Someone, somewhere once said that winning isn’t everything.  Child, please.  Winning isn’t everything?  Really?  What if George Washington had that mentality as he was moving his troops across the Delaware? 

George:  Guys, I know you are starving and freezing and probably catching a wicked bad cold, but just go out there and do your best.  That’s all I can ask for because whether you win or lose, we’ve made some good friends along the way.

 What if General William T. Sherman told his troops that right before they made their March to the Sea?

General Sherman:  Okay men, this could be the turning point of the Civil War.  We are going to burn everything in sight from Atlanta down to Savannah to shut the south down and end this thing.  Don’t be afraid to give up or only give half the effort and not win because I’m sure the Confederate Army will just laugh this off in a week…maybe two weeks.

What if the 2011 Cleveland Indians thought like that before every game?  We would definitely not have the record that we do, nor would we have so many 9th inning come back wins. My point is, winning is everything and you can’t go into a sport or an event like Bowl for Kids’ Sake bowling tournament thinking that it is okay to lose. 

 (Photo on left is courtesy of Dan Mendlik) Speaking of Bowl for Kids’ Sake, the Cleveland Indians front office just competed against the Cleveland Browns front office yesterday in the 9th Annual Sports Bowl benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters.  After losing the past 4 years to the Cleveland Browns, this was going to be our year!  Our entire front office wanted to win this so badly.  We actually got into it more this year than we have in past years–and it helped that while we were bowling we had the  Tribe game (versus Oakland) on for extra motivation.  Even the Indians’ wives fielded a bowling team!  Slider and Chomps bowled the ceremonial first bowl (which both ended up being gutter balls) and we were under way.

Fast forward two scored games and one fun game and the results were in.  The Cleveland Indians (who fielded 12 teams of 5) had a combined pin count of 14, 123–a solid total and more than in past years.  The Cleveland Browns (also having 12 teams of 5) had a pin count of 14, 470 and for the 5th year in a row, took the trophy from us. 

I can’t say that I am happy about the loss.  What I can say is that I am happy that both the Browns and the Indians raised over $10,000 to donate to Big Brothers Big Sisters, which is a HUGE win for all three organizations.   I can also say that I am happy knowing that one of our employees who competed is a crazy big Pittsburgh Steelers fan and for the Browns to beat a Steelers fan is always a good thing.   Thank you to the employees of both front offices who participated to make this such a great event.  Without you all, we wouldn’t have lost for the 5th year in a row.