Winners Vs Champions

In every sport there are the winners and then, there are the champions.  A winner of course is the one who wins the top prize. A winner is appreciated, applauded, respected and maybe even admired. Whereas, a champion apart from receiving all these adulation is also the one who wins the heart of his fans. A champion gets worshiped  a champion gets prayed for. We want the champion to do well, We don’t care about the result but just happy to witness his / her journey

So what does it take for a winner to become the champion? Is it the consistency of performance over a long period of time? Is it winning by thorough domination? Is it by never loosing at all? Is it their impeccable character?

Some of the greatest champions of today like Tendulkar or Federer have had their fair share of failures. Woods or Warne are not the typical role models for their behavior on or off the field. Steve Waugh or Dravid  chose winning by attrition than domination. Longevity and consistency are a key common factor but is that all that is required to make the cut?

They somehow make us feel nostalgic every time they set foot on ground. They were probably the first winners that we looked up to and grew up watching. They are the only constant in our lives while time changed everything around. We love them not because they are invincible but because they are not. We call them champions because they inspired us during our personal lean patches, by showing how to bounce back from a failure. They gave us hope when all else seemed lost. They made us smile and they made us shed tears in silence. They grew beyond their mind boggling statistics and became emotions in our heart. Deep inside, we secretly wish them success even if they played against our teams. They gradually and gracefully grew from being the child prodigies to the legends of their sport. Their reputation transcended generations, countries and everything else. Not every winner can be a champion

They are not champions because they won; they won because they are the champions.