IN THIS ISSUE:

FRONT ROW

• Youth- and School-Based Sports:
  • Parents’ Demand Backfires -- Kids Still Benched
  • Use Sports Incidents as Teachable Moments
• Collegiate Sports: Parents Turning Wrath on Colleges
• Professional Sports: Googling With Terrell Owens
• Sportsmanship User's Guide: Five Ways to Play Ethically
• Michael Josephson Commentary: Refuse to Be Afraid

SIDELINES

• Trivia Test: How Much Money Does the Average Fantasy-Sports Player Spend Annually?
• Sportsmanship Forum
• You Make the Call: Is NBA Commissioner David Stern Too Autocratic?
• Principle of the Month: Let’s Stop Entitling Unsportsmanlike Behavior
• Say What?
• Upcoming Seminars
• Jocks Behaving Badly:
  • Spit and Image …
  • Talk About Shooting Blind …
• Jocks Behaving Exceptionally:
  • Oregon’s Good Sports …

FRONT ROW

YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS

Parents’ Demand Backfires -- Kids Still Benched

In our November issue, we cited the unusual case of a bloc of parents, upset over the playing time of their kids on the Castro Valley High School basketball team in California’s Bay Area, who raised such a stink that the school board decided to let a six-person panel of parent representatives and community members choose the team from now on.

Well, last month the panel posted its first roster – and none of the parents’ daughters were chosen.

"The panel was a joke," one of the parents fumed in an e-mail to a San Francisco Chronicle reporter. No one disputes that (the entire 12-person football staff of the school resigned in protest), but the parents aren’t laughing. They insist the panel was stacked with supporters of the girl’s coach, Nancy Nibarger, who attests she not only has never met the panelists, but doesn’t even know their names.

Castro Valley’s assistant principal Marci Plummer told the paper she chose one of the panelists from a list submitted by the parents themselves and chose two other "fair basketball experts whose reputation precedes them," adding that the girls who made the cut were "supported by the vast majority of the group."

[San Francisco Chronicle, 11/30/06]

YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS

Use Sports Incidents as Teachable Moments

This is the time of year when everyone lists the best and worst of 2006. In terms of sportsmanship, rather than select our own Top 10 or Bottom 10, we thought it would be more useful to show how to turn TV newscasts or Web videos of such incidents to good use.

The Positive Coaching Alliance at Stanford University encourages players, coaches, educators, parents, and the media to use examples of positive and negative sportsmanship in the news as starting points for discussion and teaching positive behavior. Rather than ignoring or joking about headlines and assuming children will get the message, discuss the incidents with them by asking questions such as:

• How would you react in a similar situation?
• How should the athlete(s) in this incident have handled it?
• How do you think the incident affected teammates, fans, and the image of the sport?

Principle 1.3 of the Gold Medal Standards for Youth Sports urges that sports programs should "teach, nurture, and foster positive life skills, traits, and attitudes, including self-discipline and an appreciation for the value of…responsibility, courage, perseverance, empathy, and teamwork. Such values will help youngsters lead socially responsible and personally satisfying lives."

To help cultivate respect, the PCA promotes different ways to honor the game, such as ROOTS (respect for the Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates, and Self). "Getting children to talk about their opinions of incidents may be as important as telling them your own," the website advised. "Children who grapple with the right and wrong of a situation (rather than simply nod their heads when an adult speaks) are more likely to internalize the lesson."

The Gold Medal Standards for Youth Sports are a common framework of requirements that all youth programs should meet. Read about them here.

[www.positivecoach.org]

COLLEGIATE SPORTS

Parents Turning Wrath on Colleges

It was only a matter of time. The scourge of youth- and school-based sports – overly demanding parents – has now spread to the collegiate game.

University of Arkansas football coach Houston Nutt’s job was in serious jeopardy in 2005 following a 4-7 season. He needed a good recruiting class. Like, say, a handful of players from Springdale High School, the state’s undefeated high school champs. But a book about the school’s championship season quoted its prep All-American quarterback, Mitch Mustain, as saying Arkansas’ offense was "boring" and he would more likely consider becoming a Razorback if Coach Nutt were fired.

Nutt countered by hiring Springdale’s coach Gus Malzahn as his new offensive coordinator. It worked. Mustain and three other stars from the squad enrolled at Arkansas. Result: The Hogs went 10-3 in 2006, won the SEC West, had the Heisman Trophy runner-up, and played #6 Wisconsin in the Capitol One Bowl on January 1.

