Hi. My name is Kathy, and I'm a sore loser...but not today.
The title of the blog says it all. Thursday, I redeemed myself after last year's humiliating crash and burn in our school's team competition. Some of you may recall my "Confessions of a Sore Loser" post. You can click through to read the whole sordid story, but suffice it to say my pathological need to win cost my team the game. Some of my colleagues still gleefully remind me that the English teacher and writer spelled "chihuahua" wrong. I promise you, I'll remember how to spell that word to my dying day.
This year, our principal shuffled the teams. Instead of interdisciplinary groupings, he teamed us by department. So my team was English teachers, World Language teachers, and some support staff (including the school secretary who is the most organized, efficient woman in the world). My buddy, Linda, also a sore loser, was on Team Social Studies, so we were pitted against each other this year.
Once again, the final competition was a Jeopardy-style quiz where you bet points, and once again, my team entered the final competition in the lead with Social Studies right on our heels. Last year, when we started getting questions wrong, I panicked and bet too high against the advice of my teammates. This year, I resolved to sit on my hands when it came time to wager. And luckily for English, we have Scott who mysteriously disappears to Vegas every year during the first week of March Madness. He worked the odds and the bets for us on each category.
I actually contributed some correct answers this year. I knew that Casey Kasem was the voice of Shaggy and that the Professor and MaryAnne were originally left out of the Gilligan's Island theme song. Our team is diverse with many interests, so everybody contributed. We only missed two questions. We didn't know what breed of dog won at Westminster this year or how many Facebook friends our principal had. Every team guessed low...lol. We underestimate his popularity.
As the game progressed and Team English pulled ahead, Team Social Studies panicked and started betting the farm on every question. Linda made snide comments about my newfound self-restraint. I'd like to claim I've turned over a new leaf, but Scott was running the numbers. He did such a good job, that by the last question, we were in a no-lose position and only bet 1 point.
It feels good to win, and in spite of Linda telling me I suck, I'm being gracious in victory. Far more gracious than I was in defeat.
This one's for you, Linda!
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