Sports

Czechs are competitive people. Ask them about their children and they will answer something like „The boy is very good at basket and floorball, but the girl is amazing at swimming and football“. In Spain, if you ask the same, you would obtain the children academic record instead.

I generally try to keep far from Czechs in competition. There are high chances to end up injured or lose respect for your colleagues once you see them in sport clothes.

Anyway, this Saturday I couldn’t refuse to participate in a company sports event. There were seven disciplines to be played in couples, and I barely knew the rules of one of them. Of course, the whole thing was just for fun. I was expecting to lose every match, finish early and devote myself to drinking beer and getting tanned. But it wasn’t so easy...

First of all, losing a match didn’t guarantee that you didn’t have to play anymore. The losers needed to compete again in a all-losers competition. If it wasn’t enough embarrasment to get my ass kicked in every discipline by a mother of three, I was eventually cheered by the team I was competing against. People were nice. I felt a bit like a disadvantaged kid, but they are not to blame for this, only the hours I spent in the library instead of playing football outside.

After over eight hours of losing at ping pong, and floorball, and everything else, when I thought the embarrasment was over, the results were announced. Every score. From the first to the last couple, obviuosly us. I appologized profuselly to my partner, and we went to drawn the defeat in beer.

Once back in the office, still in pain from sports hangover, I was greeted by an email with the scores, and an ironic „how was the competition?“ by my colleagues. I was patient. Let them have their fun. It should be over now. Isn’t it? No, I got a meeting invitation today to attend some diploma giving ceremony tomorrow. And that’s it. I will either call in sick or hide in a meeting room. At least I know now how this competitiveness grows on them. Because I plan to train ping pong and throw penalties until I can recover a bit of dignity the next time.