A Loss Is Not a Tragedy

By Daniel Applegate
President, Arlington Memorial Gardens

This past Saturday afternoon, with three seconds left in the game, Michigan State’s field goal kicker, a stiff wind at his back, calmly booted the ball cleanly through the uprights giving the Spartans an unlikely upset win over the Ohio State Buckeyes. I was there at the Horseshoe. I sat through the cold and the rain and witnessed the futility. The football Buckeyes win with astounding regularity and as any loyal Buckeye fan will tell you, losing hurts. It’s even more painful given that this year’s uber-talented team was predicted for greatness, not to mention a second consecutive national championship. As the last second ticked from the clock, those hopes and dreams all but evaporated.

Driving home on I-71, my son-in-law and I discussed the game, lamented the loss and talked about how things might have been different. We were both disappointed and frustrated but when I tuned into a Columbus post-game radio show, I was appalled to hear the hosts, two nincompoops, who were quite literally screeching, pointing fingers, demanding accountability for the loss and all but calling for the guillotine for at least one OSU assistant coach.

It struck me just how kooky those radio jocks sounded because I take a back seat to nobody as an Ohio State fan. I’m from central-Ohio and while I don’t live and die for the Buckeyes, my scarlet blood more than likely contains more than just a hint of gray. I’ve been known to have taken some Buckeye losses pretty hard: the Michigan State game of 1998 and the 2006 national championship loss to Florida both come to mind as vivid examples. Yet, I’ve never really been one of those fans who comes completely unhinged over the result of a game because…well, they’re just games – not life or death tragedies.

You want a tragedy? See Paris, where that single act of terrorism impacted, indeed, transformed the lives of all of the families and friends of those murdered and injured – not to mention the collateral damage to the psyche of a nation. Now that’s a tragedy.

On a more personal level, we see families every day here at Arlington confronting the loss of, and saying final goodbyes to, someone they love dearly. These are life-altering events: some send shock waves through a country, indeed, around the world; others shatter families. But the one commonality is that they are truly tragedies on one scale or another.

While the bookies of the world may have a different take, a loss on a Saturday afternoon might be disappointing, but it’s certainly not a tragedy.

Daniel Applegate became part of the Arlington Memorial Gardens organization in 2001 and has worked in the cemetery industry since 1981, including serving as Secretary/Treasurer and then as President of the Ohio state cemetery association.  He was appointed by Ohio Governor George Voinovich and served two terms on the Ohio Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission, Ohio's cemetery oversight agency. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University holding a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science.