A person who accepts a loss without whining (such as complaining about the officials) is said to be “a good sport.” A good sport says nice and gracious comments about the winner.
“The trouble with being a good sport is that you have to lose in order to prove it” is a joke that appeared in The Reader’s Digest in January 1952 and is still told.
The Free Dictionary
(a) good sport
someone who can accept a loss in a competition or can accept being the butt of a joke.
Bob is usually a good sport, but this time he didn’t seem to appreciate your joke.
8 July 1924, Manitowoc (WI) Herald-News, pg. 3, col. 3:
The trouble with being a good sport is that it takes too much time and pays such small returns.
13 January 1952, Van Nuys (CA) News, “News-Graphs” by Walter Mendenhall, pg. 1, col. 1:
YEZZIR
“The trouble with being a good sport is that you have to lose in order to prove it.”
—The Reader’s Digest
Google News Archive
7 February 1952, The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), “Shop with Sue,” pg. 8, col. 8:
The trouble with being a good sport is that you have to lose to prove it.
27 September 1956, Springfield (MA) Union, “Walter Winchell On Broadway,” pg. 15, col. 2:
Morey Amsterdam’s logic: “The only trouble with being a Good Sport is—You have to Lose to be One.”
Google News Archive
3 October 1961, Meriden (CT) Record, “Today’s Chuckle,” pg. 1, col. 3:
The only trouble with being a good sport is that you have to lose to prove it.
Google Books
January 1977, The Rotarian, pg. 56, col. 1:
The only trouble with being a good sport is that you have to lose to prove it.
—The Iron Coast
WAIUKU, NEW ZEALAND
Google Books
Business Wit & Wisdom
By Richard S. Zera
Washington, DC: Beard Books
2005
Pg. 248:
The only problem with being a good sport is that you have to lose to prove it.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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