What might our society be losing with its win at any cost attitude? Anything? Everything? Nothing? What is winning, really?

Winning at any cost has certainly crept into practically every aspect of life. From childrens' sporting activities, childrens' educational activities, youth sporting activities, youth educational activities, all the way to adult religious activities one sees the attitude.

Baseball has seen its share of the attitude lately, to wit, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. The attitude is certainly not restricted to baseball -- look at your area high school activities and you'll likely see it as well.

The days of the "pure" athlete appear to be gone -- the days when a Jesse Owens travels all the way to Nazi Germany to set world records in front of Adolph Hitler. The days of "pure" politics appear to have never existed. And the days of sportsmanship in area activities ranging from elementary school to professional vocations appear to be waning as well.

Is winning at any cost appropriate? Obviously, some think so. These people justify whatever measures they take as long as they win. Others think not and, therefore, temper winning with a measure of civility and grace.

Someone, and I don't remember who, said that strength does not come from winning but from losing. Struggles develop strengths.

If one wins all the time and every time, he might have a lot of medals but he will have little mettle.

When one goes through hardships and decides not to quit, that is the real measure of character -- not winning at any cost.

I have heard that Vince Lombardi once said, "If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" We should all remember, however, that there is a Great Scorekeeper who is keeping score in a much more important contest than any contest we might enter on this planet.

Personally, I like what Larry Bird said about winning: "A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals."

Who cares if a person buys winning? Who cares if a person rides the coattails of his father, mother, or grandfather or grandmother to winning? The only thing that person will end up with is medals.

On the other hand, the one who recognizes his God-given talents, no matter his station in life and sometimes regardless of his station in life, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses them to accomplish his goals -- that's the real winner!

Jack Rollins is the managing editor of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.