Wednesday, December 2, 2009

197 - Sore losers



My 4-year-old cousin is a sweet boy, who brings a lot of love and laughter to our family dinners. He's learning to be conversational within the family, he's active and loves running around, and he's fairly disciplined in his general behavior and potty training, thanks to my grandmother's heavy hand.

If there's one problem that I had to point out, though, it would be the problem of him being a sore loser. He throws a tantrum, cries, kicks and screams if he believes somebody else is the winner, he cannot stand to lose. To be fair, we've taught him to think he is always a winner. I remember when the four of us cousins had a race at one point, and obviously, it was a matter of whoever was older, was whoever that ran the fastest. We like to tell my 4-year-old cousin that as long as you finish the sprint, everyone wins, we want to encourage him to think that everyone's a winner in the eyes of the family. So when it comes to him really losing at something, it upsets him immensely, because in his mind, the best policy is shared, unified victory.

But then again, he's only four years old. Who can blame him?

Who we can blame are the grown-ups, even the teens. They say it takes a real man to admit defeat, as people nowadays are so obsessed with keeping their reputation and dignity above everybody else's. I'm sure everyone out there knows of the sore losers I'm referring to - the kind that quit (not forfeit, they quit), and lose their tempers in the middle of a game because they know they're going to lose. I'm talking about the type that whine about how their tactics went wrong, or how they were tired, or weren't paying attention, the sort that complain after the game is over about how the rules were biased for those taller than him, or those with better mathematical skills than her, or how the opponent had a lot more time to spare to adjust to the controls than he/she did, how the sun was shining in their eyes, or on their side of the pitch, how it was their first time playing, how they got stuck, how they tripped, how they weren't thinking straight...

Why don't you just shut up, and move on with your life, instead of dwelling on it? What is wrong with healthy, happy competition where there are winners, and losers that just happen to be you? Jeez, no need to throw a hissy fit, just try again next time!

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7 comments:

Writers Block said...

I blame professional sportsman/women. Whenever they interview the loser of any sporting event; tennis, football, whatever, they always come up with come lame excuse - no one ever admits they were outlpayed or that the other guy was just plane better.

J.J. in L.A. said...

All little kids are whiners at losing. My nephew would accuse the winner of cheating. But he (thankfully) grew out of it.

What I hate are adults who blame everyone else for their problems instead of taking responsibility.

madeline said...

yeah, i don't really understand people like that, i don't see the point on focusing on something you weren't are you aren't satisfied with, or feeling the need to justify why to the point that no one really cares anymore. this is probably steering away from the initial topic of which you talking about.
but, yeah, i'm a pretty positive person so i don't understand why people don't just move on from certain disappointments in their lives. really, no matter what happens, things always get better.

madeline :D

Unknown said...

So, is it ok for me to shove it in my kids' faces when I win at Monopoly? I usually do a victory dance when I beat them.

Most kids are sore losers because they are still learning. It's sad to see adults like this, though.

Michael said...

Writers Block: Hello, haven't heard from you in a while around these parts. Nice to have you stop by... I also don't like those interviews in the media, but then again, I get the whole sports pride thing.

J.J.: Ah, the good old days when everybody was a cheater. I lost an awful lot, which taught me to be a humble good sport.

madeline: Yes, things do always gets better.

Marcy: I used to play Monopoly against myself, myself and myself, just to 'train' myself to be better. It made me pretty damn good at the game, to be honest - maybe that's what your kids need to do. Hahaha.

Ares said...

LOL! Reminded me of an incident we saw in one eyeball event organized by an online game (Highstreet5, if you're familiar with it). Two parties ended up beating each other after a game match.

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