Winner, Winner, Loser, Loser!

I just came through one of the most exciting times in my life!  The IHSA State Basketball Finals were held in Peoria this weekend and my grandson got to play in them with his Winnebago High School team.  The team went into the finals with a perfect 31-0 record and were rated 2nd in the state in Division 2A.  It was incredible for him and it was incredible for all the fans to watch during the season.  They blew out a lot of teams, won by one or two points with a few teams and came from behind a couple of times to win with last second shots!

But disaster struck in the first playoff game at Peoria!  Our boys couldn't hit the side of the proverbial "barn door!"  They made an incredibly poor 11-54 shots!  They got clobbered!  It was so humiliating to watch that it hurt!  But here is where the two teams separated.  The winner (Seaton Academy-Chicago) went on to play in the championship game and the loser (Winnebago) went on to play in the 3rd/4th place game.  Winnebago came back like true sportsman and won their second playoff game.  Two opposing players in the championship game got into a tiff with each other.  The Seaton Acadamy player (who had been fouled) swore and got a technical.  He then put his hand on the ref and got a second technical and was ejected from the game.  Seaton Academy went on to lose the game!

At the trophy presentations, Seaton Academy wouldn't come out of the locker room and take their second place trophey!  They refused to be recognized as the second greatest team in Illinois 2013 basketball!  Their lack of sportsmanship showed that regardless of how good they were, they didn't have the class to be second place, or any place, in my opinion!  They were winners with athletic talent and losers in sportsmanship!  We have to ask ourselves, in training up our children, which is the better characteristic to have in life--excellent raw talent or an excellent attitude toward others in win and lose situations!  Think about it...