If You're Not First, You're Last ... and Other Unfortunate Myths

The Academy Awards were last night, which reminded me of what a travesty it was that Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby never won an Oscar. It’s a damn shame, and emblematic of what’s wrong with this great nation.

At one point in the movie (I’m pretty sure, anyway) Ricky says: “I’m a winner! I can do what I want!” which is the theme of the entire movie. If you’re not first, you’re last. More expository dialog:

(Ricky’s sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, are talking smack to their grandfather at the dinner table.)

Chip: [to Ricky Bobby] Are you just going to let your sons talk to their grandfather like this?

Ricky Bobby: Hell yes I am! They are winners! That is how winners talk!

Carley Bobby: If we wanted two wussies, we would have named them Dr. Quinn and Medicine Woman!

So there you go. Winning is the ultimate pass for all kinda bullshit behavior! MURICA!

Sunday in Target, a twenty-something woman ran into (not literally) a friend who was there with her young daughter. I overheard the 20-stomething mother mention that the daughter had a basketball game earlier in the day. Any guesses as to the FIRST thing out of the 20-something non-mom’s mouth? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

She said … “Did you win?” (I didn’t hear what the child said, but it was a "no.") And then the woman followed up with: “Well, did you play well?”

We got it backwards in America. “Did you play well” is the most important question, not “did you win.” But, hey, if you’re not first, you’re last here in the land of hyper competition.

All of this brings me (OMG finally!) to racing. It’s a weird sport. You gotta admit. It’s weird for a few reasons, first and foremost is the central and highly determinative role the machine plays in the whole deal. In football, baseball, hockey, golf, tennis … the technology (ball, helmets, bats, sticks, pucks, clubs, rackets) doesn’t play a MAJOR role at all. It’s a factor, but not to the point where every team spends millions of dollars to tweak up the racket so we can win. Yeah, there’s technology that gives you an edge, especially when it comes to training techniques, but it’s nowhere near the vast impact the car has on racing results.

Second, there’s only one winner out of 43 (ish) per race, so your odds of winning are long in racing. Whereas in many other team sports, it’s two teams playing, so your odds of winning are better. In fact, the odds of a stick-and-ball pro team going COMPLETELY winless in a season are remote. Over in racing, driver will go years between wins and it’s not seen as odd. Some even go their entire career without a major-league victory. Further: I don't believe an oh-fer-career record is necessarily that indicative of the driver's talents, again due to the centrality of the machine. Drop a winless driver in a top car and, SHAZAM, they can win. 

Third, racing's nature makes random calamity part of the sport. Because there are crashes, you could get taken out of a race just by bad luck. I guess it would be like playing stick-and-ball sports with a dramatically enhanced chance of random, unanticipated injury every game. “I was playing well, but then I blew a hammy. DAMN. That’s the third time this year I had a great stick and was shooting the puck well only to blow a hammy.”

Non-mom: Did you win?

An innocent question, but still ... If winning is THEE criteria, then racing is a depressing field to get into, and I have an even bigger quandary as to why someone would want to participate. I’m no race car driver, but I suspect you have to find “victories” along the way, because you could very well go oh-fer your career and have it NOT be indicative of how good of a driver you are AND still have people judging you by the goose egg in the wins column. Low-funded team + great driver almost always = zero wins. Just a fact in racing.

Which seems to be lost on a lot of fans. (Which, OMG, brings us back to Ricky Bobby.) Because if you’re not first, you’re last. They are winners! That is how winners talk! otherwise you're a "wussie." Winning isn’t everything … oh wait, it actually is. Not only is winning everything, it’s a get out of jail free card (in the eyes of some, but by no means all) for acting like an asshole. Throw your team under the bus, scream at another driver, throw stuff, make fun of people, push photographers down, act like a prick/diva. Is the offender a winner? Yep. That’s just (driver name) being driver name!!! Love the fire!!! No? Petulant little BASTARD! Punk-ass no name!

Never has a movie captured the ethos of American sports zealots (and win-at-any-cost zealots in general) like Ricky Bobby.

Once again, put me down for the 5% minority position. I think bad behavior is bad behavior, regardless if the offender has won 192 races or zero. Being a winner does NOT make assholeish behavior OK. No dual standards. No cutting slack for "winners."

