Ladies and Gentlemen...really? Don't be a sore loser!

Ok, I have to say it, not matter which side of the Evan Lysacek vs. Evgeni Plushenko men's figure skating controversy that you sit on, I have never seen such a SORE loser in my whole life as I have seen in Plushenko. Really, dude? I just read that he awarded himself a PLATINUM medal on his website since he feels he is the real champion. I have to say that is the ultimate of classlessness! And I watched both performances and honestly I could have gone either way, they both had great performances. So Plushenko, hear me now, let it GO! And Elvis Stojko chiming in one side was very unclassy as well.

So it got me to thinking about the Friends episode where Joey is nominated for a "Soapie" as Drake Ramoray on Days of Our Lives and Rachel tells him that he has to practice how to react if he loses. And then he does lose, and he is visibility angry on the camera and steals the trophy from another actress who is on his show. Funny episode, of course...And it is clever the way that present the episode as a lesson on how not to act.

Reminds me of another story that I heard over the weekend about Andy Roddick in the Italian Open in 2005. Roddick was leading the match 5-3 in the second set and had triple match point against Verdasco. Verdasco's serve was called out and Roddick had won the match. Verdasco had approached the net to shake his hand. Roddick called the line judge over to show a dent in the clay where it clearly showed that Verdasco's ball had landed on the line and his serve was in. The line judge agreed and the match was resumed. Roddick went on to lose the match. Many of you may have heard the story but it was the first time that I heard it and wanted to repeat it as a true act of class in a competition.

Ladies and gentlemen, there will be many times in your life, whether in a competition, an election or for an award, where you will be up against others, whether they are your friends or not. And guess what, you might not win. And someone else may win, even if you think are you more deserving. There may even have been a scoring mistake. But the best way to handle any of it is to be poised and classy. As hard as it may be, have some grace and congratulate the winner. Take your 2nd place prize (or 3rd) and excuse yourself. If you need to be angry or sad, do it on your own time OR vent to family and friends later. Don't start an investigation into the judging OR reward yourself a more deserving prize. Really, is it worth it? It makes you look like an idiot.

It seems like this subject should be something that everyone understands but wow...after last week's ice skating drama, I thought it necessary to say something. Being such a college sports fan, I have always been impressed by those coaches that have class when they lose (and especially those tough games where the officiating may have been questionable), they go congratulate the other team and in press conferences say classy things about the other team and coach. It takes more character to admit when you didn't play your best game than it does to put the other team down.

So ladies and gentlemen, you don't get to stop being classy in a competition! In fact, it usually requires more class. Cheers and CIAO BELLAS!