What a loser is

While Young makes the point that losing is something that must take place in any competition, I think his best conclusion is that most of the time winning is not based on being good but by beating someone else. From an early age you always hear the saying Never give up. It is a good thing to do, but I think not giving up is what makes someone a winner. They may not be beating someone else, but they are beating their personal best. That is how you can seperate an athlete from a sports player. An athlete loves the game, but a sports player just plays. I think that the reason Young takes such a positive stance on losers is that he really has never loved playing a competitive sport. His practice of zen meditation and loving the butthole surfers should be a clear indication of this. He does hit on something interesting when he says that up to 90 percent of children drop out of organized competitive sports by the age of 15. I think that a small percent of that is due to his point that kids do not want to be stigmatized as a 'loser', but i think a larger part is due to the fact that around the age of 15, most kids can finally grasp the concept that they really are not good at what they are doing. That may be harsh but it still doesnt classify them as a loser until they quit.