Which is worse: a loss or tie?
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Whether you are a soccer fan or not, by now you have heard that the US team is
competing in the World Cup and came within thirty seconds of advancing to the
next round yesterday. Yesterday, the US played Portugal. Portugal scored early,
but the US scored late and led by one with less than a minute to go. Portugal
scored with about thirty seconds remaining, so the match ended in a tie. Either
team can advance to the next round, depending on different
circumstances.
Every news show is covering
the World Cup this year, and if social media is any indication, people are
watching. People are really into it. They believe! #IBelieve, the hashtag chosen
by the US team, has been trending on Twitter since last week, with 8 million
tweets going out worldwide about yesterday’s game alone.
It took a while for the dust
to clear and for Americans to understand what the tie means to the US team. It
means the US plays Germany this Thursday, and if they win, the US advances to
the sweet sixteen.
As the news shows covered the
World Cup this morning, one of the experts opined that the US should feel great
about Sunday’s match, despite the draw. He said that soccer is different from
other sports and Americans need to understand how a draw is viewed. In soccer,
there is respect for the game and how it is played. The US, the expert said,
should feel good about how it played yesterday. (I was getting ready for work
and didn’t catch the names of the panelists.)
Others on the news panel
disagreed, some even declaring that a loss would have been better than a draw.
He especially did not like that the US team let Portugal score, thus damaging
their chances to advance, with just thirty seconds left.
Hearing the comments about the
draw made me wonder what you think about win, lose, or draw in other areas of
life.
Beyond the soccer match, is it
better to tie than to lose? Or, are there times when losing would be better?
Does a tie lead to “resting on laurels”? Is there ever a time when winning is
not the best outcome? What do you think?