She was underwhelmed, if that's a word

I've started playing tennis with Richard (fellow copy editor) in the mornings before work. Of course, I get my butt kicked because I haven't really played that much before. I played squash for several years in Whitehorse and thought they would complement each other more. Anyway, it's funny because regardless of how much I suck, I'm still competitive. What I mean is, I lose constantly (Richard is not even really trying) but then, over the course of the hour, if I do make one decent shot I yell and whoop and say things like 'Yeah! Suck on that one!'
Lame? Absolutely. Maybe it's because I didn't really play sports as a kid, that now I love the thrill of competition even though I'm consistently mediocre at most things (softball, golf, biking, running...tennis...) But it's always fun to see yourself improve, so I think I'll stick with tennis. But it's not just sports that I am overly competitive in. Sam and I play cribbage quite a bit and I can't stand losing. Even though it's just a card game, some primal instinct takes over and I feel like I have to count super-fast and even count Sam's cards because he's just too slow. We used to have woman's poker night in Whitehorse and I would get pissed if we were only playing with nickels. Sigh. And, even though I was able to be happy for Theresa when she got that butt-quarter-hole-in-one, I wanted to get it first.
Whether it's racing Meg down the driveway just because, or driving too fast just to beat someone to a restaurant or wherever, I always want to be first. I guess this drive will come in handy when I continue racing sled dogs next winter. This winter I was humbled by the competition but was mostly just there to get used to the crowds and protocol of a race. I was disappointed when I got passed, however.
I'm a sore loser and an even more pathetic winner. I even pulled a Ken Anderson recently and told the winner of this year's Chena dog sled race that the only reason he won is because I wasn't there to defend my title. (I won last year...YEAH!! WHOOO!)
So next year, I'm going to focus on be a fair competitor, but I will make a conscious effort not to put too much pressure on my dogs or myself. When so-so dog mushers get caught up in finishing say, in the top three, it's their dogs that pay the price and even though I might get caught up in trying to win, I'm smart enough to realize when simply finishing is a victory in itself. Oh yeah, and having fun, too.
Peace.