Just One Shot?: Reconciling a Desire to Win with an Outcome of Loss Anonymous 11th Grade

United States Olympic medalist Dara Torres once said, “Setbacks have an upside; they fuel new dreams.” Like Dara, many people believe that while losing hurts, it also does more for people than cause pain and sadness. Losing strengthens one’s sense of resilience, motivates one to do better, and ultimately, helps one grow. This idea is one that many naively cling to, but can create an oversimplified sense of comfort with loss. In One Shot at Forever, Chris Ballard writes about emotionally complex characters and their different values in regard to winning and losing, breaking down the “you win some, you lose some” mindset by suggesting that defeat is more convoluted than meets the eye.

Ballard’s characters each place a different value on winning, which shows that winning cannot be attributed to a single emotion. The first of these characters is Coach Lynn Sweet, a hippie whose teaching, coaching, and lifestyle are the polar opposite of the conservative Maconites in whose town Ballard’s story takes place. Before the baseball state championship games begin, Coach Sweet discusses his unconventional coaching style: “I don’t like the win or die attitude. We set our goals to have a good time and learn some baseball” (Ballard 168)....