Rivals

Caleb and Wilson (not their real names) were two former students at Park.

Caleb was really good at all sports. He was also tall, good looking and a genuinely nice person. By nice, I mean that he always said hello to everyone, treated everyone kindly, didn't care if his team won or lost and never got upset. As a result, he was very popular with classmates, teammates, teachers and parents.

Wilson was also a very good athlete. Wilson was good at all sports too, but got mad when he lost and wasn't all that friendly to people he didn't know. Throughout his time at Park, he made it his mission to do better than Caleb.

During fitness testing, Wilson would ask me how Caleb did before and after each test. He also wanted to know Caleb's 40 yard dash time. He always checked the standings during PE tournaments to see how Caleb's team did. If Wilson did better than Caleb, Wilson was happy. If he did worse, Wilson would mope.

"Why do you worry so much about Caleb?" I asked Wilson.

"Because we're rivals." Wilson replied.

A conversation between Wilson and Caleb might go something like this:

Wilson: "I ran a 6 second forty. What did you run?"

Caleb: "I don't really remember."

Wilson: "You really don't remember, or won't tell me because I was faster?"

Caleb: "I don't remember. I wasn't listening when Mr. T announced the times."

You see, Caleb just went about his own business. He never really cared about results or standings or how anybody else did compared to him. He never got upset or happy about team or individual results, no matter how good or how bad. To him, they were just games, and were fun no matter what. He was just always the same old, easy going, happy go lucky Caleb. He had no idea that anyone viewed him as a rival.

Whenever Wilson or his team performed better than Caleb's, Wilson let Caleb know.

"We beat you!" Wilson would say.

Caleb would look at Wilson, smile and say, "Yeah, you guys played great! Good job!" then he'd pat Wilson on the back.

Wilson, instead of feeling happy, would walk away disappointed. That's because for him, it wasn't enough to win. Wilson also wanted Caleb to be jealous because of it.

It just goes to show you: it's only a rivalry if both sides see it as one.