Being a champion is much more than just winning, its about winning and being given a really cool trophy with a ribbon tied on it.One week ago Satit Kaset International held their annual bowling tournament at SF Strike Bowl here in Bangkok. I felt good coming into the competition and developed a smooth swing which carried me to a 3 game combined score victory over several hundred other competitors. Because of this remarkable and awe inspiring achievement I have decided that all student and fellow teachers will need to refer to me next year as Master Bowler Ajarn Sim instead of simply Ajarn Sim. I believe that this is a title that better fits my current standing.
Now I would like address the one or two detractors to my title, a better term for them would be jealous competitors who failed to find a way to win, when they might say that the bowling tournament had strange scoring rules and this gave me an advantage. Okay it is true that this was a one ball competition, so no spares had to be attempted, and it is true that any even number of pens knocked down counted as a strike and any odd number counted as a spare, and it is true that I hit a number of 2 pen frames which were converted into strikes, but as they say what matters is not the rules or regulations, but adapting to and using these rules to secure a very cool trophy with a ribbon on it.
I am American, and what that means is very simple, "Just Win Baby" and then everything else is forgotten. I refer to what one of our founding fathers once said, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Now I can't remember when Knute Rockne said this or even when he was the president, but I do believe in his wisdom. This quote has fueled my vision of competitive sport my entire life and that's probably why I will be polishing the trophy on my cabinet this weekend.
