• Just win baby! Just win baby! By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island To the victor goes the spoils is the motto I live by. If a team wins, they deserve all the credit in the world. Here
• Just win baby!
Just win baby!
By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island
To the victor goes the spoils is the motto I live by. If a team wins, they deserve all the credit in the world.
Here in The Garden Island’s sports department, the winners get the ink, regardless of what jersey they wear.
Just because I’m a Kaua‘i High School graduate doesn’t mean that the Red Raiders will be featured more in the sports section, compared to the other high schools around the island.
I’ve been the sports editor for almost a year now and every once in awhile, someone will shoot me an email or leave a phone message complaining that I glorify Kaua‘i High School too much!
I usually don’t answer the email or even listen to the entire phone message for the simple reason that if Kaua‘i High School wins a title or game, they will be in the paper, just as if Kapa‘a, Waimea, Kula, or Island would be, if they win a game or championship.
I don’t get annoyed by this, instead it really adds to the uniqueness of my position here at the newspaper.
I am in the spotlight and being scrutinized comes with the territory, just like any other job, which is in the forefront.
To tell you the truth though, I would rather receive constructive criticism, rather than a compliment.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like compliments, but they really don’t help.
They make a person feel comfortable and I don’t want to feel comfortable, instead I want to improve every day.
You might say that it’s impossible to improve every single day, but it’s possible and the people who strive to be the best and don’t just settle for the status quo, are the same people who get that promotion, attain the job that you want, or even take your position, if you remain lackadaisical.
So getting back to my point of winners getting the most press; well it makes the most sense to me and just so happens, since I’ve been the sports editor, the Red Raiders have been dominant in the KIF scene, especially in the major sports like football, basketball, and baseball.
To say that I favor Kaua‘i High School is really shallow, but I applaud the people, who actually take the time to remind me of how good Kaua‘i High School is doing and that’s what these individuals are actually saying.
If another school was dominant or if we had parity, no one would say anything, which seems comical to me.
Winning isn’t everything and usually the team that wins, has gone through some sort of challenge to get to the top.
But to me, winning or losing with humility and great sportsmanship is what it’s all about.
We go through the ranks from youth sports all the way through high school sports and our coaches teach every one of us the same things. It’s not like we have to deal with different issues or rules every season.
Instead we have the very same set of standards through-out the years.
Nothing has changed through-out the years and there will be winners and losers in every contest, but what makes the moment memorable is the way teams present themselves after the game.
You can spot a well-coached team from afar and they all have two things in common: They win like they’ve been there before and they learn something from every loss.
Duane Shimogawa Jr., sports editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257) or kauaisports@pulitzer.net.
