It was that close!

Getting beat really sucks. Getting beat when you tie sucks even more. It is not like the Olympics but for me if we are keeping score I want to win. Today was the annual golf outing to start the year at FSC. We played at the beautiful Lone Palm Country Club and today’s tournament was a four man scramble format. After 18 holes we were at -10 and feeling really good about our opportunity to win. We found out at lunch that we had tied with the baseball coaches’ team. Just like the Olympics there are rules for how the tie would be broken. We felt like winners and then the results were tallied. Scoring would be based on matching cards. Starting with the hardest hole on the course they would look at the scores and who ever had the lowest score would be deemed the winner. It didn’t take long because on the first hole we carded a par and the baseball team carded a birdie. We lost on a tiebreaker. We did our best and produced well enough to win but got beat on a technical tie-break. Sometimes no matter what you do it is not enough to take the victory. I have tried for 6 years to win this tournament. Guess what? I will be back out there next year to attempt to win in year 7. The difference between the Olympics and our own personal competitions, besides the worldwide exposure and country pressure, is the fact that most of the time we have another chance to feel that exhilaration of winning wherein the Olympics that one shot may be the only time they get to showcase their talents on the worldwide stage. Tomorrow I will get up and go shovel poop and the fact that I lost a funsy golf tournament will fade with the next challenge that enters my brain. The Olympians that get beat by a hair will have those thoughts racing through their minds as they move to the next step of their training or even worse, as they become a normal working past athlete. How they deal with “what could have been” will shape them for many years. Competing is such a great way to find out how tough you are in good and bad times. We compete throughout our lives and there are those of us who love it and others who could care less. To complicate matters some of us compete better in sports while others are better at the business climate. Find the thing that makes you hate to lose and go get it.