B.C. by Mastroianni and Hart for April 18, 2023

So inspiring as to never win again.

And sadly what many dads actually say to their kids these days. The game is for the children, not the parents. But the latter refuse to believe that.

second place is backup

Second place is the first loser.

Okay … So if you come in second, you’re first. Very nice.

Better second place than being first off a cliff without a parachute.

Toxic parenting.

Second worm doesn’t get eaten.

Book’s not wrong.

My kid’s chess instructor used to say, “the winner in chess is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.”

Gold is nice. But if you win that silver, that’s like, "Congratulations, you almost won.’ Of all the losers, you came in first of that group. You’re the No. 1 loser. No one lost ahead of you.” J Seinfeld

Your didn’t lose, you came in second. Here’s your trophy.

In a two person race you came in last!

Sometimes I wonder if the prize is really worth winning. Competing for “bragging rights” is to much work.

Russian propaganda:

If you came in 2nd in a two person race, you were second to firstIf you came in 1st in a two person race, you were second to last

That’s how they would spin USA vs Russia

Never understood the whole first, second, third….. gold, silver, bronze thing. Was it invented as a marketing ploy to make contestants feel better? No-one strives to come in second. The only place that matters is first. There’s only one winner. Not one winner and two lesser, almost winners, and the only activity that uses that concept is sports, but not all sports. There’s only one Super Bowl Champion and only one Masters winner. Only one NCAA tournament champion. There are no second and third place trophies. There’s only one Daytona 500 winner. There’s only one Academy Award for best category. There’s no silver statue for a second place. There’s only one valedictorian. Only one first in your class. Now they give ‘participation trophies’ for just showing up because the kiddies sensitive little egos must not be subjected to the trauma of not getting some reward for their efforts, regardless of how unsuccessful those efforts were. The hard truth is it doesn’t matter if you came in second or 140th. If you didn’t win the event, you lost. We assign varying degrees of losing by giving numbers to the losers ranks, but they still lost.

Wow, I’m seeing a lot of modern parenting above. Kid’s do need lessons in truth and reality. The way parents raise kids today, when the kid actually ventures out into the world on their own it’s usually a shock to their systems.

It’s the second mouse that gets the cheese

“2nd place is better than next-to-last”

“Second place is the first loser” is an old Jerry Seinfeld. routine

The losers are the kids who outshine the coaches kid on the team..and he gets the trophy and they don’t! Been there, experienced that!

That wouldn’t inspire me either.

Oh gosh- that’s the perfect strip for kbyrdleroy123 ;-) Think you will love it!

At least you don’t have to worry about someone taking your picture for the local paper

I feel like we as society fixate on competion too much and it creates this dangerous “screw everyone else, win at all costs” that rewards cruelity. I know someone will chime in with “ThATs THE wAY tHe WoRLD iS” and we shouldnt cuddle children. But does it really?

Dad jokes are probably less harmful than Dad talks?

It’s a wonder she was able to straighten up without a forklift.

Parents who haven’t played can often behave worse than those who have. Had one parent who scolded her son whenever he used a bit of ‘Anglo-Saxon’ in public, but did not hesitate to use the same ‘word choices’ from the stands when she berated son’s little league coach for not playing him more. Go figure.

As if being FIRST LOSER!! isn’t an accomplishment.

Actually, I think it should be “Second Place is the LAST loser”. (Because all the other teams but one have lost by then).

Not particularly inspiring but true. One of the worst things we ever did was give trophies to everybody. Trophies should be reserved for winners. That inspires competition and the will to improve.

Actually, second place is the last loser, isn’t it?

A view of the past.

This is how you break a child.