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1791 | January 2017
I’m writing this on an anti-climactic second day of the New Year, after a yesterday full of “firsts of 2017.” It could also be the football playoff season where the “win and advance, lose and go home” mentality prevails, which has left me wondering about seconds. Recently, much has been made of the notion that kids today are softer than the way we used to be (an opinion which likely surfaces for every generation). For example, some may scoff at the notion that “everyone gets a trophy,” preferring the old-school approach of only recognizing a single winner with a big, shiny cup while those in second place should be left to whimper in their second place ribbons.
With that in mind, do these names mean anything to you: Clarence Chamberlin, Josiah Bartlett, Tenzing Norgay, Larry Doby, or Larisa Latnina. What about these places: K2 or Bowdoin College--do you know what they have in common? How about these more recent examples: Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Buzz Aldrin? Or this line from a famous novel: “Some years ago –never mind how long precisely– having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.”
If none of those names mean anything to you, it might help if I share the more well known “firsts,” the people who did exactly what the people above did, only this group below got there first or in some cases, made the remarkable even better.
Charles Lindbergh, John Hancock, Sir Edmund Hillary, Jackie Robinson, Michael Phelps. The second group of firsts would be Mount Everest and Berwick Academy. And the more recent examples: Thurgood Marshall, Sandra Day O’Connor, and Neil Armstrong. Finally, you probably recognize this famous first line of Moby Dick, “Call me Ishmael.” The second sentence from Herman Melville’s masterpiece is the one cited above.
For sports fans, you probably know the list of all-time G.O.A.T. ‘s (Greatest Of All Time, which for our purposes, means the all-time leading scorers): Wayne Gretzky (hockey), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (basketball), Emmitt Smith (football: rushing) Peyton Manning (football: passing), Cy Young (pitching wins) Hank Aaron or Barry Bonds *(most home runs, depending on your view of the steroid era). But did you know this list of red ribbon winners: Jaromir Jagr, Karl Malone, Walter Payton, Brett Favre, Walter Johnson, Hank Aaron (or Babe Ruth--see * above).
The golfer Walter Hagen famously stated: “Nobody remembers who came in second.” And as we can see from these examples, this is often true. We all know about Gretzky, but we need to be real rink rats to know that Jagr is second. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Yes. Karl Malone? Probably not. Cy Young? Certainly—heck the annual trophy is named after him! Walter Johnson…..not so much.
Jack Nicklaus, arguably the G.O.A.T in golf, won 18 major tournaments, more than anyone ever. But did you know he came in second place in another 19 major tournaments? Nobody remembers that if a few more putts had fallen, Nicklaus might have had 30 major titles. Both Nicklaus and Tiger Woods passed Hagen, who for decades had been first on that list of major champions. So, Hagen is no longer even second on the all-time list, but lags even lower in the third position. Contrary to his own memorable quote, though, we still remember Hagen. Donald Trump quoted him before his surprise loss in the Iowa primary just over a year ago, when he came in second to Ted Cruz. The president-elect turned that second place finish into a surprise victory in November, however, showing that second-place can lead to a higher office in the long run.
On this second day of the New Year, I am pausing to celebrate a very impressive list of under-appreciated runners-up who have done amazing things. As Trump proved, sometimes second place eventually garners more attention than the winner. Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian who led the first successful trek to the South Pole. However, Robert Scott became more famous than Amundsen even though the expedition he led arrived at the Pole four weeks after Amundsen’s team. Sadly, more of us have heard of Scott because his entire team perished on the way back north. There is some consolation for Scott’s descendants, though: the scientific base that stands today at the South Pole bears both early explorer’s names, regardless of who got there first, or who made it home.
Looking back at the unknowns in my second paragraph, Clarence Chamberlin piloted the second trans-Atlantic solo flight. Interestingly, the very well-known Amelia Earhart is credited by some as being the second person to fly solo over the Atlantic, and she was definitely the first woman to do so. Officially, Chamberlin was the second person to pilot a plane by himself across the Atlantic, but he had a passenger along for the ride. The runner up trophy should definitely go to Earhart who spent 14 hours, 56 minutes facing headwinds, ice, and mechanical problems all by herself. No small feat for second place in the trans-Atlantic race, who is the only person that could find a spot on both of the first and second lists above.
Josiah Bartlett, a senator from New Hampshire, was the second to sign the Declaration of Independence; American fourth graders all recognize John Hancock’s signature, but none of us could probably even name Bartlett. Tenzing Norgay was a Nepali Sherpa who may have actually been the first to summit Mt. Everest, but the westerner Edmund Hillary garnered most of the fame when the two of them made the inaugural trek up Everest together. As a Sherpa, you could argue that Norgay deserved even more credit as he likely lugged Hillary’s equipment up most of the mountain!
Larry Doby was the second black man to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball, and was no more welcomed or less courageous than his predecessor, Jackie Robinson. Along with Satchell Paige, Doby was the first black man to win a World Series, but then retreated back to runner up when he became the second African American manager in the Major Leagues. The Russian Larisa Latnina has won the second most medals of any Olympic athlete ever, a whopping 19 medal haul, which is nothing to scoff at. K2 is the second highest peak in the world, and many would argue, a tougher climb than Everest. (While we’re celebrating underrated, amazing accomplishments, if you can even have the argument about which of those mountains is tougher to climb, you get my respect, I don’t care how or when you climbed them.) Finally, at Berwick Academy, we are proud of our status as the oldest independent school or college in Maine, but our younger sister by three years, Bowdoin College, remains one of the top colleges in the country.
Likewise, we should celebrate Clarence Thomas as the second African American--and Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman--elected to the Supreme Court. And in one of the most unfair examples of them all, it was simply a matter of rank that allowed Neil Armstrong to descend the ladder from Apollo 11 first and take one giant leap for mankind on the moon ahead of Buzz Aldrin. They had each done the same exact training and experienced exactly the same trials, tribulations, and danger in getting to the moon. When recently asked about this by National Geographic, Aldrin said, “As the senior crew member, it was appropriate for him (Armstrong) to be the first. But after years and years of being asked to speak to a group of people and then be introduced as the second man on the moon, it does get a little frustrating. We all went through the same training, we all landed at the same time and all contributed? But for the rest of my life I'll always be identified as the second man to walk on the moon.” Who wouldn’t want that distinction, but did you recognize his name?
None of those impressive people or places ever received (or at least, still have) that winner’s trophy, but does that mean we respect their accomplishments any less? On January 2, it sure feels like we ought to give those remarkable people a little attention, too.
Berwick Academy
31 Academy Street
South Berwick, Maine 03908
Contact:
Admission | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
South Berwick, Maine 03908
Contact:
Admission | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
Berwick Academy, situated on an 80-acre campus just over one hour north of Boston, serves 520 students, Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 and Postgraduates. Berwick students are from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and several countries. Deeply committed to its mission of promoting virtue and useful knowledge, Berwick Academy empowers students to be creative and bold. Berwick strives to graduate alumni who shape their own learning, take risks, ask thoughtful questions, and come to understand and celebrate their authentic selves.
