A recently married couple who clearly love each other are about to play a game against each other. Maybe it’s tennis. Maybe it’s basketball. Maybe it’s a dragon boat race. Should they go easy on each other, or set out to crush each other? For Will and Kate, the answer is crush each other.
“There is no chivalry in sport,” the Duke of Cambridge told his wife Monday after beating her in a dragon boat race in Prince Edward Island.
Prior to the race, William huddled up with his team and told them, “I want to win this.” A first-timer to the sport, William was at a relative disadvantage, considering that Kate had joined a rowing team in 2007.
The Duchess of Cambridge wasn’t looking to go easy on hubby, either.
Jessica Van Ouwerkerk, who was one of 20 people on Kate’s team, explained the Duchess’ determination to The Telegraph, saying, “She was steering the boat when we headed for the start line, then she decided she wanted to paddle. She really wanted to beat William. They have this grudge match thing going on.”
Which, in a lot of relationships, could lead to some bitter, bitter moments. Drive your husband into the ground on the golf course and he might not be so up for hugs and cuddles later on. Smoke your wife on the tennis court and you might hear a sharply spoken “Don’t touch me” when you go in for a post-game embrace. Or perhaps that’s just a baseless fear. Perhaps, looking at Will and Kate as an example, you can judge how healthy a relationship is, and how much mutual respect there is in it, based on how much a couple wants to beat the living hell out of each other in whatever game they’re playing.
Because after Will’s team won the dragon boat race, instead of the bitterness of defeat, he and Kate hugged and congratulated each other on a “good job.”
There also seems like there’s a lot to be said for getting your partner out on the court, rather than leaving him or her on the sidelines. The couple that plays together, stays together, after all, and Will and Kate clearly love playing together. Besides the dragon boat race, they’ll be playing a game of shinny in Yellowknife. Maybe Kate will even the score with a win.
What do you think? Should you go easy on your partner when you’re playing games, or is there no chivalry in sports?
