[ Post a Response | Valley of the Sun Ultimate Association ]
Posted by Volo (never shy of a soapbox) on 4/2/2009, 6:55 pm, in reply to "Re: What's this spirit of the game stuff?"
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I think a question central to this whole discussion is: How competitive do we, as a community, want league to be?
My goals for league are social interaction and improving my game. I like being challenged and forced to step up my game. Even if I lose, those are the games I enjoy and remember most.* To me, competitiveness should be about raising yourself up, not forcing others into submission.
We all know several people who actually get pissed off when they're losing. There are competitive club teams, leagues and tournaments all around the Southwest and nation. If you play league just to win, you may be in the wrong place.
I think that those who take winning a bit more seriously tend to be those of "stronger personalities", and it's very easy to follow that and get caught up in winning. But for every person who comes out with winning as a primary goal, or replies to accusations of excessive infractions by saying "there are rules that need to be followed", I think there are 4 or 5 on the sidelines shaking their head saying "Are you guys serious?"
We just don't hear from these people as much because, hey, they just came out to have a good time, run on some grass, meet some people and maybe drink a beer or two. They're not gonna get involved in all this stuff. So I give big props to our current "n00b" for stepping up and saying something. Maybe it's a good thing for us all to think about as we head into "crunch time" for league. I know that I too need to be reminded on occasion.
And before you reply lambasting me because league should be competitive, consider how many people would rather be on a team that just has a good time together and improves their game, than be on a championship team. YOU might want to see league be competitive, but are you speaking for a majority of your team, or are you just part of the highly vocal minority?
*(Just a shout-out to some guys who, this season or in the past, have forced/helped me to raise my game by lining up against me: Jack Smith, Chris Miller, Tricky, Damon, Rob, Brent May, Obert, Dhein, EBay, Kitowski, K-Hatch, Paul Otto, Al Taylor, Keith, Ramon, Ben Schoenebeck, Joe Kauffman, Tyler, Nipar, George, Craig, Rusty, Quan, Cisco, Steve So, Abdoo, Josiah, Hilton, Glove, Russ, and anyone with the last name Connole. Thanks guys.)
