Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, December 10, 2004, Washington Post

Winning Isn't Everything

Two recent events have me thinking that maybe we put too much importance on winning in sports.

First, there were reports that baseball superstars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi took steroids, drugs that can help make players stronger. But steroids are illegal and dangerous, and baseball and other sports have rules against players taking them.
In other words, Bonds and Giambi cheated. Bonds claims that he didn't know that the pills and the creams he was using were illegal steroids. But I find it hard to believe that a smart, world-class athlete such as Bonds would take a drug without knowing what it was.

Why did these sluggers cheat? After all, Bonds and Giambi were playing major league ball before they started taking steroids. Maybe they were not satisfied with just being good players who were doing things the right way. Maybe they wanted all the glory and all the money that comes from being a superstar and hitting home runs and winning games. Bonds hit an all-time, season-high 73 home runs in 2001 and is chasing Hank Aaron's record of 755 career homers.

The second event that got me thinking was Notre Dame's firing of football coach Tyrone Willingham. Announcing the firing, Notre Dame's athletic director said, "From Sunday through Friday our football program has exceeded all expectations, in every way. The academic performance is at a fever pitch; it has never been better. Tyrone has done some wonderful things."

In other words, Willingham's players were student-athletes, the kind of kids any school would be proud to have. The problem was that Notre Dame was not winning enough games on Saturdays. Willingham's record at Notre Dame was 21 wins and 15 losses.

But Notre Dame was not satisfied to be just a good team, playing the game the right way. The athletic director said that Notre Dame wanted to get back to the "elite" of college football.

So, who are the "elite"? The University of Oklahoma is playing for the national championship for the second straight year and the third time in five years. But Oklahoma has nowhere near as many players graduating as Notre Dame does. It seems to me that Oklahoma is not playing the game the right way.

That's the problem. Too many fans -- of college games or even kids' games -- care more about winning than about winning the right way. And too many fans make a big deal over only the very best players. They call those players superstars and winners. They forget about the athletes, and even kids, who play by the rules and give their best but fall short of being a superstar.

The problem with wanting to win too much at sports, or always wanting to be the superstar, is that sometimes you do things, like cheat or take drugs, that can make you a big loser.