Americans understand the simple concepts of winning and losing better than anyone else in the world. Let's face it, it's not just winning and losing; it's winning that Americans understand. We know and crave the feeling of winning in every aspect of our lives. From the office to the gridiron to the battlefields in far off deserts. We know a lot about winning and will do everything in our power to make it happen.
Another truism of ours is no American likes to lose. None. Some learn to fake it because it happens, but inside we want to win!!
Pick a professional American sport and there’s not a kid in the country that hasn’t imagined himself or herself in the game-winning scenario with all the marbles on the table, our backs to the wall and it’s on our shoulders to save the day. We see ourselves stepping up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, down by three and pounding the three-and-two fastball over the centerfield wall… Or, with time running our on the clock, down by four, a field goal won’t get it done, it has to be a touchdown and on the last play scoring the winning touchdown as time runs out... Or, the end-to-end basket as the clock sounds to win the game. It’s always all on the line and we always win in front of a screaming crowd. We not only want to win, we want to win BIG!! We want to fight for it and we want to do it with honor. We are winners. It’s bred into us. It’s who we are.
Professional sports have taken a beating because they are no longer pure. They are businesses and are treated as such by their owners. Americans love to watch and, at time, we even get caught up in them.
College sports are a different story - they are much purer and the NCAA does what it can to keep them that way. Those who follow colleges love the feel of the unadulterated sport as it was intended. It’s hard to tell on TV, but the stadiums used by college football teams are almost twice the size of their pro team counterparts. They’re massive structures seating over one hundred thousand screaming fans. Anyone who has ever been to one of those monsters knows the impact that number of people can have with the shear sound of their voices.
Are college sports pure? Please. I’m not stupid. I am, however, a purist. I love sports in their purest form. You can take it all the way down to the kids passing a ball in the yard, but it’s in our hearts and souls from the time we are young at our parent’s knee the concept of winning and losing.
And Americans love winning.
Another truism of ours is no American likes to lose. None. Some learn to fake it because it happens, but inside we want to win!!
Pick a professional American sport and there’s not a kid in the country that hasn’t imagined himself or herself in the game-winning scenario with all the marbles on the table, our backs to the wall and it’s on our shoulders to save the day. We see ourselves stepping up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, down by three and pounding the three-and-two fastball over the centerfield wall… Or, with time running our on the clock, down by four, a field goal won’t get it done, it has to be a touchdown and on the last play scoring the winning touchdown as time runs out... Or, the end-to-end basket as the clock sounds to win the game. It’s always all on the line and we always win in front of a screaming crowd. We not only want to win, we want to win BIG!! We want to fight for it and we want to do it with honor. We are winners. It’s bred into us. It’s who we are.
Professional sports have taken a beating because they are no longer pure. They are businesses and are treated as such by their owners. Americans love to watch and, at time, we even get caught up in them.
College sports are a different story - they are much purer and the NCAA does what it can to keep them that way. Those who follow colleges love the feel of the unadulterated sport as it was intended. It’s hard to tell on TV, but the stadiums used by college football teams are almost twice the size of their pro team counterparts. They’re massive structures seating over one hundred thousand screaming fans. Anyone who has ever been to one of those monsters knows the impact that number of people can have with the shear sound of their voices.
Are college sports pure? Please. I’m not stupid. I am, however, a purist. I love sports in their purest form. You can take it all the way down to the kids passing a ball in the yard, but it’s in our hearts and souls from the time we are young at our parent’s knee the concept of winning and losing.
And Americans love winning.
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