Greatest Loser Of All Time

The Greatest Loser of All Time

We have all been privy to losing quarterback Cam Newton's post Super Bowl press conference. He appeared on the podium slumped over, hiding inside a "hoodie",  giving one word, or very short, terse answers to questions about the game. He was justifiably upset with the outcome of the game, but his angry demeanor (or was it his woundedness or embarrassment?) generated a huge amount of negative press coverage in the following week.

Was he angry? It looked like it. Was he blaming his teammates? Some say he was. Was he childish? Many said yes, but some apologists suggested he was justified because he is such a great competitor, and all great competitors hate losing.

I am sure that losing irks every champion, and the higher the stakes, the greater the disappointment and frustration. Champions hate losing at anything, something Cam alluded to to at a later date. He suggested that anyone who was a champion at heart was not a very good loser.

Well, that's where I draw the line. I think Cam, at his young age, would do well to take a trip to Ohio and spend time with the greatest winner - and loser - of all time: Jack Nicklaus.  Mr. Nicklaus's is clearly a champion and a competitor, demonstrated by his incomparable golfing achievements, led by his eighteen major tournament victories, a record which will probably stand long after he is gone.

Okay, Nicklaus is clearly a great winner but I say he was an ever greater loser? Gary Player, the great South African golfing icon usually makes this point when reflecting on Jack's place as a god of golf. Player says that everyone knows how great a golfer and champion Jack is but, he was always more impressed by how gracious a loser he was.

For the record, Mr. Nicklaus won his amazing aforementioned eighteen major tournaments, but possibly even more amazing, he finished second nineteen times, in the top five fifty-six times. and in the top twenty five almost one hundred times.   So what you say?  Well, I say that finishing second in a major golf tournament may be even harder on someone than losing a super bowl.

Why? A golf tournament begins on Thursday and ends on Sunday, not even taking into account the practice rounds on Tuesday or Wednesday. That's four days of tournament hard work, requiring unending, intense focus, and mind numbing pressure, often taking place in inclement, hot or cold weather...walking all the way. There is no break for a golfer while while the defense takes the field. It's all about every shot, every decision, every crazy fan yelling "You the man!", and every gust of wind that alters all of one's careful calculations. 

One of Jack's British Open tournaments where he had yet another win, "in the bag" he watched asTom Watson chipped one in from an awful lie off the green to win, or witness Lee Trevino sinking a thirty footer to snatch victory on the last shot of another important tournament. Jack often won tournaments by breaking another competitor’s heart so he kept a balanced demeanor, win or lose.

To lead a golf major tournament may be among the most pressurized situations an athlete can experience. And finishing second, close enough to smell the roses, must be crushing. Golf fans see something like this happen almost every week, cringing or exalting when a competitor misses a four foot putt to lose or drains a forty footer to win a tournament. In virtually every case Jack Nicklaus, or virtually any other golfer agrees to answer questions, not sit, sulk or storm out of an interview.

Nineteen times in major tournaments he finished in second place, and each time, Jack sought out the winner, shook his hand and said something positive and encouraging to him. In retrospect, that example may have been as important to the champion of the trophy.

Yes, winning may build a resume, but losing builds a reputation. Jack's resume and reputation are without blemish and while Cam's resume is amazing, he would be wise to learn how to lose with a little more grace, from the greatest loser of all time, Jack Nicklaus.