Do you wanna be good, or Good?

Last night, I had practice with my area team. I'm on two area club teams, and for a while, because I had gotten fat, I only ran with one of them, the G Suns. These are the older, more relaxed, everyone gets a shot guys. I like playing with them obviously, but they lack the competitive edge that I like to play with sometimes. Little by little, I've been returning to my pre-getfat skills, and with that return, I have started to play more and more with my other team, the Hailars. (Don't ask me what it means, the captain doesn't even know). These guys can ball. They play hard, and are pretty competitive and are on the cusp of making the all-Japan national amateur tournament every year. They are also unbelievably faggy with their calls. If they ever miss a shot, it was a foul. The games usually shake down like this:

• Two teams, Hailar members against others (I'm usually on the others team)
  
• Game starts
• People feel each other out, get loose
• Time running out, still a close game
• Things get physical
• 'いてっ', or 'itte', which means 'Ouch, that was a foul' in Japan.
  
• Free Throws (!?!?) ensue

Don't get me wrong, when a foul happens, I call it, if it is really easy to see. I am a little like this guy, though, in that I like to let it go (without groaning), for the sake of the flow of the game. For these guys, that has nothing to do with it, it's all about using every single possible avenue to win the game. These guys call travels on the other team with the utmost authority, three second calls happen 5 times a game, and if a guy catches a ball with the possibility of being saved, they start walking down court cuz they know it's out already.

Last night, I couldn't stand it. I didn't call anything for myself, but fouled the shit out of them every time I had to take a foul. If they are going to call a foul, it may as well be a foul. Which leads me to the question: Would you rather be good: win games at all costs, make every call, irritate your opponents into losing; or be Good: play your game, for better or worse, give and take calls as they come, try to beat the guys who are good by being Good, even with all the calls that come against you?

I, most definitely, without question, would rather be Good.