What is the Meaning of Meaningless?

Rails from the Rails 23 – What’s the Meaning of Meaningless?(as seen here)

All Aboard: “The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.” – Vince Lombardi

Tickets Please: Games have meaning on many layers and in many ways. When people suggest that some football games are meaningless I wish they would be more specific. We have found ourselves with two games at the end of the season that have no meaning in a certain sense: we cannot make the playoffs. And make no mistake; this is extremely frustrating and disappointing. But even in the standings, these games are still significant. Where we finish will determine where and when we get to pick in the coming year’s draft. And the outcomes of the games have a big impact on the other teams who are fighting for playoff positioning. Thus, the games are significant in the standings despite our untimely exit from the playoffs. I would like to discuss 3 other ways in which these apparently meaningless games have great meaning for the players: competition, character, and “corazon”.
Competitive Significance – All games have great meaning for competitors. CFL athletes rose to the elite level they are at because, for the most part, they are very competitive. Competition is the fuel that fires their engines. Under no circumstance am I, or any other CFLer, indifferent about winning or losing. To win is the thing! Furthermore, most football positions, especially those on the line of scrimmage, compete in a fashion that is akin to hand-to-hand combat. We contact, collide, and carom of one another with significant force. If you lose on the gridiron it is probably because the other team physically beat you down. And that infuses every play of every game with meaning. It means a great deal to me from a competitive standpoint if I get beat up, beat down, or just plain beat.
Character Consequence – These games have meaning because they are both creators of character and indicators of character. Games like these show what kind of integrity a person has. Does one prepare and practice for this game as you would for any other? Does one exert the same amount of effort in games that seemingly lack playoff implications? Is one as passionate for this competition as others? If a player answers no to any of the preceding queries I think that their integrity is called into question. But, if one pursues excellence in these games as he would in many others than his character is strengthened and he has shown himself to be who he purports to be. If “character is king”, then I don’t want to be the emperor with no clothes.
Corazon - Corazon is the Spanish word for heart. In ancient times and now, the heart can mean both the physical organ responsible for circulating blood and the seat of one’s intellect, will, and emotions. In this piece I mean to use the word in the latter sense; the heart is the core of your being. And let me share a sentiment that I have about losing. When I am part of a losing effort in a football game, I feel as if a small part of me dies. A loss causes an infarction of the soul as it were. As players we take losing to heart. And though we can learn from losses and persevere through them, they are painful. Where winning can seem like really living, losing can seem like a death of sorts. And for this reason, all games are infused with meaning and significance beyond their effect of the standings or the win-loss record they create.
Thus, for of the sake character, competition, and corazon these games must be considered meaningful.


Last Stop: Vince Lombardi is well known in coaching circles as a coach who magnified and extolled the importance of winning. His quotes on winning are some of the best known quotes from the world of sport. I was recently informed the offensive coordinator Steve Buratto spent some time under Coach Lombardi as a player when he tried out for the Green Bay Packers.