RE: 5 straight

[lamphier@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Marc Lamphier)]

At  9:47 AM 97.1.28 -0500, Sampath, Venkatesh wrote:

>I strongly believe in "playing the game in the spirit of the game."
>(That's not mine, it's J. Nehru's.) You play hard and you play to win.
>But if you don't and you have still given of your best, that's what
>matters. You always try to come back the next time and win. There are no
>absolutes in sports, just as there are no absolutes in life. 

This says it all. Very nice post. 

I never liked the Vince Lombardi "winning isn't everything, it is the only
thing" philosophy. Of course you play to win -- but you do so because this
brings out the best in you. If you play your best and still lose you can
hold your head high in my book. 

Bill Russell in his autobiography said that near the end of his career he
didn't care as much about winning as he did about the exhilaration of
playing with the best and against the best. And this is from the greatest
"winner" in basketball. 

- -Marc