The Super Bowl: A Chance to Lose Gracefully

Super Bowl 50 has occupied much of our conversation and time this week. I know, it is a big game! Someone will win and someone will lose. And while we love winners, there is something to be said for people who know how to lose gracefully.

Perhaps we can use this event as a way to teach and remind our children that win or lose, character matters. Here are a few tips:

1. Remember, it's only a game. Put it in perspective. This is not about world hunger, human trafficking, or world peace. It's about a football game that is entertaining, but it truly is not that important in the scope of life.  
2. Your children are watching how you react. Don't forget that you are modeling for your kids how to handle losing. Hot-headed kids usually come from hot-headed parents. Think, this is a teaching moment to model good sportsmanship.
3. Discuss why the team lost. We can learn from losses if we use them to review what could have been better. As coach Tom Landry once reminded us, we learn best from our failures, not from our wins.
4. Let off steam during the game, but don't get out of control. Here is your chance to model how to cope when things don't go your way. Do you yell, scream, swear, or are you able to control your emotions and be kind even in the face of disappointment? Emotional regulation is learned and needs to be practiced.
5. Acknowledge the winner. At the end of the 2010 Super Bowl, Peyton Manning left the field without shaking the hand of winning quarterback, Drew Brees. Maybe Peyton was disgusted with himself for the loss, but shake the hand of the opponent and show some respect. Don't sulk when you lose! It's not becoming.

In the end, losing brings out character–good, bad, and the ugly. We've got a chance to practice losing gracefully, because only one team eventually wins! How we accept loss may be remembered as much as the winning. Certainly, our children are watching! And certainly, we want to model appropriate Christian character even if it is only a game.