You’re taught at a young age to be a good sport – meaning that you’re not a sore loser or a poor winner – no matter what you do. While I have pretty much stuck to that idea, sometimes I falter.
    I had a stint as a cross-country runner in high school and almost always came in last during races. I was never a runner and didn’t really expect to perform above what little ability I had. While I didn’t stick with the sport for very long, losing didn’t bother me that much and I actually observed some high class sportsmanship when my opponents would cheer me on at the end of the trail.
    I am usually able to deal with mistakes with grace, but there’s one area where I’ve discovered it’s difficult to be a good sport and that’s playing cards. I know it’s not as profound as my aforementioned cross-country experience, but winning and losing gracefully at cards has proved to be somewhat of a challenge for me.
    Most weekends my fiancé Bob and I play cards with friends – nothing serious like poker, but games like Phase 10, UNO or sometimes a game of Monopoly.
    Whatever competitiveness in me comes out and sometimes, it’s just not pretty. I will become down right mean to my opponents if I’m losing, picking at their nerves and giving them a verbal sucker punch when they’re not expecting it.
    Bob sometimes gets the brunt of my unsportsman-like conduct because I know him the best. I know his weaknesses, I know how to get on his nerves. I use that knowledge like a weapon to defend my losing self and my losing hand. Isn’t there a saying, ‘you hurt the ones you love’?  Being true to that statement then I guess Bob should feel very loved when we play cards.
    My bad attitude has never caused a fight between us, but it wouldn’t surprise me if in the future I go too far and actually hurt someone’s feelings.
    I have known others like me. I used to date a St. Louis Rams football fan. When I was living in Missouri they played the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Patriots won and I called him to gloat – upon which he hung up on me. Neither of us showed a trace of grace with that behavior I suppose.
    Have you every played the board game Risk? There’s another example of a game that has the ability to turn you into something mean and nasty. You always have to be thinking strategy in that game, which makes you get kind of edgy.
    I used to play with someone whose personality would totally change when we played that game. There was no joking around with him when he was losing and it was a little disheartening.
    Looking back at them, I understand where they were coming from because somehow between now and then I have caught the bug of being a poor sport.
    At least I can say I don’t fly off the handle in ‘real life.’ It surprises me because in most other areas of my life I consider myself a patient, logical and nice person. I guess I have Jekyll and Hyde syndrome when it comes to playing games, which is something I think I can live with every once in a while – even if my opponents can’t.
            – Molly Lovell