No, this isn't a post about the movie Highlander, though I'd heartily recommend that you see it if you've been living in a cave and haven't already. See it for the Queen soundtrack if for no other reason.This is a post that was inspired by Rich's latest Faulkneresque post about tennis. Not sure if you've had a chance to read it all yet. (I drank a couple Red Bulls and still needed to work in a couple of power naps before I got all the way through it.) But mixed in amongst the riveting tennis play-by-play I gleaned the somewhat tragic tale of a competitor who is consistently shackled with second place.
Rich has historically referred to second place as "the first place loser". So color me a tad bit surprised that he sympathized (or dare I say empathized) with Andy Roddick's plight, if you can call making the Wimbledon finals a plight.
Usually, like battles between immortals, there can be only one winner. Unfortunately, this sage reminder is often shared by well-meaning friends while the battle wounds are still all too fresh to appreciate its truth and in any case does not take away the bitter disappointment. I'm fairly certain that Roddick took little solace in knowing that there are many who would have gladly taken his (second) place.
Still, I think there is a universality to the pain and groanings associated with coming up just short of reaching your goal even if the global interest for your specific endeavor would have been nil otherwise. We've all lost at something in our lives that we wanted badly to win, and misery loves company.
That brings me to the picture above and the documentary that it advertises. The guy on the right, Steve Wiebe, is each of us. He's the guy who's sick... I mean sick... of coming up just short. Life is dealing him body blows, and he needs to win at something... anything. He needs to know that he's not a failure. People can tell you all day long that you aren't a failure, but nothing changes your outlook quite like experiencing a victory. And Steve's desperation attempt at claiming his ever-elusive victory suddenly centers around his obsession with setting the all-time high score on the classic video game Donkey Kong.
You can watch trailers for The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters on the sidebar, but I highly recommend that you watch the entire documentary. Director Seth Gordon entertains you with the mullet and swagger of archrival Billy Mitchell (a real-life Uncle Rico) while slowly immersing you into Steve's POV. I found it to be extremely cathartic even though I was more of a Pitfall or Qbert kind of guy.
Try your hand at these and other classic arcade games online. By the way, Twin Galaxies, the official website for tracking all-time classic arcade records (which is referenced extensively in the movie) is also an interesting view.
