Sportsmanlike Conduct

I've spent a good portion of today thinking about sportsmanship and what it means. How important is winning? Would I do anything for it? The answer is no. I would rather end up in the middle of the rankings but win the sportsmanship award than be the champion playing dirty, underhanded, and mean. Does this make me a loser? Maybe in the rankings, but in the game of life I think it makes me a winner. Comprising my character to win a game does not feel like a win to me. All of my top coaches have taught me that the best players don't need to play dirty to win. Skill, preparation, and focus can win out. I'd rather be the classy player.

This all came up because as I was escaping spin class I just caught a snippet of the Today show on the gym TV. On the screen came one of the more heinous fouls I've seen in women's soccer. (I've embedded the video above). The video included several different incidences where the same player committed over-the-top fouls. Now, I've played soccer for 30-something years. Jockeying for position, jersey tugging, nails dug into the back, friendly elbows...stuff like that has always happened. But punching one another, ripping a player to the ground by their pony-tail, or sucker popping another player to the temple just never happened. Having one player do all that in one game is outrageous.

Women do not get very much sports coverage. It saddens me that when we do, it's for something like this. Whatever happens to this violent player, I hope at the very least she learns enough to change her ways on the field. What it boils down to is that she got beat, and instead of reacting with grace and sportsmanship, she acted out with violence and anger. Unfortunately, she is not alone as the only violent athlete in the news this week. Football players from Oregon and Florida are also attracting attention for their horrible fouls. Is the game really worth blinding someone, or causing someone permanent brain damage? What kind of punishment should be meted out to these athletes who are surrounded by people telling them the "win" is worth all these things?

Perhaps we have let the crazy go far enough. When a sports fan will shell out thousands of dollars to have season tickets for the home team but won't buy whatever the next door kid is selling to raise money for the local elementary school-something is backward and wrong. When parents drive 11-year old soccer kids 5 hours for a 1-hour soccer game in the middle of this recession-something is askew. When, instead of sharpening the human skills of our youth through games and sport, coaches are teaching our kids that they should do anything-ANYTHING to win-our train has jumped the track.

How do we solve this? Well, the only thing I can think of is one person at a time. Some may say I will finish last or always be a loser, but you can be damn sure I'll be the loser holding the trophy for being the best sport on the field.