Winning Is Everything, Isn't It?

It's amazing how your perspective on an issue can change depending on context.

My son had the first game of his "baseball playoffs" last evening. His team was playing a team that had beaten them twice before. They were a good team and had won by a HUGE margin the last couple of times they met. Well, my son's team just romped to a massive victory, winning by over ten runs. Not being a baseball fan at all, I enjoyed watching them win, but got into a mild argument with my friend (who was visiting) about the importance of the win and how excited my son should be about winning by such a big margin. I said something to the effect of "big deal, it's just kids, it doesn't matter who wins, I feel sorry for the team that lost, he shouldn't gloat too much ..." He said that there's something about winning that is contagious and that winning should be encouraged just as much as playing. He suggested that I should be excited about the win and convey that excitement to my son rather than just brushing off the win as "just a lucky win."

While pondering this, I realized that even though I considered winning "no big deal" when it came to sports, I did consider it abig deal when it came to academics. So many times I have told my son that it is not good enough to do well in school and get okay grades. He has to be better than everyone else in the class. Isn't that the same as emphasizing "winning" over just "playing the game"?