I got a little misty myself reading this...
Honest Competitors Don't Want To Be Given An Inch --
They Crave Earning Every Point And Takeaway They Can Muster
As a soccer goalie in high school, my first year playing junior varsity soccer and first year as a goalie. A rising "star" assured of becoming the starting goalie the following year and quite possibly the second string goalie on the varsity team.
Some teammates were a bit miffed that the coach hadn't given me the starting goalie my first year. But I was new to the school and the coach would've had to send the starting goalie who held the position from the previous year and was the second string goalie the year before that back to second string. I'm not tooting my own horn. Rather, it is important to the point at hand.
One of the teams we played each year was Saint Mary's School For The Deaf. It was the fourth quarter and we were winning by several goals to zero. It had been raining hard enough to create a rather large puddle front-center of the goal I was guarding. The other team had a penalty kick that would be kicked from the puddle. The forward had an open shot at me and the goal. No doubt he would be aiming at the goal not me -- so you get the idea.
A goalie, when faced with a penalty kick figures right or left. Occasionally when a penalty shot is kicked to one side you'll see the goalie dive sprawling in the opposite direction. The goalie guessed the wrong direction. Usually from having watched the player earlier in the game a goalie can learn which side a forward has a stronger kick towards. So their inclination is to dive to that side.
Anyhow, I had no notion of which side the forward was going to kick towards but figured at best the ball would be headed toward one of the upper corners which is the hardest area to defend. Frankly, the opposing team wasn't very skilled as the lopsided score showed. The forward and his teammates huddled to decide the best direction to kick the ball. Having figured that I'd have time to get to the ball no matter what side it went, I waited.
Much to my surprise, the ball came directly at me just a couple inches off the ground. Diving forward is out -- the best way to defend is drop lengthwise to the ground across the goal line. Instead, I squatted and thrust my hands down between my legs to catch the ball. The ball skipped on the water about a foot in front of me and went right through my hands and legs and into the goal. I had given up a shutout.
When the fourth quarter ended, as is customary each player shook hands with every other on the opposing team. I went to the bench to collect my gear and head to the locker room. Much to my astonishment one of my teammates and several parents congratulated me for allowing the deaf-hadicaped team to score a goal -- allowing them some pride in the game. Fact is, the guy beat me fair and square. Kicking out of a puddle is probably the hardest open kick there is. I didn't take a dive, so to speak. I tried my best to stop the ball.
I never told any of the parents they had it wrong. Mainly because I new the kid and his team deserved ever inch of that goal and they knew it too -- he beat me up the middle. And secondly, because I didn't want any of my teammates and especially the coach to lose any "faith" in my ability.
On the ride home from school I thought about the misnomer and suddenly realized something quite disturbing. It was bad enough that the parents that were quick to praise me for allowing the other team to score had given credit to the wrong person -- worse -- in their mind I was the compassionate "hero" that they wanted and expected a rising star to be. The reason I was so disturbed is that I allowed them to give me undeserved credit when in fact the forward deserved all the credit for executing a great strategy -- kicking the ball low and straight at me -- and he did it out of a puddle.
More troubling for me, as if it could have been any worse, was realizing those parents that were so quick to support their preconceived notion thought it was acceptable for a person to patronize the other team with feigned compassion. They can say that it's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game that's important but they don't really know what that means. Honest competitors don't want their opponent to give them an inch. They crave earning every point and takeaway they can muster.
Analogously, I don't play soccer anymore but I do occasionally compete at pool. When I walk into a pool room and beat the guy that's held a table for three hours I want to earn that win. I demand the same of myself when I hold a table -- the opponent has to earn the table. I want him to know that I gave him my best game.