Winning is a Must, but Not Everything

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“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve now arrived to the most crucial moment of this event. And the winner goes to… The Red Team!” This announcement was followed by a great applause. The champion, of course, was filled with triumph, too occupied in receiving congratulatory wishes. The non-winners, on the other hand, were beaming at the champion with admiration, while having ‘better luck next time” looks on their faces. Each of the non-winners may come from different backgrounds but all of them have a unified purpose that is winning. In the passage, “Winning isn’t Everything” by Peter Hamill (1983, p.25), it indicates that wining is not the most important aspect in a game and losing is not something to be ashamed of. However, after reading this passage, I could not bring myself to fully agree with Hamill’s thoughts. After all, winning is everybody’s utmost priority.

Everyone loves to win. According to Hamill’s passage (1983, p 26), it points out that the loss of Joe Frazier to Muhammad Ali in the boxing ring was an incident that Frazier should be proud of because Frazier’s loss had turned Ali into the legend in the boxing ring. Hamill intended to show that winning is not everything; losing can also be an honorable act. However, I disagree with this statement because Frazier did not lose deliberately just to raise Ali’s fame. Both of them came to the tournament to win but not to lose. Hamill’s statement will most probably be an insult to both of the boxers, especially Frazier, as the desire to win is innate in every human. The triumph of defeating the opponent is indeed satisfying and euphoric. Under normal circumstances, humans will use everything (some may cheat) just to achieve success without considering how weak they are because winnin...

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...e desire to win, as the yearning to win is always innate in every human. I appreciate Hamill’s efforts to convince the readers that winning is not everything, but his efforts to reduce the value of winning may discourage the readers to be less determined and competitive. Hence, in my opinion, winning is everybody’s utmost priority as it motivates the winners to do their best and to complete the whole game. Hamill’s points are right, but I still unable to fully accept his opinions after I had finished reading this passage. After all, a saying by Vince Lombardi goes “Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.”

Works Cited

They certainly want to win. Sometimes they absolutely lust for victory.”

Grantland Rice’s saying “It matters not who won or lost, but how they played the game,”

Vince Lombardi goes “Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.”

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