If it were easy, everybody could do it!
Half court shots, rushing for 300 yards in a game, hitting holes in one, rolling 300 in bowling, hitting home runs to dead center, running 200 meters in 19 seconds, scoring a 10 in gymnastics, and exhibiting good sportsmanship.
If it were easy, everybody could do it.
Between housefuls of guests over the past few days, I had a bit of time to surf the internet, looking for sporting stories that I ordinarily wouldn’t see and what I found out that was quite jarring.
Across the Mississippi River from St. Louis is the Illinois town of East St. Louis. Built around a vast rail center, let me say upfront that the city is not known as a great place to live.
There was a basketball game between a Christian academy and East St. Louis High School. At the half, both cheerleading squads were on the floor doing their thing, when all of a sudden, the East St. Louis girls rushed their guests, and started punching, beating and pulling their hair. As you might expect, pandemonium erupted with fans getting into it with other fans, and police had to enter the fray to restore order.
As a result, the East St. Louis cheerleading squad was dissolved by the School Board and the rest of their year’s activities canceled with a new team to be put in place for the following year. I was shocked, not so much by what happened, but by the response from many parents and high school officials. They thought the punishment was too harsh. After all, it was their first time to, uh, incite a mass riot.
I don’t know about other folks, but it seems to me that whatever values were being taught or being inculcated into these East St. Louis students were far afield from what they are supposed to be, or should be.
I watched this St. Louis
TV news report and they mentioned that previous to the cheerleader thing, the East St. Louis track team had been sidelined for starting a riot at a track meet. I’ve seen melees at football games and basketball games, but track meets?
I have a strong suspicion that the “7 Habits” have never been a part of the East St. Louis curriculum.
Good sportsmanship for athletes will build teamwork, and develop the virtues of fairness, selfcontrol, courage and persistence. It means developing respect for opponents and authorities.
Good athletes are not good athletes without good sportsmanship. The game is not about any one athlete, it is about the team. Sometimes players get cheated, get the short end of the stick, sometimes because of incompetent officials, sometimes just mistakes, and sometimes because of an official’s personal animus for whatever reason.
During my coaching years, I had athletes from time to time who became so agitated by officiating errors that they could not play. They were so caught up in their “feelings” they had to be benched for a while to get their head back into the game.
I inherited one kid years ago who was the team’s best shooter and rebounder but who had this habit of stopping to roll his eyes when a ref missed an obvious foul an opponent had committed on him. To his dismay, I benched him and informed him that while he was standing there putting on a show, the game was going on in the other direction. I needed all five players in the game, all the time.
There has been a shrinking pool of available high school game officials for the past few years and the covid-19 response and hysteria has exacerbated the situation. There are more than a few current officials who weren’t ready for the level of officiating with which they are now tasked.
In a recent game, I saw a ref call a technical foul against someone on a bench from across the gym, when all the target had done was stand up. I think the ref was already angry from comments fans were making for blowing previous calls, and he was looking for an opportunity to get even, but refs simply cannot get mad. They have to be detached and cool, and just do his or her best. Rabbit ears on a referee is a recipe for conflict.
Being a good sport is a hard thing when things go against you. It is, however, a skill that is crucial to have as an adult when life doesn’t go the way you expect. You have to deal with it with your brain, not your emotions.
The Blackhawk boys’ and girls’ athletes have impressed me with their good sportsmanship, and you can see that they have been taught well by their coaches and their parents. It will serve them well in life.
•••