Teamwork: How Losing 66 to -1 Won't Go Away

Winning is a team sport.  Losing is a team sport.  I prefer winning.

When we moved to Summerville from Fort Worth, Texas in 1993 I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to learn that our home was about 32 miles to Folly Beach and Summerville High School had a powerhouse football team and even had a wrestling team.  The wrestling team part was the biggest surprise since I had assumed that it was more of a northern sport with so many of the great wrestling states located up north and in the north central part of the USA.  Those states would include (very partial list) Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Iowa, and just for fun Oklahoma from the southwest part of the country.

Somewhere in the mid to late 1970’s I was a part of the Upper Merion recreational wrestling league.  It was more serious than recreational since many of us wrestled in the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) junior Olympics.  It was serious fun and serious work.  Just ask some of my buddies who wrestled with our very serious “win at all costs coach” Dale Irwin!  Anyway, one weekend our group traveled to Phillipsburg, NJ where our team lost 66 to -1!  I kid you not.  That score means that most of our team got pinned (not good) and then our coach was given a technical for acting up and henceforth the -1.  It was rather humiliating and Phillipsburg was just that good, extremely good.  I guess I should have added New Jersey to the list above. 

Team scoring in wrestling is a cumulative matter.  There are about 12 matches and every match produces a winner and a score.  I think a “pin” gets one team 6 points and then lesser for points for win or winning by a great amount.  For example winning 12-1 can get a team an extra point.  It’s cumulative and one’s own match and outcome ultimately affects the team.  Isn’t that true in life too?  It’s true for work, family, neighborhoods, cities and countries.  Small wins do matter.  Small wins lead to big wins and team wins.  Losing 66 to -1 was epic.  I can’t remember a personal sports event where my team lost so badly.   Losing like winning can be cumulative as well.  Our individual performances matter.  Winning and losing are team outcomes and determined by our individual performance.  I prefer winning and I imagine you do too.  Let us always remember that our individual performance does matter.  Winning is truly a team sport.