Khitan General: Conan, what is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!
Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Our elementary school chess club met for the first time this morning before school.  It was a bit chaotic, as first meetings usually are, but a good-sized group of kids and the high-school-age coach did well.

This year we have several boys from the 5th grade football team, and one boy’s dad stayed to watch.  I didn’t get a chance to chat with him, but after the meeting was over I happened to overhear him ask his son, “Did you beat him?”  This threw me a bit:  first, that it mattered at all (these were “for fun” matches, not even recorded), and second that the question wasn’t “Did you win?” or “Who won?” but “Did you beat him?”  That competitive thing must run deep.