Candace

Talmadge

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January 30, 2009

At Dallas Academy, ‘Losers’ Help the Rest of Us Be Winners

Winning and losing may not be as obvious as it seems at first glance.

The Covenant School is a private Christian school in Dallas, Texas. Its high school girls’ basketball team landed in one heap of trouble because the members racked up a 100-0 victory during a Jan. 13 game against Dallas Academy, another private Christian school.

The problem? The Dallas Academy team consists of developmentally disabled kids who really don’t stand much of a chance against their athletically superior opponents. The Dallas Academy team, in fact, hasn’t outscored an opponent in at least four seasons, but these girls don’t judge their success by points on the board. They simply never give up, playing for the love of the game and each other.

Howls of national and even international outrage over “running up the score” have prompted Covenant School to apologize profusely to anyone who will listen, forfeit the game and even fire the girls’ basketball coach after he said publicly that his team had nothing to be sorry about.

Would there have been such a fuss if the two sides had been boys’ teams? Maybe we just are not comfortable witnessing predatory competitive behavior in girls.

“This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition,” the Covenant School’s apology states, in part.

Perhaps not, but running up the score on a less capable opponent does reflect exactly what American society preaches constantly: Win, win, win – all other considerations be damned. Not winning is for losers, and no one wants to be one of those.

And that may well be the rub. Perhaps there really is a change brewing in our perspective. Could we at long last finally be fed up with that “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” mentality?

After all, we are staring at the dismal consequences of that approach to living. Our economy lies in shambles and our country’s honor and credibility are besmirched. All because we just have to win at all costs – or at least get even with a vengeance.

Businesses have to win, so they lie to employees, suppliers, customers and shareholders. Politicians have to win, so they take bribes in the form of campaign donations and sell out their constituents to the highest bidder. We all want something for nothing, so we believe the con artists who promise fabulous returns on our investments with no risk.

Maybe this basketball game between unequal rivals crystallized for many of us a growing revulsion over the whole disaster wrought by competition run amok – competition where the deck is stacked against some from the outset.

Yes, the Dallas Academy girls won by losing, but not because of others’ sympathy or concern, however well meaning. These young women won because, unlike most of us, they don’t need points on the board to be satisfied that they have given it their best shot.

They embody for the rest of us the real meaning behind that old saying: Win or lose, it’s how we play the game that counts. When we play with this perspective, we strive not to knock anyone else down, but to lift ourselves up. And in doing so, we lift others up as well.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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