What the President, the Nation’s Sorest Loser, Could Learn from Sports
Two Santa Barbara Basketball Coaches Recall Dealing with Bitter Defeats
In five decades of covering sports, I encountered a few sore losers and many others who were deeply disappointed by defeats, but I cannot recall any coach or player insisting that they had won when the scoreboard indicated otherwise.
People learn and grow through failures and setbacks, and sports provide plenty of those experiences. You’re going to get knocked down in football, miss shots in basketball, strike out in baseball, or come up short in a race. All those things stoke a desire for improvement, and the bitter pill of defeat can be an effective medicine for achieving maturity.
Mark French and John Moore were a pair of extraordinarily successful basketball coaches, piling up more than 1,100 victories between them. I asked both how they dealt with their toughest losses.
