Better question would be, have a better short or long? Lots of long positions did did better than shorting SHLD over the past few years and with lower taxation when held long term.
I'm proud of that fact that I've never shorted a stock. Most shorts don't work out well. Lots of unforeseeable things can go wrong with a short. And a few get really, really ugly. Notice that most "shorting" boards on IHUB are dead.