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                                                                                    WELCOME  TO  MY  AUTHOR  PORTFOLIO

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Charles Schultz, creator of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang once said, “Winning is great, but winning isn’t funny.”

 

Of course, losing isn’t exactly a million laughs either, but it does require a sense of humor. Plus you learn more about yourself from losing.

 

Charlie Brown and his team were doomed from the start. As estimated by Peanuts devotees, Charlie Brown, as a little league pitcher, had a record somewhere between 7 wins and 85 losses to 20 wins and 184 losses, depending, I guess, on how many games there actually were. Not stellar, but not total failure either.

 

Roger Federer, in his 2024 commencement address to Dartmouth students said that during his career, he won about 80% of his matches, but he won only 54% of the points. One of the greatest tennis players of all time lost 46% of the points he played professionally. His point (pun intended) was this: a point is just a point. It is very important until it is over, and then it’s past and not worth thinking about. The focus should be on the next point. Federer was/is a great athlete, but wasn’t/isn’t very funny.

 

Like his home country of Switzerland. Great place where they do everything right, but not funny. Djibouti is funny. Liechtenstein, the world's leading manufacturer of false teeth, is funny. Wales is funny. Switzerland, not funny.

 

Michael Jordan echoed the same sentiments as Federer: “I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Michael Jordan, not funny. Michael Jordan tossing up an airball, funny. 

 

Babe Ruth is in the Baseball Hall of Fame for hitting a lot of home runs. He is less remembered for having the highest number of strikeouts between 1916 and 1925. He, as far as we know, did not dwell on the whiffs, the misses. He forgot them. He remembered, we assume, and is remembered for, his home runs, of which he was also the leader for those ten years. Babe Ruth, great player. Not funny.

 

Yogi Berra is also in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but despite his success, he is also funny. Funny name. Funny face. He had a great baseball career, but is remembered now more for his hilarious quotes. Like: I never said most of the things I said... If life were perfect, it wouldn’t be... It’s deja vu all over again...and my favorite...the future ain't what it used to be.