How it Works1 min ago
British attitude to sport and winning.
17 Answers
Does anyone else feel that unless the British sporting teams and the public change their attitude to winning we will always be just a participating nation?
There are tons of examples but here`s just a few.
English cricket - Let`s all play for a draw, our main objective is to stop Australia winning.
Tennis - Our player Henman/Murray played his socks off he reached the quarter or semi-finals, he should be honoured for this achievement.
Rugby - We lost badly but we thought we were going to lose by a hell of a lot more. So in a way we done really well! Congratulations to the boys.
I played for our local Snooker team once and they were the best in the league, the captain said there is no place for losers so if you lose you are dropped for a few weeks, sit it out in the losers corner. This was the very incentive that made us want to win. And win-we did.
BTW we didn`t cheat or use delaying tactics.
There are tons of examples but here`s just a few.
English cricket - Let`s all play for a draw, our main objective is to stop Australia winning.
Tennis - Our player Henman/Murray played his socks off he reached the quarter or semi-finals, he should be honoured for this achievement.
Rugby - We lost badly but we thought we were going to lose by a hell of a lot more. So in a way we done really well! Congratulations to the boys.
I played for our local Snooker team once and they were the best in the league, the captain said there is no place for losers so if you lose you are dropped for a few weeks, sit it out in the losers corner. This was the very incentive that made us want to win. And win-we did.
BTW we didn`t cheat or use delaying tactics.
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There is another way of looking at it. When winning becomes more important than the skill of the game it becomes more akin to 'war' and the opposing sides begin to hate each other rather than admiring each other's skill. This seems to be more apparent in team games and not so in single one to one sports such as tennis. I admire those whose skill in the sport is obvious even if they only get third place. To watch a line of healthy young people waiting for the gun in a sprint race is exciting, you know that only one will win but the others need encouragement so that they keep trying - otherwise there would be no race.
Sport for its own sake. We may not be the best but we do keep trying and that is admirable. No it isn't settling for second best, it is acknowledging that partaking is healthy and winning is only part of the whole.
Sport for its own sake. We may not be the best but we do keep trying and that is admirable. No it isn't settling for second best, it is acknowledging that partaking is healthy and winning is only part of the whole.
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i agree with 1ARMEDBANDIT
it starts going wrong at primary schools with "non competitive" sports days and ends with the whole ethic of "its not the winning its the taking part that counts"
Of course it doesnt help when the various team selection boards are made up of "job for the boys" gangs instead of someone who might actually be able to pick a winning team.
We need to instil into the kids that winning is EVERYTHING
otherwise why are you competing?
it starts going wrong at primary schools with "non competitive" sports days and ends with the whole ethic of "its not the winning its the taking part that counts"
Of course it doesnt help when the various team selection boards are made up of "job for the boys" gangs instead of someone who might actually be able to pick a winning team.
We need to instil into the kids that winning is EVERYTHING
otherwise why are you competing?
The "problem" in the UK only seems to arise if you are English, because, with one notable exception, the Scots, Welsh and Irish seem to be more realistic regarding expectations.
However, the English media fans the flames by persistently insisting, for example, that at least as far as football goes, England should have added to that 1966 win several more times.
That all raises false expectations and hope, as history has shown. Cricket and rugby are no different. Unless England win the Ashes or the rugger World Cup, it gets reported as if it's a reason for national mourning when they fail, as most of the time they do.
This is not an attack on England and all things English, it's just an honest observation. There's absolutely nothing wrong with anyone hoping their national team does well, but let's put it in perspective, it's not really the end of the world if they don't.
However, the English media fans the flames by persistently insisting, for example, that at least as far as football goes, England should have added to that 1966 win several more times.
That all raises false expectations and hope, as history has shown. Cricket and rugby are no different. Unless England win the Ashes or the rugger World Cup, it gets reported as if it's a reason for national mourning when they fail, as most of the time they do.
This is not an attack on England and all things English, it's just an honest observation. There's absolutely nothing wrong with anyone hoping their national team does well, but let's put it in perspective, it's not really the end of the world if they don't.
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One more thing on this subject. WBK666 is correct, I attended school in the 1960s and one of our teachers was sports mad. Every Friday he would take the boys out into the yard and set up the cricket equipment, he told us that who ever bowled him out or hit more runs than him could go home early. We fought hard to win and get rewarded for it at that early age. When we went to the next school we had a bloody good cricket team. In the sports hall were the framed photographs of the schools former pupils who had got junior caps and outstanding acheivements in their sport etc. It gave us something to aim for but sadly that`s lacking in today`s schools.
And about cheating, (if you can`t win fairly it`s best not to compete at all)
And about cheating, (if you can`t win fairly it`s best not to compete at all)
"R1 GEEZER...
Why do you assume i`m not qualified to talk about sport?
Are you one of those who are happy with losing?"
Tell me all I need to know mate, you have no idea, pointless entering a discussion, it'd be like me debating quantaum mechanics with Einstien.
Now for a blue Geezer badge who can tell me the most successful team in the Rugby world cup since it started in 1987?
Why do you assume i`m not qualified to talk about sport?
Are you one of those who are happy with losing?"
Tell me all I need to know mate, you have no idea, pointless entering a discussion, it'd be like me debating quantaum mechanics with Einstien.
Now for a blue Geezer badge who can tell me the most successful team in the Rugby world cup since it started in 1987?
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