Do you think professional competitors are bitter?

[Amethyst Wind]

I was thinking about the NFL, how we have divisions of 4 teams, and (barring 2 wild card teams who are non-division winners with the best win-loss records) only one of those 4 will make the playoffs.

I thought about what would go through the minds of the players of the remaining three teams who didn't go through, I honestly can't decide whether it would be closer to;

A) "Those guys managed to beat us, they better win!"

or

B) "How dare those guys beat us, they better not win!"


There's obviously great respect between these teams as they play each other twice every year and divisional games are generally more closely matched due to familiarity, but I honestly don't know whether the losing 3 teams would prefer to have their division representative do well in the playoffs or would rather see the guys who took their spot get beat down or not.

NOTE: THE NFL IS AN EXAMPLE OF THIS, I'M MORE INTERESTED IN THE GENERAL COMPETITIVE VIBE HERE. THIS IS A META-DISCUSSION PEOPLE!

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Berethond]

I don't think professional competitors are bitter at all. They, after all, compete out of the love of the sport (usually) and not strictly to win. (Though winning is nice.)

 

[emeraldrafael]

Snip

in the NFL, as a team, no one is happy that is beaten out of the playoffs. I can pretty much promise you that as a team, no one in Carolina is rooting for any other team.

BUt as friends and players that know each other on the personal level you dont get when you look at yourself as Jets V Pats, or Browns V Steelers, or Packers V Vikings.

And that then applies as my opinion to any competition in general. Sure, you cant come out and just say, "oh, I hope those F**kers lose, they beat our asses constantly all year" but you know you're thinking it. Its a healthy respect.

I mean, if teams thought in the way you stated in Option A, no one would really care if they lost, cause then they'd just look at it as we helped them there through losing to them.


Besides... when you suck like the Panthers/Bangles/Cowboys do, do you cant really afford to think that someone beat you, so obviously that means that they're greater then god. I mean, hell, look at Carolina with I think a 2-15 (i think) record. No one one that team is deluding themselves to think they are great.

 

[benderinTime]

A lot of competitors, whether gamers, athletes, or anything else, compete because they enjoy what they do, and to a point where they want to make a career out of it. Professional Starcraft players play Starcraft because they love the game, and basketball players play basketball because they love to play basketball. Winning is a great thing, but it isn't the priority.

Onto what you are asking, I know a few people who have become professional athletes, and when they are on a team that hasn't made the playoffs, they usually root for a friend's team to win, or they don't care at all and just watch the games because they love the sport.

 

[Wolfenbarg]

I don't think professional competitors are bitter at all. They, after all, compete out of the love of the sport (usually) and not strictly to win. (Though winning is nice.)

Errr... that seems a little naive. You have to remember that most of these guys only have a career for a few years, tops. And in that time most of them aren't making millions, only the guys who fill seats are making that kind of money. If you don't make your wins, you have less and less of a chance of being noticed or staying on board. Under the stressful conditions there, I would be pretty bitter against the team that beat me.

 

[blackbobcat]

well i was a competitive Trampolinist (section of gymnastics) and went to the world champs twice....

I wouldnt say that they are bitter as such... obviously all high level athletes are very competitive... its the only way to get to the top... to be the best you have to think thst you are the best... so alot of professional athletes come across as bitter when they lose of fail and can come across as arrogant up themselves assholes alot of the time too...

i believe diaspointed would be a good word.... high level sportsman train hard... and long hours... think about it... if you trained for an event 5 - 6 times a week for 2 - 3 hours each time for a year (this is what i was doing in my lead up to worlds) and you dont make the cut because some guy beat you by a tiny bit... or your team lost by one goal or whatever... yeah your gona be disapointed...

Its all about how good a sportsman you are... a bad sport will blame others for his failure and make exchuses... a good sport will look at where he went wrong and focus on perfecting it... both will be disapointed in their efforts... no doubt about that... but one will learn from it and one will take it to heart.... ive generally found bad sportsmen dont make it as far as good sportsmen do...

easiest way to tell... watch how one sportsman interacts with his "fellow competitors" while he/she thinks no one is watching... how one treats a fellow competitor will pretty much sum up his/her entire mindset towards the sport and compertition...

sorry slightly got off topic

 

[Naheal]

I don't think professional competitors are bitter at all. They, after all, compete out of the love of the sport (usually) and not strictly to win. (Though winning is nice.)

If you're competing, you're playing to win. A professional competitor is simply a professional in a sport; that's it. If they're playing, they're playing to win. Period.

 

[Griphphin]

I would hope that when your lifeblood is the game you care about the competitive spirit enough that you want the best to win regardless. If I had to lean to one side or the other, I'd hope that competitors want the ones that beat them to do well enough to win, as opposed to doing badly enough to lose. Competitive spirit again and all that jazz.

 

[Squarez]

Well if your whole career is based around sport (and thus winning and losing), I'd think that they could take losing well, because statistically it serves as half of their job.

 

[Canid117]

I don't think professional competitors are bitter at all. They, after all, compete out of the love of the sport (usually) and not strictly to win. (Though winning is nice.)

The four million dollar a year salary has nothing to do with it I'm sure.