040: What Does A Winner Look Like?

The Booker Prize, Penelope Fitzgerald and the perils of being a GOAT

I have remained true to . . . the courage of those who are born to be defeated, the weaknesses of the strong, and the tragedy of misunderstandings and missed opportunities, which I have done my best to treat as comedy—for otherwise how can we manage to bear it? —Penelope Fitzgerald

Every two years or so, I watch between 5 and ten hours of sports. I know, I know, it’s a lot, but I enjoy it. This year I watched the UEFA Euro final which was a perfect pleasure from the beginning all the way until Marcus Rashford missed his penalty kick because the coach put him in at the last minute.

This week, I’m watching the Olympics. Like all sports fans, I have a ritual. Once every day or so, I scroll #Tokyo2020 on Twitter and watch the highlight videos. Then, depending on what looks good, I might watch the last half of men’s or women’s rugby or the last five minutes of the women’s triathlon, which inspires me to definitely think about working out more. I have also rewatched the mens and women’s 100…