competitive+

Our pastor is getting married today, yes he is.  Jane (i.e. anybody can be a Jane) says:  
Our preacher gets marriage quite soon.
His bride's state bird is a loon.
Their contract will say
WHO does WHAT each day.
Let's ALL go on THEIR honeymoon.

Don't get your butt out of joint, I'm not talking about any of you guys here! ItchieBitchie says--Some folks are just "white noise" and others are the real noise (i.e. main event).  And some folks are just "social media megaphones".  Uh, huh, yep, right, gottcha!

JoeBow asks--Have you ever thought you were going at a pretty good pace when all of a sudden someone comes from behind and just plain runs ya over?  Smack! CadillacJack says--Now that is a horse of a different color!  That can be hard on a guy's ego.  Especially if you are in competition and think you are pretty good!  How can that guy go that fast anyway.  And I thought I was going fast.  How did he get that fast anyway?  My opponent in golf league last week was an acquaintance that I haven't seen since last summer.  He really looked like he was physically fit.  How much weight have you lost I asked.  30 #s.  Wow!  How did you do that?  I did a 10 week 5 days a week intense kick boxing program.  That is how he did it folks!

A friend has been the #1 sales person in his company for 5 years in a row!  Wow!  I bet he doesn't just sit on the couch all day and eat chips!  What do you think?  He has to have some competitiveness in his wheel house to accomplish that.  I know his wife (i.e. she is a sweet lady) sooooo I don't think she is a whip cracker (i.e. and maybe I just don't see her at home or in the office).  My, Daddy, Chester would say to me--erv, you can make more money with you brain than your hands.

Since Adam and Eve ate off the wrong tree, things have been competitive folks.  That is why we have wars and wars and wars.  HoochieCoochie  says--In the natural, the way it works is it's nature's wonderful struggle for balance between them that eats and them that gets eaten.  Yabut CadillacJack, we aren't in the natural world.  We should be more human and help folks. Right?  Everyone is entitled to a smart phone and huge massive flat screen TV with cable. Aren't they? It's America!

Are you an ego-centric individual (i.e. win at any cost)?  It would be a person who takes recreational competition way too seriously (i.e. would even cheat to win). It says in the paper, soooo it must be right, that ego-centric folks derive their self-worth on winning and outperfoming others, proving one's ability, being better than others, and they don't care if they act in over-or hyper-competitive ways (e.g. manipulating handicaps soooo they can always win).  Most folks but not all, usually  move to a "mastery orientation" with age.  Mastery orientation is where success is based on trying your best and self-improvement. So there's a potential conflict between people who just want to "play" and people who want to play.  My opinion--sometimes I think we can play to win and sometimes we can play to be social.  What do you think?  LuckieEddie says--Everyone likes to win! Don't they?  MissPerfect says--Winning isn't everything but the will to win is!  Saturday question--How important is winning?  Hey MissPerfect, don't throw darts at me now  'cause I just bought a new pickle ball paddle!  If I didn't care how I play, I wouldn't need a new paddle.  Ouchy ouchy!  I want an advantage!!!  My opinion--The most fun competition is to compete against someone of your own ability (i.e. or a little better) and you don't care who wins (i.e. you play as hard as you can but when done, you just congratulate each other and enjoy each others company and their ability and then forget about it).  MojoPete says--Ya can say what you want erv, but it's a lot more fun to win than to loose!  Not for everyone MojoPete and not in certain situations.  The Wild World of Sports had this saying--The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat!

Some folks will do almost anything to win.  Saturday question--How important is winning to you?  OneSmartGuy says--The highest virtue here may be the least in another world.

RuthieThetoothpick says--Who cares who is #2; we only care about who is #1! Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, said--Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.  And it appears in the NFL that is probably true.  It's all about the $$$ and power and fame.  Such is life.

Joesixpack says--Some folks can get pretty competitive (i.e. excited) when it comes to religion, politics or money.  Oh ya!  I got an eamil from a pickleball buddy (i.e. she and I compete with all our might against each other--about the same ability--she seems to be of good character).  In her email, she quoted Ned (i.e. anybody can be a Ned).  Ned said--Go win the day for God!!

Cheater cheater pumpkin eater!  I told a golf buddy/friend that I was going to write about competitive+ (e.g. some folks will actually cheat to win).  He told me this story about himself.  When he first started playing golf about 25 years ago, he was playing with a league teammate.  His ball was by a tree and said there is no way he could hit it and he would just take a penalty stroke.  His seasoned teammate said--You can hit.  Sooo he tried but missed the ball.  When his teammate put the score down, he didn't count the whiff.  Their opponents question him about it.  His teammate said--It was a practice swing.  My buddy/friend said--I knew it wasn't a practice swing, my teammate knew it wasn't a practice swing, and our opponents knew it wasn't a practice swing.  They all thought I was a cheater.  It has bothered me for 25 years (i.e. he thought he was branded a cheater forever).  Huh, interesting.

Is cheating good business or an Amageddon scenario?  I read in the paper soooo it must be right--At the Big 12 media days Monday, Bob Bowlsby, the conference commissioner, said "cheating pays" and that anyone who conspired to bend the rules could do so successfully and probably not get caught in most occasions.  Hey folks, there is an awful lot of pressure to win (i.e. winning is $$$$$ for universities).  Soooo is the risk worth the reward???  Saturday question--What is character?  The AZgecko says--Usually cheaters become over confident and self destruct at some point.

