One of the first things that I think we're all taught at an early age is the practice of personal humility and modesty.
For example, your coach may tell you that it's not about the number of trophies or medals, but about the journey that got you to where you had the opportunity to succeed; that's what matters in the end.
Or your parents telling you that winning first place isn't necessarily the main objective; rather, that it's about pushing yourself and relying on your own personal skills and intuition to reach such a notable and impressive stage in the first place.
Anything after that, honestly, is really just the proverbial cherry on top.
I can give you two examples of this, with one of them being something that I've touched on very recently in this column space.
The LCBI Bisons boys basketball team succeeded in gaining a window into the 2025 HOOPLA Provincial Championship tournament, remember? Well, from my perspective, there was perhaps a bigger story than the one I covered when the team went on to capture the Bronze medal.
The Bisons first took on the St. Brieux Crusaders to decide which team would be headed to the 2A Boys Gold final game. Let me tell ya, this game was more back and forth than a heated discussion in the Saskatchewan Legislature, but a lot more action-packed and interesting. The boys fought tooth and nail, but in the end, the Crusaders were victorious and were headed to the Gold final the next day, while LCBI was headed to the Bronze final.
But the score of that game? A razor-thin end result of 73-71. Why is that particularly interesting to me? Because LCBI came into the tournament ranked #5, while St. Brieux came in ranked numero uno, #1.
Those Bisons gave them a fight all the way to the final buzzer, and the team who would be headed to the Gold medal game WAS going to be LCBI at one point very late in the action. However, it was a stroke of almost sheer luck that enabled the Crusaders to pull ahead just slightly enough for the time to run out and secure the win.
Of course, we all know how things turned out for the Bisons. They played Norquay for the Bronze medal, they won, and a whole army of LCBI supporters went ballistic when the final buzzer sounded. It made for a great, feel-good, local-team-does-good story and I was happy to write it, just as I am anytime that a local team finds the will to persevere and watch as all their hard work has paid off with a notable win.
But those Bisons basketball players had to know something deep inside each of them; they didn't topple the #1 ranked giant, but they sure wounded him, and they still left Saskatoon with some notable hardware.
They didn't win 'The Big One', but they surely didn't lose, either. Sometimes, that's what a team needs in the end.
Click here to read the story of LCBI's journey at HOOPLA
The other example took place in the world of live rock n' roll.
Outlook's kick-ass foursome known as Bad Influence had entered a battle of the bands competition a couple years back in the spring of 2023, held at the Roxy Music Hall in Saskatoon. I thought it'd make for a cool story that would continue for a matter of weeks, depending on how well the band did and if they'd advance to rounds two and three.
Well, advance they did, and I remember being there on the night when the winners were announced.
Did they win? No, they didn't. But did they care? No, they didn't. The local rockers took 2nd Place, but you'd have thought they misheard the guy on the mic with the way they celebrated. I looked over and saw them all in a tight group hug, ecstatic with how well they'd done and where they placed in the contest. To them, it was just as cool winning 2nd as it would be if they took 1st Place.
And that's the right attitude to have. Besides, it was a live music competition, which means it's going to be left to the audience to ultimately decide who was the best. Syhra's pulse-raising vocal work, Scot's thunderous drumming and Josh's heart-pounding guitar shredding convinced me that they were the best on that stage in the end, anyway.
(I'm a fan; sue me.)
Click here to read an interview with Outlook rock band Bad Influence
We're not without things like awards and certificates in my line of work, and I just learned this week that I'm up for three awards at this year's Better Â鶹´«Ã½s Competition, which is held every year in conjunction with the AGM for the Saskatchewan Weekly Â鶹´«Ã½s Association (SWNA). I'm happy, I'm proud, and I like that I'm being recognized for a story that I took meticulous time planning and formatting last summer so that it came out just right.
Jesus, you're not a chef; you're a writer, dude!
More info will be forthcoming on those awards in the next week, but let me just say that I'm proud of my work, I'm proud of my friend Shelley's work, and I like that the newspaper itself is even in the running for a couple of awards. The funny thing is that I don't even work for the newspaper anymore - I haven't since last March - but that connection will always remain. Nice work, everyone.
But like I've been saying; it's not necessarily about the awards, the hardware, or the medals. It's about having achieved something in the form of reaching THAT stage, attaining THAT level of excellence, to the point where you find that you might end up actually capturing something that signifies your ranking in 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
It's not about the conclusion, it's about the journey.
But still, the recognition is always a nice pick-me-up, and a reaffirming way to tell people that the work they do matters because you could find yourself being rewarded for a job well done. It's life; sometimes we just want those feel-good moments.
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
