We live in a world of one-upmanship — trying to outdo one another.

The urge to gain the edge can be very powerful. Some folks just can’t stand it if the neighbor has a swimming pool, a sports car, or membership in an elite club, and they don’t. Often it can be attributed to sheer jealousy, but it’s really much more than that. Human beings tend to be very competitive by nature with a strong need to be top dog. Maybe it’s just an American thing, but we don’t think so. The drive to be the best at whatever we do is sometimes an obsession.

Major league sports is a perfect example, with the recent controversy over a deflated football allegedly designed to give one team the edge, and the latest incident in pro baseball of alleged computer hacking to keep tabs on an opposing team.

The use of steroids doesn’t appear to be as commonplace today as it was a few years ago (athletes may have either discontinued use or found ways to keep use undetected), but was seen as a way to do just a little bit better. It was a letdown when we learned months or years later that some of our outstanding athletic standouts had been cheating.

Some of those who break the rules aren’t doing so simply for the glory. Money — big money — is involved. Highly successful athletes attract the almighty dollar as do the teams they play on, and it’s not just on the professional level.

College teams that seek the prestige of being ranked among the nation’s best know that it translates into big money for their schools. Some have bent the rules to attract and keep the best athletes coming out of high school and sometimes go a bit overboard in “wining and dining” them when trying to recruit them.

We’ve all read about the special perks offered to persuade them into signing. If you’ve ever checked out the grandstands at top-ranked colleges and universities, you can understand, that like the professional games, sports is big business there, too.

It’s really no wonder that more and more folks find watching Little League baseball or a high school basketball or football game just as enjoyable without all the behind-the-scenes drama and the almighty dollar on the line.

Of course, athletes at all levels usually have a competitive nature and give it their all to win. While that may still be a one-upmanship mentality to some degree, it’s more acceptable to most of us. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do your best. It’s when you combine that drive with “no matter what” that it takes on a whole new meaning.