Losing

The great Washington, D.C., sports radio host Ken Beatrice had an axiom about football:  "More games are lost than won."

(He also didn't eat curly fries at Bernie Streeter's Arby's, though he was told they were very good.)

The two conference championship games yesterday were lost, not won.

AFC:  Baltimore played New England smack dab even, with Joe Flacco outplaying Tom Brady, but Sterling Moore knocked away a game-winning touchdown from Lee Evans...

And then Billy Cundiff hooked one to the left.

NFC:  San Francisco squared up with New York in an NFC nail-biter, but the Giants scored one of their two touchdowns in regulation thanks to a miscue by punt returner Kyle Williams...

And then Williams screwed up again in overtime, and that was all for the 49ers' season.

*

We are a people who glorify our winners far beyond the events of fortune and misfortune of a specific contest's circumstances.  If Scott Norwood makes a field goal in 1991, Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills' image changes.  If Adam Vinatieri misses a field goal in 2002, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick's legacy changes.

Such is the way of sport, eh?  You understand this going in -- at the end of each day, there will be a winner and a loser.  It's exhilarating and devastating.

But I believe it is a far worse matter to lose a game than it is a great matter to win it.

And the sun comes up, and the sun goes down.

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