I think she is very confident but she doesn't seem to have an ego!  I must admit that my sisters and myself are survivors (i.e. maybe a little ego-centric).  We were not born with silver spoons in our mouths.  We had to fight for everything.  Soooo that made us rather competitive by nature.  I hope we aren't obnoxious but have a "underwatercurrent" that doesn't show.  When your parents die when you are young, you have to take the bull by the horns or just get trampled.  My kid sister had no parents when she was teenager.  That isn't easy folks.  She is a fighter and got her masters degree and has done very well in all aspects of life it appears (i.e. appears well grounded).  She is a real person with a good heart (i.e. my kind of person). I'm very proud of her.  She is a hybrid of our parents.  Chester and Anna would be real proud of her.  Real proud!

Folks can act different when they play cards! I have heard of super seniors who play cards like winning is life or death.  They get angry and pissy at each other over some recreational card game.  I think that is funny.  WildWillie says--Cut 'em old folks some slack erv, we all know some of those old farts rant and rave a lot but you have no idea what is going on in their heads (i.e. there might be demons there).  WildWillie, you are probably right and I really maybe don't want to know why they act that way.  I bet real money that something has made them that competitive.  There is a good chance envy and jealous has something to do with it..  What do you think?

Last winter I had a pickle ball buddy tell me -- erv, don't play off now and be sociable, you play hard.  You and my wife need to kick this guy and his partners' butts.  I don't like them as they are cocky.  You know some folks are way more fun to beat than others.  Some folks I don't mind letting them win or playing hard and loosing to them.  And some, well I would rather beat them.  Huh, interesting.


There are a lot of ways to let folks win!  Oh ya!  You can play off, make mistakes on purpose, let them get the bid, act dumb, work on a part of your game that you want to improve, miss putts on purpose, keep your mouth shut, don't be aggressive, make them look good, let them get the attention, step in the background, etc.  Sometimes a guy has to get beat up pretty bad before he learns to let his woman win.  But it helps if a guy can learn soooooner before later.  Remember guys, a happy wife is a happy life.

 Are we winning or loosing folks? While eating my oatmeal with a half a banana on it, I read this by Dr. David Jeremiah--Since its founding in the 1770s, America was known as a Christian nation. Many pilgrims were Christians seeking religious freedom, many founding fathers were Christian, and many foundational documents expressed biblical principles. But beginning in the mid-twentieth century, America began to be known as a post-Christian nation as God was moved further toward the edge of public influence. Why do you think this is happening?  Are we winning or loosing? Is that good or bad or just indifferent?

It appears that the new buzz is to blame that rascal Obama!  AverageJoe says--Ya gotta blame someone!  Abraham Lincoln said--"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."  My opinion, I think most folks are easily fooled.  Money is the biggest tool to fool folks.  It seems to always work. Ya just promise them the world and they will believe it.  Folks seem to have a hard time to catch on to that (i.e. suckers).  MagicalHerman says--All ya have to do to fool 'em is pretend to be Santa Claus.  Do you think we are delusional?  Joesixpack says--The bottom line is...always it seems!

They say ya gotta have confidence if you want to be competitive! Played golf with a long time friend and golf buddy this week.  He and I really had some fun battles during our hay days.  The group he plays with usually plays best shot each afternoon. On this afternoon, he and I were partners and we did pretty good.  He told me that he can't hit the ball anymore; just can't.  Age can do that to a guy alright.  He said he has no confidence; like not even 1%; more like 0%!  Ouchy ouchy!  AverageJoe says--Confidence is a huge massive issue if you want to be competitive!  Saturday question--Are you a confident person? I read what Michael Greller, caddy for Jordon Spieth, said in the Northwestern Classic--The #1 thing at this level is self-belief!  Well, I think self-belief a.k.a. as confidence is good in any body's life. What do you think?

Do you think these guys are "rain makers"? I went to the Waterloo Open for a while last weekend.  Sat behind #18 and watched and talked.  A WWII vet (i.e. 94 years old) talked to me a long time.  A bomber pilot.  Says he is darn lucky to be alive.  They knocked them out of the sky like flies. He said--I hope God forgives me for some things I did and some things that I didn't do! Played basketball for Wm Penn in 1938.  Talked basketball with me like it was yesterday. Played forward. He said he really likes golf but had to quite for a while; had prostrate cancer; healing up.  He says he's beating the odds.  Then a young man sat next to me.  He plays football at Grandview.  Soooo are you on scholarship--oh ya--how much--about a quarter and I get another quarter academically--soooo how much does it cost at Grandview--$32,000--soooo you get half paid for then--ya, I can make that work.  How much do you weigh--317--what position do you play--guard--you guys any good--national champs last year.  My friend, Geno, called and said he shot 71 at Rolling Hills Country Club (i.e. par 72) in a tournament over the weekend.  Shot his age.  Wow!  What a stud!

Another one of Jane's:
I know a young fellow named Erv
Who's always most willing to serve.
He'll try everything.
Have you heard him sing??
That character has now lost his nerve!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyFriendJean says--The only ideas that will work for you are the ones you put to work.

Joan (i.e. anybody can be a Joan) says: 
I once knew a lady from Quirk
Whose husband was quite a jerk.
When he'd get out of line,
 She'd whack his behind,
 And say, "You drive me berserk!"