It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” — Henry Grantland Rice
With the recent passing of the iconic and legendary Coach Pat Summitt of Tennessee, who won eight national women’s NCAA basketball championships at the big 1A level, the subject of winning and losing has come to my mind. This matter has also been fueled by both the recent political campaigns in our locale, as well as the national one by both the Republican and Democratic parties. A lot of mudslinging and dirty politicking has gone on and will even get worse as we enter into the homestretch toward the general election and finish line in November. Regrettably and to the detriment of our county, a few good people, who chose not to stoop to the level of playing dirty in order to win an election, were the victims of unethical and unfair tactics. However, what escapes the eyes of mortal men never goes undetected by the all-seeking eyes of the judge of the whole earth. His eyes are in every place beholding the evil and the good and with Him; there is a day of reckoning, when we all without any exception will reap what we have sown.
Perhaps this article had its origin in the cotton field, when I was in the fourth grade back in 1961. Back then, some of us had to stay out of school a few weeks at the beginning of school during cotton-picking season. We had to pick cotton in order to get some money to help purchase our school clothes. I well remember this particular day when we were picking cotton in one of Mr. Marion Oliver’s fields. It was very commonplace for us to square off to see who could pick the most cotton. I would always be pitted against my brother Cliff (Red) Goings, who would always beat me, although he was a year younger than me. I could never focus on picking cotton due to the fact that I would be too preoccupied with daydreaming and counting the cars as they passed and the birds as they flew in the sky. My brother Marvin, who is the second oldest son in our clan, was pitted against our cousin, nicknamed Jungle Baby, whose real name was Cleveland Bethea. I caught my first glimpse at cheating to win when I observed my aunt, who was his grandmother, give him one of her big packed sacks to empty onto his sheet in order to beat my brother Marvin at weigh-in time at the end of the day. Well, he just did beat him by only a few pounds, but I knew even back then that he had not won fairly, but by my aunt’s cheating.
We are living in an age and culture where winning is everything for far too many people. So much emphasis is placed on winning and so little is given to fair play and honesty. The asterisk that is set by the records set by such great baseball heroes as Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriquez, and quite a few others is compelling proof that some people will go to any extremes to be a winner. What about the dishonesty displayed by head coach Bill Belichick and his superstar quarterback Tom Brady, respectively of the New England Patriots and the infamous Spygate and Deflategate incidents that gave them an advantage and edge over their opponents? Then there was track star Marion Jones who cheated by using steroids to win her five gold medals at the 2000 Olympics. Perhaps the name of the person that has become synonymous with the unethical practice of cheating to win is Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President of the United States of America. I venture to say that no other politician’s name is associated with cheating to win as is his and the infamous Watergate Scandal that ultimately destroyed both his presidency and honored position in American history. When I think of President Nixon, the first thought that comes to my mind is not the fact that he was the one who opened up China to the west, nor the ending of the conflict or war in Vietnam. The first thought that comes to my mind is Watergate, the name Tricky Dick, and a statement he made while he was under investigation for the break in that took place at the Watergate Hotel complex. Mr. Nixon’s words that shall live in infamy were, “I am not a crook.”
Cheating to win or to be successful in any field or profession is not an isolated practice. What about those who cheat and falsify information on their income tax forms? Is this why the Republican candidate for President of the United States, Donald Trump, is stalling and reluctant to make his income tax information for the last few years available for public scrutiny? Even in the field of education, a lot of cheating is going on and not just by students to pass tests or go to the next grade. A shocking story unfolded a few years ago of teachers in a certain school district in Atlanta, Georgia. These educators cheated by exaggerating and elevating the test scores of their students to make themselves look successful and effective, and thereby receive bonus incentives. It grieves me to say that the cheating does not stop there. Shamefully in the Christian community, there are leaders who are cheating by lying, falsifying, and overstating their credentials, achievements, and size of their congregations to look important to their peers and people who really has no way of knowing whether or not they are telling the truth. I have had the experience of counseling and warning certain Christian leaders about their lying and being deceptive in order to appear big and successful. Not long ago, the banking and financial community was set back by the likes of Bernie Madoff and others who cheated and falsified many people’s loan applications and qualification in order to get them a home that most would ultimately lose. There was even a report in our area recently that some tried to suppress and keep from the public of a certain banker who was caught cheating and falsifying loan applications for certain people who were complicit with his scheme. He gave them a token fee for being partners in his elaborate scheme to get some easy money from the bank that he worked for and trusted him.
I could of course continue with my presentation of people and examples of those who thought that winning and being successful was everything. Those who cheated and lied to get ahead, to win a game, to win an election and even to strike it rich. I will confess that I was in the number of those who will do almost anything to win or get ahead once. So this writing is not an indictment or the casting of stones at anyone. It is an outcry and warning against a lifestyle and practice that I once embraced that will certainly lead to ruin if there is no repentance. Now that I am free from the obsession to win at any cost. I live by this motto and principle: “It is better to lose playing fairly than it is to win cheating.”
