On a recent business trip to Boston, about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive for me, I had time to listen to an audiobook and chose this one as it sounded interesting- it was. Here is my review.
Title/Author: “Losing Isn’t Everything: The Untold Stories and Hidden Lessons Behind the Toughest Losses in Sports History” written and narrated by Curt Menefee
Rating: 4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review: Whenever a memorable moment happens in sports in which there is a winner and a loser, the winner is usually remembered over the years. But not always - sometimes the losing team, player or in individual sports, a performance where the athlete failed to perform as expected, is remembered just as much. This book by Curt Menefee, who also narrates the audio book, tells their story.
Each one follows a pretty standard format - the setting is set, the athlete featured is highlighted. Then the moment happens and how he or she handled that ignominy is the bulk of the material. This would include not only in the immediate aftermath of the event, but how that person has carried on in the following months and years. Many of the stories also started to feel the same as most of them were able to do fine, but almost to a person, it did upset them at least a little that that particular play was all that was remembered.
The best example of that last statement would be Everton Walls, who was the safety pictured on the famous photo of “The Catch” by the San Francisco 49ers receiver Dwight Clark. The other extreme example of this - where the athlete is perfectly fine with what happened - is Jean van de Velde, whose infamous 72nd hole at the 1999 British Open cost him a major title. Van de Velde has always maintained that yes, he lost, but he lost by attempting the shots he wanted to do.
This book is interesting in not only the content of all of these stories, but for the wide variety of sports that is covered. Snowboarding (Lindsey Jacobellis, whose extra move cost her a gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics), speed skating (Dan Jansen, who fell at two Olympics before finally winning in 1994) and track (Mary Decker and her fall in the 1984 Summer Olympics) and covered as well as football, baseball and basketball.
From Craig Ehlo to the 1992 Kentucky "Unforgettables" and from Rodney Harrison to Calvin Schiraldi, many memorable moments are covered and this book covers the other part of them
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Losing-Isnt-Everything-Stories-Toughest/dp/0062440071/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
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