The Trouble With Trophies

(Dedicated to my friends in competitive speech and debate,
this is Part 1 of the Beyond Trophies series.)

The Trouble with Trophies

First, they require dusting.

Second—a particular disappointment to girls—you can’t wear them.

Third—and this one is especially disappointing to the boys who are blessed with the greatest of appetites (as well as their mothers)—you can’t eat them.

Fourth, they are liable to break, especially the plastic ones, sometimes even before you get them off tournament grounds.

Fifth, you really can’t display very many of them without looking overly proud.

Last, and the worst trouble of all: they’re dated.

Why is the date so troublesome?  The date stares you in the face as a grim reminder that you are only the temporary champion.  Even if you took first place, you could be supplanted at the very next contest.  Realistically, the date is also there because before very long, not even you will remember when you did whatever it was you did.

The inscription of what you did is there on the trophy for the very same reason; long before she’s old and gray, unfortunate as it may seem, not even your mother will be able to remember the exact place you took.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that earning trophies is still fun, in spite of their troubling traits, but you just can’t get around the fact that the thrill is still temporary at best.  If you’ve set your sights on trophies, you can never be perfectly content.  Surely, there’s got to be more to competing.

Thankfully, there is more. 

That something more will be the subject of the next post.