What's the Game?

I used to be very competitive when I was younger. As an example of that it says below my High School Yearbook photo, "A worthy opponent in any contest." I'm not so competitive anymore. In fact, I'll bet you ten bucks I'm less competitive than you are. Ha!

I thought of that last night while watching the Emmys. All the show biz awards are interesting in that no one really is competing for them while they are competing for them. What they are doing is their jobs and they're trying to do them as well as they can not so they can win awards, but so they can get more jobs. Doing their jobs well is the primary objective. Winning an award is a bonus, an afterthought for that job well done. In sports you generally win awards when you win your competitions. The difference here is that in Show Biz you can hoist a trophy even if your film was a box office bust or your tv show was cancelled. In sports, you will rarely find an MVP chosen from a losing team and a guy knocked out in round 12 doesn't get the gold belt for being better the other eleven rounds. You must win the competition to win the award. I think the Show Biz way is better from a participant way of thinking. At least that way if you do your job above and beyond you're in the hunt for something even if your team lost, your company nose dived or the girl turned you down. "Let's hear it for Bob from Marketing. He was personally responsible for the early success of the Goober Juice campaign. Not his fault those kids got sick." From a spectator point of view, I like the sports way better. There are only three possible outcomes, a win, loss or tie. The end is clearer, more decisive and that's a good thing.

So what am I trying to say here? Boy, if I knew I'm sure I'd say it better. Something about different styles of competitions, how they compare and which I like best. I like the do or die aspect of sports, but show biz more closely mirrors real life (like I know what that is) where sometimes you don't know if you are competing or cooperating and the rules are open to interpretation.

One thing is a certainty either way you look at it. This blog never got into the game.