Not really a Joe Paterno fan, but I really like this quote and wanted to share. It says something about a way to approach competition that I believe we should keep in mind, especially as we develop young men and women beyond sports.
"There are many people, particularly in sports who think that success and excellence are the same thing and they are not the same thing. Excellence is something that is lasting and dependable and largely within a person’s control. In contrast, success is perishable and is often outside our control… If you strive for excellence, you will probably be successful eventually... people who put excellence in first place have the patience to end up with success… An additional burden for the victim of the success mentality is that he/she is threatened by success of others and resents real excellence. In contrast, the person fascinated by quality is excited when he/she sees it in others."
-- Joe Paterno – Penn State Football Coach - 1990
BTW, I have not been trolling Penn State boards. I found it as part of a very worthwhile document several years back that can be found here http://www.torosoccer.com/files/document/file_name/13577/learningvswinning.pdf The document was put forth by the US Womens National Teams as a position statement on player development verses winning. Worth a read.
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