At least if you measure it by how well things go for you immediately. At least if you've 'fessed up to a high school sporting body that decides to be unsporting about it.
Our confession and appeal for clemency was denied. We were thanked for our forthrightness, and then assessed a 0-1 loss, to replace our 8-0 victory. It seems that our "sporting" side which under the duress of playing the game will accept the foibles of human judgement, when able to otherwise apply the letter of the law, there is no room for error - intentional or inadvertent. But methinks I protest too much. At least tonight the boys overcame that disappointment to defeat a team that over the past few years has "had our number" 3-1. I believe this victory will be safe.
A sympathetic colleague offered comfort by assuring me we'd done the right thing, that this would stand us in good stead for the future. In fact he said that the next time a neighbouring community's coach asked for one form of leniency (which he is, in our experience, wont to do) or another we could occupy the high ground and remind him of this situation and deny him his hopes. Well okay, I say, but this does not seem to match the spirit of the dictum about honesty.
In fact this too is mean-spirited and small-minded. We end up not with a grace-filled golden rule moment, but rather a reverse golden rule: Do unto others what they have done unto you. It's an eye for an eye to be sure. Which is, ultimately, the spirit of sport. Anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't tried to compete with people bent on winning.
The only place I've experienced good-natured, all for one and one for all, and let's head out for a beer afterward (and before if possible) is in cyclocross. Long live bikes and their riders who, by riding hard unto exhaustion are too tired to be jerks, and thus better able to realize their potential to make the world a good place!
Ride report
in: 4'C wind NW 30ks
out: 12'C wind NNW 20ks
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