Are you too competitive?

Wimp I think most of us hate losing. I've done idiotic things when my business is down, but I have nobody to blame but myself. When I was a teenager, I thought I was really good at 'Othello', the board game. I played with my younger brother and he trounced me. I threw the board with all the pieces at his head. Yep, I've been there. I won't tell you about the dart story...

My rage is always directed at myself. I remember once I was playing pool with my brother when we were in our mid-teens, and I beat him like five or six times in a row, like I always did. Then he beat me. Once. And no matter how much I begged him, he wouldn't play me again. This drove me absolutely insane. I freaked out and threw the biggest hissy fit ever. I ran to my room, screaming, crying, shouting about how I was the biggest loser in the world, I deserved to die, etc . . .

My father came into my room, picked me up, and threw me across the room into the wall.

Surprisingly, it worked.

And since then, I've been (for the most part) a much better sport.

I just make sure I always win.

So far, no problem.

I like to win and if I let myself go all out, I can be pretty obnoxious. But, I try to be a god sport whether I'm winning or losing.

God sport? Like, Athena? ;-)

I'm a bit conflicted on this one, I was a championship sprinter in H.S. and had to really psych myself up, decide I hated opponents and they could eat my dust, etc. (There WERE some nemesis-worthy opponents, though.) Then I decided I really didn't enjoy that whole thing and backed off from it. I just wasn't as fast if the emotions weren't running high, and it wasn't fun to make the emotions run high every time.

My favorite competition was playing pick-up basketball with guys, circa 1990-93. It was before there were any women out there, and I got real respect for knowing what I was doing. Not just threes, drives to the basket and elbows.

I played every day for a while there, 2-6 hours a day (ah, to be a college student again), and so really got to know the people. There was competition, there were grudges and blood, but it all ended up fine at the end.

I have become fairly philosophical over the years. I figure some days you eat the bear some days the bear eats you. I'm a winner either way. :wink:

Kicky, you and I would be friends if we were to meet, real pals. I'm so competitive that I have made kids cry. Quite a funny scene.

No.

Ah nevermind

Well, that's not quite true, I do like to be good at what I am good at.
Oh, you mean sports..

I liked it when the bat connected with the ball and got base hits or hrs, such as they were, in my after school baseball playing; I liked it when I did well at tennis in my class in college. I liked getting a hole in one at Rancho Park... heh, fibbing, it was at the pitch and putt course. But didn't view it so much as me against others.

On the other hand, I enjoy watching really good competition...

Child, you made a kid cry? Now THAT is bad. But I understand that insane competitiveness.

Let me tell you all a story, to illustrate.

I once had a friend who was just like me with competition. If one of us won at something, we'd give the other one **** forEVER about it. And we both HATED to lose.

We made the mistake of going to a rec center and playing basketball one night. He was about 3 or 4 inches taller and about 60 pounds heavier than me, so even though I was good enough to score a lot, I could never stop him. He beat me three games in a row. He gave me **** about how great he was and how I sucked, just like we always did. No big deal.

Then came the Ping Pong portion of the battle. He beat me the first couple games, because I hadn't played in a long time, but then I got back to my old level of greatness and whooped his ass 7 times in a row.

Oh my god, he was so pissed off, and I couldn't resist giving him **** about it, but he was in no mood. We were in the gym getting our stuff and I said some smart ass thing, and he just lost it. He threw me up against the bleachers and I thought he was going to kill me. Now, I am not a fighter, unless I really lose it. Plus, I think he could have easily kicked my ass, so I backed down and we both went home.

A few months later, I f*cked his wife. They ended up getting a divorce. I win!

Some times but not always it depends on the game. For instance golf - I always like to play with some one that is better than I so that I have to work harder. But then there is that little scar on my eye brow that I got from throwing my putter down and it hit just right an bounced up and wounded me.

Surfing my other sport is non competitive except for me and the sea. The sea wins.

WHOA! We would have definitely been friends on the school yard.