The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat

Do you remember the old ABC “Wide World of Sports” promo that featured Jim McKay’s memorable line, “The thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat,” with the last statement punctuated by the video of the hapless ski jumper tumbling off the ramp into a heap? Can you imagine what it must have been like for that guy – and then to see it repeated dozens of times, year after year?

Images like that are what capture my attention during the Olympics, especially the Winter variety. Maybe it’s because I did not grow up in the hinterlands of America, but I can’t imagine doing what many of the competitors do – zipping down an icy slope on narrow skis at upwards of 70 miles per hour; hurtling down a bobsled course with its twists and turns at nearly 90 miles an hour; trudging up and down hills as a cross-country skier; racing around an icy track on razor-sharp skates with several rivals jostling for the same space.

We cheer for the victors, but sometimes it is the agony of defeat, along with the heart-tugging stories of adversities faced and overcome, just to be a part of the Olympic dream, that we often find most captivating.

So many people approach daily life with lethargy and indifference. That’s why I so admire the men and women who have devoted their lives, and made countless sacrifices, to excel at sports they love. Even if they don’t capture the coveted gold, they have achieved far more than most of us could ever dream.

Whether they realize it or not, they are living examples of what King Solomon wrote about when he said, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your heart” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). When was the last time you were successful in doing that?

It’s Not How You Start, But How You Finish

NASCAR’s seemingly interminable season has started. Until Nov. 21, from Fontana, Calif. to Homestead, Fla., another 35 Sprint Cup races will be run, the greatest suspense being whether we’re in for a fifth consecutive installment of “The Jimmie Johnson Show.”

The Daytona 500 featured a surprise element – potholes – which prompted two red flags to halt racing. In this race, “pothole position” trumped pole position.

My NASCAR baptism came in 1997 at the Talladega Superspeedway, a sprawling 2.65-mile track where, like Daytona, cars ride two, three and even four-wide, bumper to bumper, at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour. Most memorable was a multi-car pileup on a restart midway through the race. I recall Ricky Craven’s car going airborne, flying over several cars on turn one.

From the first green flag, the spectacle of colors, the thunder and rumble of engines, even the smell of racing fuel, captivated my senses, transforming me into a fan. My zeal has waned somewhat in years since, but I’ve always marveled at the real-life truths demonstrated during each race.

Sunday, Johnson started third but mechanical and tire problems dropped him to 35th. Jeff Gordon started 21st, led some laps, but crashed on the last lap and finished 26th. Meanwhile, Jamie McMurray started 13th and made a late charge to win “The Great American Race” for the first time. The moral of the story: It’s not how you start, but how you finish.

It’s the same in everyday life. Anyone can begin well, in marriage, a job, or a hobby. But how will you finish?

That’s one reason the apostle Paul declared, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). If you don’t finish well, how you perform during early or intermediate stages matters little.

Not Manning Up, Yet . . . No Panic-a About Danika

…Because the Indianapolis Colts’ lost to the Saints in the Super Bowl, the sporting world will have to wait at least another year before Peyton Manning has his face chiseled atop Mount Rushmore alongside Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln.

Funny how an errant, ill-timed “pick-six” pass can instantaneously reduce a fellow from the status of gridiron god to that of gridiron goat cheese.

Frankly, I’m rooting for Peyton to return soon to the Super Bowl, and depart victorious. He seems like one of the sport’s really good guys. For now, the city of New Orleans has some happy news to rally around. Good for them.

…After surviving the spin cycle during last weekend’s ARCA race at Daytona, Danica Patrick will make her debut in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series on Saturday. No word yet on whether she will wear a traditional racing suit or a flame-retardant bikini.

For the moment, Danica’s probably best-known for being featured in last year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition (a feat neither Jimmy Johnson nor Jeff Gordon has yet to match), along with mildly suggestive TV commercials. To date, her on-track success has amounted to winning one Indy Car race in Japan with deft fuel economy. Whether she’s capable of muscling stock cars over ovals for several hundred miles remains to be seen.

The reason she’s in NASCAR now can be summed up in one word: marketing. Once the fastest-growing spectator sport in America, NASCAR has stagnated in recent years and motor racing’s royalty are desperate to recapture the spotlight, even if it means using a woman more suited to “The Bachelorette” than a super-charged Chevrolet.

Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher – all of whom took their turns at competing in the Indianapolis 500 – never got an invite from NASCAR. They must’ve flunked the bikini test!

Who Wants to Be a Super Bowl Loser?

The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints will face off Sunday in the 44th edition of the Super Bowl. Less than four hours later, the winners will hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy, forever claiming the right to be known as Super Bowl Champions.

The losers? They will slink into pro football limbo – hardly anyone remembers the losing team in the Super Bowl – except for the sports talk wags who for the next week will relentlessly discuss, debate, dissect and disembowel every aspect of why the losers fell short.

But is it fair to label them “losers”? After all, they did qualify for the NFL playoffs, won two games to claim their conference championship, and actually reached the Super Bowl – something 30 other teams didn’t do. That’s not wet cardboard, is it?

In his book, The Winners Manual, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel challenges the notion that the final score should be the sole measure of a team’s success or failure. He observed after the Buckeyes defeated in Miami in double overtime to win the 2002 national championship, “we still needed to work on our academics.”

Similarly, when his teams lost BCS Championship games against LSU in 2008, “I remember expressing how proud I was of all my players…. I couldn’t help but think back on all the hard work and preparation it had taken to get to that game in New Orleans.”

The same will be true for this year’s Super Bowl. It took a full year of preparation, with countless hours of training and practice, to reach pro football’s ultimate game. To fall on the short end of the final score will be a disappointment, no question. But if the players have given it everything they have, leaving it all on the field, they will have succeeded.

Christmas, College Football Style

Feb. 3 is “National Signing Day,” the equivalent of Christmas for college football. Every rabid fan from Boston to L.A., Austin to Ann Arbor will study websites to see what gridiron goodies have been stashed under the goal posts.

It’s the day when – according to the recruiting gurus – we will know how Favorite College should fare on Saturdays a couple years hence. For schools ranked in the top 5 nationally, maybe even No. 1, there will dancing and shouting in the streets. However, alumni whose college’s recruits are deemed inferior will be grinding and gnashing teeth, as well as wringing hands. “Oh, why didn’t So-and-So not want to play for the Tomcats? Why’d he choose the Buzzards instead?”

Anyone who follows such things knows recruiting rankings and evaluations are an inexact science, with hardly anything scientific about it. Only time will distinguish a “blue chip” from a cow chip, or which high school “Who’s Who” will become a collegiate “Who’s He?”

Being a fervent Ohio State fan, I think of players like Troy Smith and A.J. Hawk that were hardly a blip on anyone’s recruiting radar coming out of high school, yet they earned a Heisman Trophy, All-American status and other honors before advancing to the NFL. Meanwhile, some “can’t miss” Buckeye recruits, in fact, did miss – and not by just a little.

Recruiting services can’t predict career-ending injuries, poor academic performance, encounters with law enforcement, or most important, heart and determination. Which reminds me of 1 Samuel 16:7, which refers to God’s selection of David as the next king of Israel: “For God sees not as man sees; man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” If only the recruiting analysts could do the same.