Grantland Rice: It’s Not Whether You Win or Lose…
Grantland Rice loved sports, and he loved to write. So it’s no wonder that he became a sportswriter. In fact, he became one of the very best sportswriters in the first half of the 20th century. Covering stars like Babe Ruth (the home run king), Ty Cobb (a baseball legend), and Knute Rockne (a famous football coach), Rice became known as “the dean of American sportswriters.”
Grantland Rice also wrote poetry, and one of his poems, which is called “Alumnus Football,” contains the following lines:
For when the One Great Scorer comes
To mark against your name,
He writes – not that you won or lost –
But how you played the Game.
Mr. Rice knew that it’s important to play fairly and that it’s important to be a good sport. Some things never change!
More Quotes from Grantland Rice
“I learned a lot more from defeat than I ever learned from winning.”
“Keep trying to win; keep playing the game; but, keep room in your heart for a song.”
“Many a losing entry has had every attribute except the belief he was going to win.”
“Self confidence is the hallmark of a champion…any champion.”
“Failure isn’t bad if it doesn’t attack the heart. Success is all right if it doesn’t go to the head.”
About Tennessee
It’s a Fact: Grantland Rice was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1880. Murfreesboro is near Tennessee’s capital city, which is Nashville. The largest city in the state is Memphis.
It’s a Fact: Tennessee is a state that’s known for its music. Nashville is famous for its country music. Memphis is an important place in the history of rock n’ roll music, the blues, and soul music.
It’s a Fact: The rock and roll singer Elvis Presley lived in Memphis. In The Duckmaster Disaster, Quinn Ryder sings one of Mr. Presley’s songs: Blue Suede Shoes.
It’s a Fact: President Andrew Jackson, whose picture is on a $20 bill, lived near Nashville at a place called The Hermitage.
Fun Facts About Sports
Fun Fact: The world’s most popular sport is soccer (in most parts of the world, soccer is called football). By one estimate, over half the people in the world consider themselves to be soccer fans.
Fun Fact: Cricket, a ball and bat game played between two teams of 11 players each, has about five times more fans throughout the world than baseball. Cricket is extremely popular in India, Pakistan, England, Bangladesh, Australia, West Indies (the Caribbean), and South Africa.
Fun Fact: It’s estimated that table tennis (ping pong) has more fans worldwide than either baseball, basketball, or American football. Why? Because table tennis is extremely popular in China, the country with the world’s highest population.
Fun Fact: The game of basketball, which has over 800 million fans around the world, was invented by James Naismith in 1891. At the time, Naismith was a a physical-education instructor in Springfield Massachusetts.
Fun Fact: The game of volleyball, which has (according to some estimates) about 900 million fans worldwide, was also invented in Massachusetts. In 1892, William G. Morgan, a physical-education instructor from Holyoke, MA, met James Naismith. Three years later, Morgan invented volleyball.
Just for fun,
Which sport in the world has more fans? Is it soccer (which is also known as football), basketball, or baseball?
Of the following sports, which two were invented in Massachusetts in the 1890s: football, baseball, volleyball, basketball, or soccer?
Both basketball and volleyball were invented in Massachusetts. Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891. Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan in 1895. Originally, Morgan called his game “mintonette,” but eventually people began calling it volleyball because the object of the game is to “volley” (hit) the ball back over the net before it touches the ground.
In his poem "Alumnus Football," did Grantland Rice say it was more important to win a game or to play fairly?
Which city is the capital of Tennessee? Is it Nashville, Memphis, Murfreesboro, or Hermitage?
Here's a Riddle for You:
Why don't grasshoppers watch soccer?
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