Everyone was happy, right? Not exactly. When Mustain was benched in mid-season, despite leading Arkansas to eight straight games, his parents and those of two other players demanded a meeting with Boss Hog himself, former coach and current athletic director Frank Broyles. The Springfield Mafia, which the parents have been dubbed, claimed Nutt had promised during recruiting that he would run the same offense Malzahn had run at Springdale, but he never implemented it.

"Our boys are used to catching 60 passes a year," one parent told the Democrat Gazette. "They want to go to a college where they get the same opportunity."

One of the three Springdale preps has since transferred. The remaining three are still on the roster. For now.

Which begs the question: Are the pros next? We can’t wait to see what happens when Mrs. McNabb demands that the Philadelphia Eagles employ a more potent offense for her quarterback son Donovan or she’ll endorse another soup.

[www.espn.com, 12/14/06;
http://huskermike.blogspot.com, 12/14/06]

PROFESSIONAL SPORTS

SPORTSMANSHIP USER'S GUIDE

The Ultimate Sportsmanship Tool Kit is an all-in-one resource to help athletic programs achieve sportsmanship and character-building goals. It comes in two versions – youth and high school – and covers everything from mission statements and codes of conduct to evaluation tools and ideas for rewarding players and coaches.

Five Ways to Play Ethically

Although sportsmanship comprises a core set of values and behavior, substantial disagreement exists regarding the precise content of those standards. For example, coaches and athletes know they should behave in ways that justify and generate trust, but situations aren’t always black and white. Here are five guidelines to remember when faced with an ethical situation that isn’t clear-cut:

1. Honor the letter and spirit of the rules. An athlete should not use manipulative tactics or legalistic evasions to justify prohibited conduct. This includes rules regarding recruitment, eligibility, compensation, equipment tampering, and drug and alcohol use.

2. Don’t cheat. Cheating is deliberately violating the rules to gain an unfair advantage. In basketball and hockey, however, tradition permits a player to deliberately foul an opponent and take a penalty as a matter of strategy. This is not cheating.

3. Don’t deceive in communication or representation. A coach should not deceive an athlete, parent, or official at any time. Deceiving an opponent about your plans, however, is considered part of the game.

4. Don’t fake injuries. It is improper to fake an injury to gain advantage or extra time. There is disagreement, however, on whether it’s okay to fake being fouled or hurt (by flopping or writhing on the ground), to pretend a ball was caught when it wasn’t, or to try to convince a referee an opponent touched the ball last when he didn’t. The purest interpretation of sportsmanship precludes attempting to dupe officials into making incorrect calls.

5. Call plays against yourself. In volleyball, players are expected to call a touch if a ball hits them before going out of bounds and the official misses it. In tennis, etiquette requires players to correct an umpire’s erroneous call. In golf, a player is supposed to alert his opponents when he accidentally breaks a rule that incurs a penalty stroke.

Read more about the Ultimate Sportsmanship Tool Kit.

COMMENTARY BY
MICHAEL JOSEPHSON

Refuse to Be Afraid

Tim Wrightman, a former All-American UCLA football player, tells a story about how, as a rookie lineman in the National Football League, he was up against the legendary pass rusher Lawrence Taylor. Taylor was not only physically powerful and uncommonly quick, but he was a master at verbal intimidation.

Looking young Wrightman in the eye, he said, "Sonny, get ready. I’m going to the left and there’s nothing you can do."

Wrightman coolly responded, "Sir, is that your left or mine?"

The question froze Taylor long enough to allow the rookie a perfect block on him.

It’s amazing what we can accomplish if we refuse to be afraid. Fear -- whether it’s of pain, failure, or rejection -- is a toxic emotion that creates monsters in our mind that consume self-confidence and intimidate us from doing our best or sometimes even trying at all.

As a law professor, I saw scores of capable students fail the bar exam, not because they didn’t know enough, but because their anxiety hindered their ability to remember or coherently express what they did know.

For most graduates, passing the exam should be no more difficult than walking across a board 20 feet long and two feet wide. The trouble is, they don’t walk normally because they’re intimidated by the illusion that the board is suspended 100 feet in the air and that getting across the board is a life-or-death matter.

What’s the worst thing that can happen? Embarrassment, inconvenience, and expense -- none of which are fatal.

