I’ve come in second place a lot. It’s not such a bad thing. It’s not as good as first place but not as bad as third. Definitely a lot better than not placing at all. The Bills brushed up against first place four years in a row and that team is considered one of the great teams in NFL history.
Statistically speaking, the number of times I’ve come in second place in sports is pretty impressive. In academics it’s hard to make the case that second place is impressive. The numbers just aren’t there. Most academic competitions are held annually or a few times a year at best. Second place in a science fair or being salutatorian is impressive, but not statistically impressive. “How many times have you placed in science fairs this year?” “Well just once, but…” “But nothing.” A meaningful sample size is just not there. So for that reason, I will keep this in the world of sports. For that reason and also because I only have sports to reference from my experience. I have never placed in academics.
On the Track
I first realized I had a knack for second in high school. It occurred at a track tournament that was larger than normal. I ran three heats in both the 100 and 200 meters. I was also in the last leg of the 4×100 relay. A total of seven races. Drum roll please… SIX. I managed to come in second SIX times. 6 out of 7 races. An 85.7% second place consistency rate. I came home with six sweet red ribbons that weekend. Again, statistically speaking, that is an amazing feat. The consistency of it. I’m sure you are saying to yourself, “6 out of 7 first place finishes are better.” The problem with that thinking is, if you are the fastest person on the track, you would expect to win ALL the races. I’m not impressed with that. Give me the scrappy second place runner every time.
On the Mats
I’ve documented my record in wrestling in another story, Exceptionally Bad, so I will just provide the highlights here. I was not a great wrestler. My freshman year I won one match. Sophomore year zero wins. Junior and senior years—retired. In order to cope with this underperformance, I learned to rephrase the experience as “coming in second”. It sounds a lot better than “lost.” Again, statistically speaking this is quite impressive. Say there were 20 matches a year. That would mean that my freshman year I came in second in 95% of my matches. My sophomore year, 100%!!! That makes the Bills accomplishment not so impressive by comparison.
On Training Camp
My senior year in college I went to summer school to catch up on some classes. There were enough of us on the football team to have a summer-long training camp. It included a lot of running. A LOT of running. I loved running though. I was the second fastest guy on the team the last three years of college. There was always that one freshman that was just a little bit faster.
One of my friends at summer school was on the track team and also joined our training camp to stay in shape. He was fast. Like, really, really fast. He was the fastest guy at school by far. He was a lot faster than any of those silly freshmen, that’s for sure. So there I was again, coming in second. But this time it was different. It took on a cruel taste. He was so much faster than I was, he toyed with me. He ran just fast enough so that I was always close behind him. An arm’s length away. I would run a little faster, he would run a little faster. I would slow down, he would slow down. Always just an arm’s length away. Like a cat playing with a mouse. I was determined to beat him at least once that summer. I was hoping for him to have an off day. A cold or digestive issue. Or maybe I would have an exceptional day. So I gave my all every day. But it never happened.
I knew he was doing it on purpose too. I knew that son-of-bitch had a big smile on his face. I couldn’t see it because I was always behind him, but I knew it was there. I knew he was laughing to himself. Making me think I could beat him. So this time it did start to get to me. It messed with my head. I would say we ran 5 days a week, 15 races each day. Camp was 8 weeks long.
5 × 15 × 8 = a shit ton of second place
That would mess with anyone’s head. That is not how you want to go into football season either. I fear it contributed to the team coming in second place that season more times than I care to remember.
Maybe second place isn’t so good after all.
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