Greetings from Nashville! This morning I was listening to Mike & Mike as they discussed Super Bowl LI. For about an hour, Greeny and Golic debated something I thought was pretty silly. At the center of the argument was whether it would have been better for the Atlanta Falcons organization and the fans to have lost the Super Bowl in a blowout rather than lose in such a heartbreaking manner. In other words, one side of the debate argued that it would have been better for the Falcons to have not even shown up to the game and lose by a lopsided score as opposed to coming up just short (albeit in agonizing fashion).
Mike Greenberg accurately described the debate as a dilemma centering around the timeless question of whether it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? I should also mention that Greeny took the side of the Falcons losing big rather than losing in overtime.
When you have a four hour radio show, you need a lot of content to fill that space up. My gut tells me that today’s conversation was just a ploy to eat up an hour or two of airtime because I don’t see how anyone would prefer to go down without a fight, no matter how bitter the loss ends up being.
My opinion is the same for the obvious parallel that Greenberg brought up over the course of the discussion. Heck yes, I think it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. In fact, I think this reasoning goes way beyond just love and football.
Just a few of my personal convictions…
– I would rather study my butt off to get an “A” on a test and come up a percentage point short rather than not study and get a D.
– I would rather apply for something and end up getting rejected as opposed to not applying and never putting myself out there.
– I would rather start a diet and end up falling short of my goal rather than not trying and maintaining/declining my current fitness.
– I would rather work hard on a presentation and put forth my best effort even if it meant that not everything went correctly.
– I would rather put a lot of effort into a gift for someone even if they didn’t 100% appreciate it rather than give them nothing.
This morning’s argument was a one-sided no-brainer for me. It is always better to reach the pinnacle, take the risk, or go for broke than it is to not try, give up, or settle for less than your best. Don’t Blink.