Perspective is an antidote to fear. Most of the things you fear will never happen, and even if they do, you can handle it.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

For an archive of Mr. Josephson’s commentaries with audio files, go to: www.charactercounts.org/knxtoc.htm

To receive free weekly e-mail, including all five of Mr. Josephson’s commentaries from that week, please sign up at: www.charactercounts.org/newsletters.htm

CHARACTER COUNTS! Sports, a project of the nonprofit Josephson Institute, leads the Pursuing Victory With Honor sports campaign, which is endorsed by the country’s leading amateur athletic organizations. The campaign’s purpose is to help administrators, athletes, coaches, legislators, officials, and parents change personal and organizational decision making and behavior in sports.

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This newsletter reports on issues of ethics and character in sports to help you advance sportsmanship in your work in athletics. Please forward it to your friends. They can sign up to receive it regularly (see below).

How much money does the average fantasy-sports player spend annually?

About $100
About $250
About $500
About $750
About $1,000
About $3,000

See the answer below.

Is NBA Commissioner David Stern
Too Autocratic?

First there was the dress code, then the new ball, then the crackdown on arguing with officials – all mandated unilaterally without consulting the National Basketball Players Association. Does professional sports’ most controlling commissioner have too much power?

• Yes. He’s practically been given quasi-governmental authority on what is in effect a corporate executive’s position, including the power to suspend any owner (his own bosses) who publicly criticizes the league.
  
• No. He reversed course after players complained about the new ball. Overall, his regulations have done more good then harm and vastly improved the image of the game.
  
• I'm not sure.

Click here to vote

[http://sports-law.blogspot.com]

PRINCIPLE OF THE MONTH

Principle Four: Let’s Stop Entitling Unsportsmanlike Behavior

You’re a newspaper or TV news editor. Two pro football players -- LaDainian Tomlinson and Terrell Owens -- are appearing in town today at separate charity events at the same time. You have one reporter available for the time slot. Where do you send the staffer?

Although Tomlinson is soft-spoken, polite, and a nice guy, you’re going to choose Owens because 1) he’s sports’ current bad boy and all-star egomaniac, 2) he’s a ratings cash cow, 3) the odds are better than good that you’ll get an outrageous sound bite or a controversial incident or both, and 4) your boss will kill you if you don’t.

Unfortunately, that's just perpetuating what's wrong with sports and the media.

Principle Four of the Arizona Sports Summit Accord states that "Participation in athletic programs is a privilege, not a right. To earn that privilege, athletes must conduct themselves on and off the field as positive role models who exemplify good character."

The problem is, we're rewarding Owens-like behavior because no one’s encouraging Tomlinson-like deportment. The reason is that many gifted athletes learn from a young age that they’re special, that their talent gives them unique privileges, and that rules often don’t apply to them.

"What we’re doing is feeding them fame, celebrity, and entitlement, but we’re not feeding them consequences and character," Katherine Redmond, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes, told the Los Angeles Times. "It’s a recipe for disaster."

We Get the Athletes We Deserve
"There’s an appeal of seeing someone challenge authority," psychologist Julia Babcock of the University of Houston told the Houston Chronicle. Because we live in a violent society that accepts rather than rejects negative behavior, "we live vicariously through their rebellion."

If it’s true that sports is like life, only with the volume turned up, then today’s pampered athletes can’t hear the outrage for the cheers. And that’s our bad. We and the media have become sports Looky Lous and Jerry Springeraholics who glorify and gape at every societal wreck.

Peter Roby, director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, told the Times it’s up to us to raise our young people the right way by imparting boundaries and limits early in life so that when "they are no longer in our care, they will make good decisions."

["Recruiting Practices in Youth Sports: Who’s Winning?" by Dr. Daniel Frankl, Cal State University, Los Angeles; Los Angeles Times, 4/16/06; Houston Chronicle, 10/8/06]

Nearly 50 influential leaders in sports issued the Arizona Sports Summit Accord in 1999 to encourage greater emphasis on the ethical and character-building aspects of athletic competition.

There are youth/interscholastic and collegiate/Olympic versions. Read the full texts here.

