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Dealing with Defeat

How A Man Deals With: (Index)

No whimpering or shouting; just deal with it.

 

The test of real champions is not just whether they win, but also how they carry themselves in the winning and losing, and most especially in losing painfully. The primary lesson of all competition is to learn composure which after all is a kind of honor...in every sport and every life there are judgment calls and fluke bounces and disastrous equipment failures. Sometimes they go in your favor, sometimes they don't. As Lamar Odom, of the US men's basketball team says, "all the great winners, when they lost, they lost with dignity and pride. There's kids in Afghanistan who will lose their lives. If we lose, we will get to go home."


~ Sally Jenkins
writing about the Athens Olympics, Washington Post, 2004
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