Winning Isn’t Everything

Winning ISN’T Everything

        I’m a big Arkansas Razorback fan, so I am pretty sure that I know what coach said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” I agree with his statement to a certain degree, because it all depends on what one might consider a “win”. Lou Holtz was a great coach and a very smart man, so I’m sure that he never had to take many “moral victories” on the field.

        Lou Hotlz coached the Razorbacks for seven years and he only missed a bowl game in his first year. He also had one of the biggest upset victories in college football, ever, over #2 Oklahoma when they thumped the Sooners, 31-6 stealing a national title right out from under them. The ultimate job of these coaches is to make men out of the young boys that come into their respective programs, year in and year out. To me, if a coach goes 0-12 one season, but he graduates all his players and they go off to be successful adults, that is a win. Now right on the other hand, if I were to coach an undefeated team and win a national title, but once those kids leave my program they have no degree or backup plan to fall on, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing that. It’s all about your perspective on the word, “win”. I’m a competitive person just like Holtz, so I always want to win too. But, there comes a time where you just have to realize that no one person or team is perfect and that even when you win, you lose somewhere, and even when you lose, you win somewhere. This quote by Lou Holtz can be interpreted so many different ways. It’s all about how you look at life, because this quote can tell you a lot about a person and their life, just by the way that they interpret it. I love this quote because it can be applied to so many specific areas of life and to just life itself.

        This statement by Holtz has had circulated and inspired many around college football, to all college sports, to sports everywhere. I agree with this quote entirely, as long as it is kept in perspective. Players and coaches can’t let the success or the fame of winning go to their heads, otherwise, they lose that perspective and everything is a game to them or a competition and that can definitely be unhealthy for some people.