[FASTLARRY]

SPORTMANSHIP, IS IT NOW DEAD?

Any Room Left in Sport for Sportmanship?

say that winning isn't just everything. "It's the only thing."
There was a day when how a game was played was as important as winning and losing.
In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Germany's Luz Long, one of the world's best broad jumpers, was looking forward to competing against the great U.S. track and field star, Jesse Ownes, the world record holder. Owens, however, foot-faulted on his first two qualifying jumps. And, down to the last chance to qualify, he was in danger of missing the competition.
Long suggested that Owens makes a mark several inches before the takeoff board to avoid fouling again. It worked. Owens qualified by a centimeter, and eventually beat Long for the gold medal. A modern athlete would never be encouraged to do what Long did!
Sadly, from the youth leagues to the profession leagues there's been a decline in sportsmanship. We've traded sportsmanship, which means desiring to honorably beat the opponent at his or her best - for gamesmanship, which is just about victory, at all costs.
Gamesmanship was the agenda when football coaches bought offensive lineman gloves to match the colors of their opponent's jerseys so that they could conceal holding.
Let's draw the line between sportsmanship and gamesmanship. It's easy when we consider the skills the game was created to emphasize - some games favor brute strength, some quickness, some accuracy or endurance. Then, we must ask whether the tactic in question demonstrates a skill that the game was designed to measure.
Let us pursue sportsmanship in our own athletic endeavors, and also teach others to be sportsman as well. Let's play by the old cliché, "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game." Do you want to be known as gamesman, or sportsmen? Let's be sportsmanlike.
We will win when we're better, and be better when we lose - for our own betterment and for the betterment of sports.

If I have to win from using the rule book against an opponent to beat him, then I don’t want to win. If I can’t beat him fair and square on the table, straight up, then the victory means nothing to me. Even if I get the tin cup, it is a tarnished cup of shame.

[madmax]

Yes, it does appear from what you see in sports today, sportsman ship is going down. Too many punks getting filty rich over night who can't handle it.

[Pelican]

Hey Larry, while our team only made it to the 129th place bracket at the APA in Vegas we did do something I am very proud of - we won the Sportsmanship Award.

Rick Lowell, (Pel), RACKATEERS, VFW Post 5226, Robertsdale, AL

[Pin]

Quote

FASTLARRY wrote:
If I can’t beat him fair and square on the table, straight up, then the victory means nothing to me. Even if I get the tin cup, it is a tarnished cup of shame.

I wish more people realised this :-(

sometimes it feels like a struggle to resist the 'if you can't beat them, join them' attitude.
But reminding myself how it taints the very victory you seek always snaps me right out of it :-)

[FASTLARRY]

' date='Sep 10 2004, 04:36 PM said:

I wish more people realised this :-(

sometimes it feels like a struggle to resist the 'if you can't beat them, join them' attitude.
But reminding myself how it taints the very victory you seek always snaps me right out of it :-)

If there is a sport this needs to be preached at, its pool, and the first pro that needs to be sat down and instructed on it is Earl.

[pool2da]

In the sports I played it was talked about but you really were not expected to perform to it. The only sport that I ever felt was good at it was golf. There is some in golf that does hold true to but to me this was the only sport that came close. I have not been close to live pro pool tournaments, but most of the time on television it seems humane, but that sure is not the case in the bars. I am sure like all sports there are a few bad apples that ruin the opinion of the whole sport.

pool2da