"This opens up the fun of hunting to additional people, and I think that’s great."
-- Texas State Representative Edmund Kuempel after introducing a bill to allow the blind to hunt

"Maybe because I’m unhappy and not too excited about what’s going on so my concentration and focus level tends to go down when I’m in a bad mood. If you put me in a good situation and make me happy, you get good results."
-- Oakland Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss on possible reasons for his recent slew of dropped passes

"Hi Sweetie Pie: Eagerly wait [sic] your update!!! How was your evening? Restful hopefully, the world loves you! Your [sic] sooooo close to going home to mom&dad. Give nibbles to your caretakers." :)
-- One of hundreds of e-mail wishes posted for Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro on the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine website

"You are pathetic…You are a burnt-out hippie leftover living on an organic farm at least 50 miles from any major city…You’ve never actually ridden a horse, although you’ve had several acid trips where you felt like you did...Where’s the message board for the Sudan? Darfur, hope the slaughtering ends soon. Love U!"
-- Open letter from Fortress of Pillows blogsite to everyone posting on Barbaro’s message board

"(There must be) some brothers in that line somewhere ... (maybe his) great, great, great, great grandma pulled one of them studs up outta the barn (and said), ‘Come here for a second.’"
-- ESPN analyst and former NFL star Michael Irvin theorizing why Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is so good

"PETA would like to offer a lifetime supply of cruelty-free hand cream to any NBA siss…excuse me, superstar who’d be willing to give the composite ball another shot. Maybe by taking care of your own skin a bit better, you can allow cows who would otherwise meet their end in the slaughterhouse to keep theirs."
-- Letter to the NBA from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in response to players wanting their old leather ball back because the new one scraped their fingers

"The amount required to ‘make this go away’ is TWO (2) of your many millions. Your reputation and image will continue to be unblemished as ever before."
-- Excerpt of letter from 81-year-old woman attempting to extort money from 72-year-old Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr for an alleged affair in the Sixties

"This isn’t a good time to cross him. It’s like asking your boss for a raise the day his wife left him."
-- Los Angeles Times columnist J. A. Adande on the timeliness of the Denver-New York brawl just days after NBA Commissioner David Stern had backed down and ditched the unpopular synthetic basketball he had earlier mandated

~ Classic From the Past ~

"I quit school in the sixth grade because of pneumonia. Not because I had it, because I couldn’t spell it."
-- Rocky Graziano, boxer (1922-1990)

JOSEPHSON INSTITUTE
The nonsectarian, nonprofit national organization develops ethics and character-education programs for corporations, the professions, schools, and government agencies. All Institute projects promote consensual values called the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

CHARACTER COUNTS!:
The nation's most widely implemented approach to character education, reaching millions of youth through nearly 4,000 schools, communities, nonprofit groups, and businesses that make up the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition.

PURSUING VICTORY WITH HONOR:
The sportsmanship campaign organized nationally by CHARACTER COUNTS! and run locally by schools, teams, and municipalities seeking to build character in youth through athletic competition. This newsletter is one way the Institute supports the campaign by sharing news about sportsmanship and what readers can do to promote it in their work with youth.

ARIZONA SPORTS SUMMIT ACCORD: Nearly four dozen leaders in American amateur athletics developed these 16 principles at a 1999 Scottsdale, AZ, conference. Endorsed today by virtually every American amateur sports organization, the Accord serves as the foundational document for the PVWH sportsmanship campaign.

GOLD MEDAL STANDARDS FOR AMATEUR BASKETBALL:
Developed with the National Association of Basketball Coaches, this document advances the Accord's principles in the basketball arena and many other sports.

GOLD MEDAL STANDARDS FOR YOUTH SPORTS:
The Gold Medal Standards for Youth Sports are a common framework of requirements that all youth programs should meet.

PVWH ULTIMATE SPORTSMANSHIP TOOL KIT:
This core product of the PVWH campaign helps you set up or enhance a sportsmanship component to your athletic education program.

Spit and Image …

During last month’s Dallas Cowboys-Atlanta Falcons game at the Georgia Dome, Dallas wide receiver Terrell Owens spit in the face of Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall. To his credit, Hall did not retaliate.

Afterward, he told reporters: "You know how hard it is to walk away from something like that? But I had to take the high road, to be the bigger man, and just let it go."

Three former NFL players, however, felt he wasn’t man enough.

Former Chicago Bear Hall of Famer Mike Ditka told USA Today, "If I was DeAngelo Hall, I would have gotten dressed real quick and gotten right in front of that locker room. When he came out, I would have hit him as hard as I could."

