How rage quitting made me a better player. And so can you!

This is the game that will define your life.  You've spent hours writing and re-writing the perfect list.  You've covered every possible angle and have an answer to any conceivable enemy combination.  You’re tired because you spent most of the previous night and much of the early morning putting the finishing touches on your beautifully painted army.  Everything seems to be going so well, you've won all of your games in the first day of a tournament and you’re two games away from bringing home the trophy.  Your cat will be so proud of you!  That will teach her who the boss is.  Then it happens.  Your opponent lines up against you with a formation you've never seen before.  They then proceed to blast every model you own off the table by turn two.  Your girlfriend looks on with pity.  You RAGE QUIT. 

For those of you not aware of the term rage quit, it refers to the act of losing your temper and either quitting a game before its conclusion or vowing to never play the game system again.  This can be due to rolling 7 dice and rolling 5 ones (this HAS happened to me) to completely kill your entire Terminator Squad or in protest of some imaginable sleight against your person by the game company themselves.

I not only witnessed this first hand at my recent foray to the Broadside Bash, but was an active member of the rage quit club myself.  That’s right; your old pal Raw Dogger is guilty of taking my righteous indignation and going home (literally).  I justified the early withdrawal from the tournament by saying that I wanted to get an early start on my drive back North, and after my loss (to my good friend, Steve, aka Stave Stiff) there would be no way for me to win the tournament.  While this may have been true, the truth in the matter is that I quit.  I RAGE quit.   I was so thoroughly defeated by turn 3, by an army I couldn’t believe had so much fire power, that I angrily made the decision to leave the tournament and possibly give my game 5 opponent no one to play against.  I was so upset that my brilliantly planned army list could be so embarrassingly trounced I selfishly cost some poor player the opportunity to get one final game in.  No matter how much I justified leaving the tournament early or how many sympathetic nods I received from fellow tournament players, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was no better than the man with the cane that quit day 1 after learning that Forgeworld was being allowed into the Bash.  That’s right, poor old Raw Dogger is just as bad as the dimwit long haired man who spent all of the money to travel to and participate in the Broadside Bash, only to quit after getting blasted in the face turn one and rage quit.  We are equal partners in embarrassment.

There is one silver lining to this sad tale of woe.  Getting pummeled and rage quitting has made me want to be a better player.  I don’t WANT to be that guy that is getting written about on some assholes blog.  I don’t WANT to be that guy that ruins someone’s tournament by not letting them get their full games in.  The games that they paid good money for so they could get some quality games in.  I want to make better lists so this doesn't happen again.  I want to be PREPARED for the list that blew me off the table.  Let my embarrassing tale be a lesson to all of you.  When you rage quit, you are raging against yourself.  You are raging against yourself because you were unprepared for the match.  The games company does not have some secret agenda that is screwing you over personally.  Your cat might, but certainly no one else.  Take your ass whipping as a lesson to be a better player.  Your opponent will respect you more, your girlfriend will have more sex with you, and your boss will give you a raise.  Well, at least one of those things will happen and if you are reading this blog it most likely will not be the sex.

So have you ever rage quit or have had someone rage quit on you?  Is it ever ok?