[CQ-Contest] Spotting

[Jeff Maass]

> On 12/25/06, Ev Tupis <w2ev at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > It goes to show that different people participate in contests for 
> > different reasons.  I suppose that this is quite unlike traditional 
> > sport, where everyone competes to win the event.
> >
> > Best wishes to all.
> > Ev, W2EV

Piffle.

In PROFESSIONAL SPORT, perhaps everyone competes to win the event (to increase their worth
to the Team for next year's contract, and to get whatever bonuses and endorsements may
flow from the shared and individual fame).

In the "Farm Team System" for professional sports (i.e. college sports), everyone competes
to win (to increase their chances to be drafted to a Pro team, to make the Olympic Team,
or to increase their fame/social success on campus).

However, in amateur recreational sports (like softball, tennis, bowling, etc.: pretty much
anything that's not televised) winning is generally secondary or tertiary to 1) fun, 2)
exercise, or 3) social interaction. There are always exceptions, but they are in the
minority. Even members of perpetually-losing amateur teams enjoy coming out at their
scheduled times to play the game.

"Winning is Everything" is an OK high school coaching slogan, but a lousy philosophy for
most people living real lives. Winning is nice, no doubt, but if you cannot enjoy the
process of becoming World-class by losing regularly, then you are never going to advance
to that point. 

73,  Jeff  K8ND