Two others would not have restrained themselves that long. ESPN analyst and former Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin told Dan Patrick’s ESPN Radio audience that "Hall should be commended for the way he handled the situation. He is a better man than me." But he said he would have retaliated and "kept my dignity as a man."

Former Denver Bronco receiver and CBS commentator Shannon Sharpe said, "Congress is not in session, but they would have had to call an emergency session and pass special legislation to get me off T.O. if he had done that to me."

[ESPN.com, 12/17/06; Los Angeles Times, 12/19/06; South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 12/19/06]

Talk About Shooting Blind …

A Texas legislator recently introduced a bill to allow the blind to hunt as long as sighted hunters accompany them. What could possibly go wrong?

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has yet to define what constitutes a legally blind hunter. Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a friend in the face while quail hunting in Texas last year.

"I’ve seen this on TV before," said State Representative Edmund Kuempel, who presented the proposal. "When they aim the gun, the guide tells them to aim two inches higher or lower and you’re off and running."

Perhaps he could have worded that better.

[Associated Press, 12/11/06]

Want More?
For more examples of jocks behaving badly, check out these websites:

www.badjocks.com
www.donaldcollins.org
www.deadspin.com

If you come across any videos, photos, or stories you'd like us to include in our next e-newsletter, or if you want to link your site to ours, e-mail us at charactercountssports@jiethics.org and put "Jocks Behaving Badly" in the subject box.

Oregon’s Good Sports …

Of the more than 40 Oregon high school athletes nominated for McDonald’s Good Sport Award for 2006, we wanted to highlight these four (excerpted from the actual nominations):

Ricky Cookman -- Clackamas High
"In practices, he encourages younger players, and during games he compliments opposing players, even after being tackled by them. When he was injured this season, he made a point of telling the player who landed on him not to worry about it. He’s not a vocal leader; he leads by example."

David Delgado -- St. Mary’s High
"David has shown himself to be the ultimate soccer gentleman. On countless occasions, David has demonstrated his class by picking up opponents when they have fallen or stepping in front of his teammates when they let their emotions get the best of them. David can be found at most every sporting event, cheering on his classmates. He is Co-[Student Body] President, member of numerous clubs and committees, and donates countless hours to community service. All of this and he maintains a 3.78 GPA."

Connor Kavanaugh -- Lincoln High
"Although [quarterback] Connor is a fierce competitor, his role as team leader and supporter has always been most important. His caring and concern was never more evident than after the final play in the 2005 state football championship game. As his teammate lay devastated on the field after Connor’s potential game-winning pass slipped through his fingers, Connor raced down to pick him up and console him -- the innate reaction of a true sportsman exhibiting selflessness and grace in losing."

Jon Young -- Oakridge High
"Jon was injured in a pre-season scrimmage, causing him to sit out most of his senior season. Rather than dwell on what he lost, he assumed a pseudo coaching role on the sidelines, running up and down the sidelines on crutches encouraging a teammate to keep going or encouraging the last player through a tough practice. Jon started a tradition of writing an inspirational message on a piece of tape that players wore -- encouraging them to believe in themselves and their teammates. He makes Oakridge a better place to live and play for other students and community members alike."

To view all the nominees, click here.

Want More?

For more examples of jocks behaving exceptionally, check out these websites:

www.nisr.org
www.sportsmanship.org
www.internationalsport.com/csp
www.heartofachampion.org
www.sports-law.blogspot.com

If you come across any videos, photos, or stories you'd like us to include in our next e-newsletter, or if you want to link your site to ours, e-mail us at charactercountssports@jiethics.org and put "Jocks Behaving Exceptionally" in the subject box.

About $500.

According to a 2005 survey by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, 12.6 million adults in the U.S. played fantasy sports in 2005, 85 percent of whom took part in fantasy football.

A study by Kim Beason, associate professor of park and recreation management at the University of Mississippi, reports that the activity generates from $3 billion to $4 billion annually.

[www.theacorn.com]

Please let us know what you are doing -- or what you see others doing -- so we can share your stories to strengthen character-building efforts everywhere. Go to: CharacterCountsSports@jiethics.org

To begin or cease receiving this newsletter, please go to:
www.charactercounts.org/newsletters.htm

The mission of Josephson Institute Sports Division is to work with sports leaders (administrators, athletes, coaches, legislators, officials, and parents) to improve the ethical quality of society by changing personal and organizational decision making and behavior in various sports cultures.

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