Tag: Competition (home)

Anybody can win, unless there happens to be a second entry.

permalink source: George Ade
tags: Competition, Winning

The biggest things are always the easiest to do because there is no competition.

permalink source: William Van Horne
tags: Competition, Courage, Vision

Sharon Osberg is a two-time world bridge champion. Her partners include high-powered executives Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. She describes the playing styles of the two men as aggressive. Gates approaches bridge scientifically, reasoning through problems. Buffett is more intuitive and computes probabilities on the fly. Osberg says, "Neither of these guys likes to lose. Warren and I were playing against his sister and brother-in-law…and we were losing. Warren's sister wanted to frame the score sheet. So Warren ate it."

permalink source: Sharon Osberg, "Trump Bill Gates and Warren Buffett," Business 2.0 (December 2003), p.89
tags: Competition, Games

... who do you think is happier, an athlete who wins a silver medal in the Olympics (second place) or an athlete who wins a bronze medal (third place)? It seems obvious that second is better than third, so silver medalists should be happier than bronze medalists. But this turns out, on average, not to be true. Bronze medalists are happier than silver medalists. As the sil|ver medalists stand on the award platform, they're thinking about how close they came to winning the gold. Just a little more of this, and a little less of that, and ultimate glory would have been theirs. As the bronze medalists stand on that platform, however, they're thinking how close <i>they</i> came to getting no medal at all. The near miss of the silver medalists is triumph, whereas the near miss of the bronze medalists is also-rain obscurity.

permalink source: The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, Barry Schwartz, 150-151
tags: Competition, Contentment, Winning

* Humbly receive correction from your coach and ask your coach how you can grow in character as well as athletic skill. * Thank your coaches for the way they have served you. And thank the referees after each game. * Encourage your teammates for their display of godly character and athletic skill--in that order of priority. * Encourage your opponents during and after the game. If you knock someone over, extend your hand to help them up. * Play the game passionately and unselfishly. Serve your team by playing aggressive defense [his father never did this] and passing the ball on offense [again, his father never did this]. * Humbly respond when the referee calls a foul on you. Do not complain or disagree in word or by facial expression [his father never did this]. * No inappropriate celebrating after you score; instead, recognize that others played a role [his father never did this]. * Thank the team manager for the way he served and recognize the humility and servanthood he is displaying each game. True greatness is sitting on the end of the bench.

permalink source: C. J. Mahaney, advice to his son before every game
tags: Competition, Sports

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