Here's what I believe (I swear to God): The most important thing is life is EFFORT, not results. It's what I told my youth soccer kids; it's what I tell my young adult children; it's what I tell myself, and it's what I'm telling you. EFFORT. Did you play well? Did you do your bes? That's reall all that matters. Winning? It's nice. It's fun. But what's more important? Effort or outcome?

In a prefect world, when I overhear conversations in Target, the FIRST question will be “did you play well?” rather than “did you win?” I keep hope alive.

Comments

[Dennis]

Basketball coach John Wooden emphasized the effort rather than the winning. Seemed to work fine for him.

[Dylan]

I will agree with you when it comes to school sports, but I can't agree with this about racing. Yes effort matters. Yes you can't expect someone driving for Front Row or Marussia or DDR or Ducati to win very often. But racing IS about winning. Period. As Senna once said "if you don't go for the gap, you're no longer a racing driver." Pushing for the win is what makes racing exciting. One of the biggest problems in modern racing are the points racers who focus on consistency rather than winning. They take away the excitement in racing and lead to less passing and fighting for the win. As for the bad behavior issue I think it's subjective. The Busch brother have been punished, but I do think that winners deserve a bit of a break. As well when someone who is successful complains it is taken a lot more seriously than someone who is not. Will Power flipping of Race Control means a lot more than some random ridebuyer doing so. Valentino Rossi criticizing MotoGP matters in a way that some random Moto3 rider does not. Wins and success brings credibility.

[pressdog]

But how do you get to winning, Dylan? What's it take to win other than max effort every time? If you focus on effort over time then your performance increases over time and that will lead to winning. If you focus on winning, and you don't win, then what? Try harder, work harder, become mentally stronger? Seems like we're back to effort.

[billytheskink]

Perfect post to pull out some Hoosiers quotes:
"If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we're gonna be winners."

Also, Talladega Nights never won an Oscar because of how unrealistic it is. Kyle Petty qualifying 6th in a mid 2000's race? Even Driven didn't stretch the truth that much.

[GeorgeK]

All competitive efforts, but sports in particular, are geared towards....winning. Why else keep score?

At the instructional level (youth sports in particular) is where the demented parents/coaches place the wrong emphasis ("did you win?"). It should always be about how much effort is placed as well as effort applied properly (coaching/mentoring/etc) that will eventually lead to winning, or at the least laudable effort that one can take satisfaction in.

[Ron Ford]

I agree Bill, particularly in youth sports. That reality show "Friday Night Tykes" shows some disgusting adult behavior. Being from Wisconsin it has always irritated me that Vince Lombardi supposedly said: Winning isn't everything, it is the only thing. What he actually said was "Winning is not everything, but making the effort to win is."

All seriousness aside, for those NASCAR driver who are without a win after 200-400 races and still have sponsors, winning is definitely not everything with them.

[Damon]

Effort.

Far too often circumstances beyond a drivers control dictate their finishes and the fans/media jump on that as if it's the gospel.

[Tammy Kaehler]

It's effort that makes magic on a racetrack. Plenty of people are good, and plenty of equipment is top-notch. But the magic happens when you've got a talented driver in a great car and they're called on to do something extraordinary (from sportscar racing: Allan McNish in the rain at Le Mans).

Yes, there's a ton that's not under the driver's control (car, etc.), but wanting it and being willing to work for it makes more winners than podium placements.

That's why I focus on what Kate does on track in my books, with an occasional podium. I'm honestly not sure if/when she'll ever win a race ... because that's not the point so much as Kate achieving something remarkable based on her own abilities.

[Mike]

This makes me think of something I believe Tommy Lasorda said. During a baseball season you will win 50 games and lose 50 games just because "that's baseball". The rest of the games are up on you, they are won by talent, strategy and good decisions.

Racing isn't much different. A good driver/team will win races because their car was just that good and things went their way, and they will lose some due to things being completely out of their control. But what separates a Jimmie Johnson, Scott Dixon, etc from everyone else is when they are put in the position to win they put it away. When it's go time is when the talent takes over, but there are so many circumstances you have to work through to get to that point. And that's where the effort comes in.

So it's definitely all about effort, because you have to work your tail off to get to "winning time". One thing I've realized being around pro athletes is that losses definitely sting (some more than others), but they can live with them if they know they did their best.