Third is Better Than Fourth
“Gus never wins. Well, third is better than fourth, I guess”? Proverbial wisdom from the mouth of babes. This honest assessment of my setter’s third place finish at a recent field trial came from our eight-year-old grandson and the comment was quite competitive for a youngster that had once referred to himself as, “Not a sporty guy”.
As a young man, and much too far beyond, I was emphatic that the point of a game was to win. So bad that I recall being banned from family board games for life! Though I still believe that winning should be the ultimate goal, there is a great deal to be said for the challenge and the attempt. Let’s face it, those that don’t wish to keep score are the ones that can’t muster-up to losing. And losing, boys and girls, is also part of the game - and life.
Each young lady insists that they are leading the puppy.
If the only challenger you have met was soulless software or a challenger distantly behind a monitor, win or lose, the effort was of very little significance. Fore, there is a great deal of character-building that takes place in actual competition. For the winner, it is the thrill of winning as well as the humble acceptance that you may be on the other side of the fence next time. For the loser, there is the life-lesson of humility and the personal growth from the thought that, with practice, you will get them next time. It is this last lesson that, once learned, creates a better outdoorsman. Having developed the attributes such as patience, acceptance, hope and faith required to achieve in the outdoors.
Sport, true sport, requires effort. With the effort there is advancement and with the advancement true accomplishment. To create an artificial insect out of feather, fur and thread requires skill and patience. To place the arrangement in such a way that a wary trout accepts the offering and is played to the net is the culminating act in a series of real accomplishments. If the trout turns a discerning tail fin to the fly or is lost in the subsequent fight, the angler can choose to learn from these experiences. Neither scenario has to be a total loss.
Gus didn’t get first because there were dogs and handlers on the field that had more experience in the game, no shame in that. In addition, field trials, like many sporting endeavors, depend on a fair amount of luck. In the final analysis, the only thing worse than loosing is not to have made the effort at all.
Gus with his coveted third-place trophy.
