Billy: The way sports are watched, the way sports are played, the uniforms athletes wear and the money athletes make all change over time. But sports’ nature as competition: whether recreational or serious: remains constant. The whole point of shooting the basketball at the basket or running fast in a race is to improve chances of winning. So how important is winning in sports? More specifically, to what extent should winning be emphasized at the many levels of organized sports?

For those who see sports as outlets for recreation and exercise, the answer is fairly straight-forward: winning should take a backseat as long as participants enjoy playing the game.

But for athletes, coaches and parents who see sports as more than a casual hobby, the answer is less clear. Let’s think in terms of parents who would very much like to see their child reach the highest levels of sport. My argument is that beginning levels should develop in youths a genuine passion for sports that fosters, at the high school level and above, the necessary emphasis for winning.

Few will deny that fun is more important than winning in youth leagues. But to focus on developing enthusiasm for sports requires more than turning off the scoreboard. Kids will have fun running around carefree anywhere. Organized sports will create real interest in sports if they show a youth athlete how much he or she can learn about playing sports.

However, once an athlete reaches the high school level, winning should be a priority. It should be assumed that high school athletes have developed that passion that draws them to spend so much time playing their sport.

A league title may pale in comparison to the self-discipline and work ethic athletes gain from competitive sports, but such qualities develop out of a commitment to winning. If athletes only value having a good time and “bonding with teammates,” why should they bother to wake up early to lift weights or choose to get rest instead of partying? Emphasis on winning points an athlete or team to a goal they must continue to chase until their game or season or career ends.

That emphasis does not mean throwing a chair in response to a loss. It means an athlete puts in the work to turn a “good try” into a made basket or completed pass. It means a player shows up to practice on time and ready to play. In short, a desire to win pushes an athlete to be his or her best.

Andy: In addition to what you’ve outlined Billy, winning also has important economic reverberations. Universities make a lot more money when their teams win, particularly their football teams. A win for a team means better ticket sales, more merchandise sold, lucrative TV contracts and larger alumni donations. In this case, winning has to be emphasized in order to for the university as a whole to survive financially.

Within a team and a community, winning can also make people forget the problems they have in life. Locker rooms can dissolve into places of petty squabbles when a team is losing, but, when the team is winning, then personal problems are forgotten. Similarly, when a team that has a special connection to its surrounding community wins, the population of that community enters a euphoria that can begin to heal deep social wounds. Jackie Robinson wouldn’t have survived in baseball and broken the color line if he wasn’t such a good player and didn’t lead the Dodgers to multiple World Series in the 1950s. It was socially important that the Dodgers won, more so than the average athletic team. Again, at the 2004 Olympics, the Iraqi soccer team placed an improbable fourth place, temporarily bringing Kurds, Sunni and Shi’a people together to root for their team.

Clearly, these are examples where winning has done wonders. However, there are times when winning is emphasized too much. The epidemic of steroids in baseball grew out of players’ incredible desire to trump every other player. Even early in life, little league coaches can stress winning to the extent where the child doesn’t want to play the sport anymore.

There are also times where winning is secondary to the importance of simply playing the game. Last semester for the Pio, I reported on a football team from a local Umatilla reservation high school that has won only one or two games in their four-year existence, and yet everyone at the game I attended thought the team was highly successful. Over 100 people attended the game, even though their team was blown out. Winning then, might just distract our focus from the real social importance of sport.

Still, try telling that to Kevin Garnett whose desire to win could cure cancer if he were diverted to the medical field.