done.  But something amazing happened.  She came back.  Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand fell out after Groff..  Then Groff passed Hewitt and fought back up to join the leading four.  Hometown favorite Helen Jenkins eventually fell out of the now pack of five, leaving four women to sprint for three medals.  Groff simply didn't have it in the last 400 meters and finished well off the podium.  (First and second place was a dead sprint decided by a photo finish.  The winner won by about an inch.  That is incredible in a two hour race.)  In her post race interview, Groff said fourth is the worst place.

In the words of the late, great Sam Kinison in Back to School, "Is she right?"  In a way, yes.  But really, no.  As Rowdy Gaines so idiotically put it, a fraction of a second can be the difference between the bronze medal and going home with nothing.  Nothing?  Really, Rowdy?  She competed.  In the Olympics.

This past summer I watched my children compete in the second summer swim season I have witnessed as a parent.  I have also been involved in several summer swim seasons as a coach, and twelve as a swimmer.  The league my children swim for has 24 teams, probably averaging 125 swimmers, for about 3000 swimmers.  The league I swam in, which is in the same geographic area of Northern Virginia has over 100 teams and over 15,000 swimmers.  There are about 4 other summer swim leagues in Northern Virginia.  In all of these leagues, we are talking about probably more than 20,000 swimmers.  All of them would love to MAKE the Olympics.  And if you asked every single one, "What would you prefer, to make the Olympics and finish fourth or to fail to qualify?" I would bet every single one would say make it and finish fourth.  If for no other reason than the sex in the Village.

I mentioned yesterday that Ryan Lochte finished 2012 with five medals:  two gold, two silver and one bronze.  2012 has probably been a disappointment for him.  There are over 200 countries represented at the Olympics this year.  In the current medal standings, Ryan Lochte, if he were his own country, would be tied for 17th.  (Something tells me that country would have a female-male ratio of about 251-1.)  Think about that.  There are 180+ countries with fewer medals than Ryan Lochte.  And Lochte had a disappointing week.  Is it possible our priorities are a touch out of whack?

There are studies (I don't have time to look them up, but I have heard about them) that say that winners of the bronze medal are happier than winners of the silver medal.  The bronze winner looks back at all the schlubs going home with "nothing" and thinks "I could be one of them."  The silver winner looks forward at the one person who beat her and thinks "I could have been her."  Plus, I think the US dominance (which is what the Olympics are really about) puts all of our priorities in the wrong place.  We are all thinking "Why can't you be him?"  Why did Phelps not medal in the 400 IM?  Why did Lochte not medal in the 200 free?  Why did no American medal in the women's 100 free?  Well, there are other people there, and they are really good.  They want to win, too.

Yesterday Jimmy Roberts did a piece on a rower.  I have no idea what his name is and I don't remember what country he was from (yes, I get the irony here).  The rower finished last, way behind the winners.  He wasn't world class.  But he was there.  Competing.  In the midst of all the swimming coverage of US medals, they showed a 13 year old swim the 50 free in about 39 seconds.  In all those swim leagues I talked about, she would have struggled to score in any meets.  But she beat her best time by 7 seconds.  She looked as happy as the winner will look tonight.  In many ways, she is probably happier.  She has no pressure.  She still has the joy of competing for the sake of competing.  Not the burden of expectation.  Phelps looks happier now than he did at any point in Beijing.  Maybe losing the 400 IM was a good thing for his psyche.  His legacy is already secure.

In my last pre-Olympics post I recommended that you enjoy the experience.  Enjoy the effort.  I sometimes forget to do that.  Both as an Olympic spectator and as a spectator of other sports.  The Olympics are good at reminding us that sports is about competing.  It's about giving your best to accomplish that goal, and sometimes failing at that goal.  It's about going up against the best and trying to be the best.  Not the best in the world necessarily, but the best you can be.  Whether you are in the Olympics, running a community road race, playing beach volleyball with a bunch of old people in Nags Head, NC or simply running down the street.  In the words of the great Norman Dale, "If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we're gonna be winners."

I have family obligations, so we will have to cut some sections today.  I will make it up tomorrow.  But for the sake of honesty:

Predictions -

1.  US Women win 400 Medley Relay.
2.  US Men win by more than US women win by.
3.  No US medals in women's 50 free or men's 1500 free.
4.  Misty and Kerri and Rosenthal/Gibb keep my US double
gold beach volleyball prediction alive.  At least for today.
5.  US wins men's long jump.
6.  Jeter wins women's 100 gold.

Enjoy the games.  I have in-laws today.