Grantland Rice Said It's How You Play The Game

When I was in high school, my dream was to become a sports announcer. I lived out this fantasy as an announcer for WMTH, a radio station that carried my school's football, baseball, and basketball games. My first assignment was to do the play-by-play for the school's opening day baseball game. As the players left the field at the end of the 7th inning, I naturally told the audience that we'd be right back for the 8th. It was the first high school baseball game I'd ever attended, and no one had informed me that high school baseball games are scheduled for only 7 innings. When we came back from commercial, I sheepishly explained to the radio audience that the game was over and we'd lost.

"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" was one of Grantland Rice's famous quotes. I wonder what Grantland would have said about my on air debacle? Rice is considered the Dean of American Sports Writers. It's no wonder. He came up with the nickname The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, among other notable achievements. This original 1913 Grantland Rice column contain his work on a graphically appealing page from an issue of Collier's.