Jack’s Winning Words 4/2/14
“Most ball games are lost, not won.”  (Casey Stengal)  “The Old Perfessor” managed 3747 games during his Hall of Fame career and lost about half of them.  He also said, “You gotta lose ‘em some of the time, but when you do, lose ‘em right.” We can’t have things go our way all of time, but the successful person is the one who learns from his/her mistakes.  A good teacher wrote on a student’s test, “Do better next time.”    ;-)  Jack

  FROM MK IN MICHIGAN:  Garrett broke his wrist on the monkey bars at school yesterday. His season of baseball(which he Loves) was just about to start. We're hoping his season is not completely 'lost.' We go to the orthopedic doctor today. Praying that some of this outcome 'goes his way.'====JACK:  I've lived long enough to experience the "reality" that some bad breaks can turn out to be good in the long run...though it's hard to believe that in the short run.  I'm sure that Jose Iglesias (the Tigers' shortstop) would rather be playing this year instead of waiting for his fractures to heal.  Having said that, I hope that the doctor, after his examination, gives some good news.

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  I've found when competing that you can give others the opportunity to lose...they often seize upon it.====JACK:  I would have had a tough time facing you on the tennis court or in a debate competition.  In both arenas, you probably won more often than you lost.

FROM TARMART REV:  "Do better next time" . . . always a good phrase of encouragement for those set backs we all face . . . "The best is yet to come!" Good morning, Jack . . . let's go face our new day together while apart!!====JACK:  Each new day is a "do better next time" opportunity.  It is our responsibility to take advantage of it.

 FROM IKE AT THE MIC:  On this theme.I subscribe to the saying that: "Everyone is entitled to make a fool of themselves for 5 minutes per day,the ones to avoid are those that go over the 5 minutes"====JACK: I watched the questioning of GM's Mary Barra on C-Span yesterday by some Congressmen.  Each was given 5 minutes.  Some ran over the limit.  There instances where your "saying" showed itself.

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I'm reminded of our old basketball adage: you can't win with defense; but you can certainly lose because a lack of it! We need a good balance of both...just like we learn from both having things go our way and not. In this way, we either "win" or we "don't win". "Not winning" is much different than "losing". Experience is not a zero-sum game.====JACK:  The basketball adage works for many sports and in business situations, too...as with the current GM problem.  Your words fit for the "game" of life, too.

 FROM TRIHARDER:  Like, "Good pitching beats good hitting every time. And vice- versa." ====JACK:  You can't win if you don't score, and, as they say, "A tie is like kissing your sister."   Probably the best-known tie in major league history was the record 26-inning game between Brooklyn and Boston, May 1, 1920. They ran out of daylight.  It should be noted that both starters, Cadore and Oeschger, went the distance.  Good pitching!

 FROM PH IN MINNESOTA:  good thoughts for this day, Jack!   thanks.====JACK:  I try to make day's words...winning ones.   "You win some; you lose some."  Optimistically, they come out on the positive side.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  If you don't swing, you'll never hit a homer!====JACK:  Longtime announcer for the Tigers, Ernie Harwell, used to say, when a batter took a called 3rd strike..."He stood there like the house by the side of the road."  The phrase is from a poem by Sam Walter Foss.
 Let me live in a house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by-
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner's seat
Nor hurl the cynic's ban-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Some lose and some win.  It's a good thing not to get our way all of the time....we would be in a big mess!====JACK:  That's why the Lord taught us to pray, "Thy will be done."