'Winning Actually Isn't the Only Thing' Response

David Maraniss is the author of the article ‘Winning Actually Isn't the Only Thing’. In this article Maraniss illustrates his frustration about the Green Bay vs. Seattle game, in which he believes that the call by the replacement refs was a poor one. After the game ended Maraniss stated that it took him awhile to cool down and see what the real problem was about. Upon looking back at the game David Maraniss realized that the real problem was about the motives and integrity of the fans, coaches, and refs. He realizes that if it had been a different situation, he may have acted differently and may not have gotten so upset about the call. I believe that he realized that most people get blindsided by the idea of winning and do whatever it takes to win. Mataniss begins to wonder if this is what it has come to; if people put their desire to win first and put their ethics and reasoning last.

I agree with David Maraniss position on this issue. As human beings, we are competitive people by nature; we don’t like to lose. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the game that we forget what it’s all about, and only believe in winning the game. It was apparent in this last game that the desire to win was stronger than the desire to be fair and play the game with the rules in mind. When the pressure is on and it is a close game, tensions become higher and higher, thus making it difficult at times to see what actually happened and what you wanted to see. 

If you had watched this specific game, do you believe the call the refs made was an accurate one? Also, do you agree that at some points during games, players only think of winning and not about playing the game?