Now I'm a very competitive person and the game ended with SEVERAL dots for me to count up and add to my score, so I was pretty downtrodden.

My loving fiancee reminded me that, "It's just a game." This statement is used quite a bit and it's very true.

That statement got me thinking though. Has "it's just a game" ever been that consoling?

If anything, I think that offending statement has been the thorn in my ear my entire life after hockey games, baseball games, board games, pickup games, etc.

Telling someone who is upset about the outcome of a contest that its just a game is like telling someone who has just been diagnosed with diabetes, "It's just a disease," (I use my own example so to not offend).

It's true I have a diabetes, and diabetes is a disease, but I don't think anyone appreciates being belittled. If you care enough about something to be upset by it, its more than "just" anything.

So to all out there, maybe tell your recently defeated friend to keep their head up instead. Telling them that "it's just a game" will often make you the recipient of a dirty look.

I know -- I've shot a few in my time.