IN THIS ISSUE:
FRONT ROW
- Youth- and School-Based Sports: Give Me an
M…E…A…N!
- Collegiate Sports: Colleges Urge More Social Involvement
- Professional Sports: Do Bad Guys Finish Last?
- Googling With: Tiger Woods
- Sportsmanship User's Guide: Can You Pass the Sportsmanship Test?
- Jocks Behaving Badly:
• Accident Victim Just Cannon Fodder in This Town …
• Quaker Values Not Enough …
- Jocks Behaving Exceptionally:
• Quaker Community Stands Up to Intolerance …
• This Gesture Was the Pits …
• Giving Heart and Sole …
- Michael Josephson Commentary: A Parent Talks To a Child About Winning
SIDELINES
- Announcements:
• Los Angeles Lakers Honor CHARACTER COUNTS! Kids
• Josephson Institute to Release New Sports Survey
- Trivia Test: Which of These Are Not Official Sports?
- Sportsmanship Forum
- You Make the Call: Should It Be Legal to Scalp Super Bowl Tickets Online?
- Principle of the Month: Don’t Bet On It
- Say What?
- Upcoming Seminars
Great things are done when
men and mountains meet.
-- William Blake, British poet, painter (1757-1827)
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FRONT ROW
YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS
Give Me an M…E…A…N!
Rah-rah-rah, the Mean Girls of McKinney North High are gone.
The Texas scandal that became a national symbol of out-of-control students, lax parental guidance, and the female side of bullying has performed its final spell-out: ENOUGH.
The "Fab Five" cheerleader clique of McKinney North became notorious for posting lurid pictures on Myspace.com, but their most egregious crime was their long history of flouting rules, pulling pranks, and bullying teachers (thanks in part to the principal -- the ringleader’s mother).
The squad’s reign of emotional terror finally came to an end when they gave their coach -- one of five the squad went through in just three years – a "chocolate tampon" and sent racy text messages from the woman’s cell phone to her husband and another coach. The resulting uproar led to a school-wide investigation.
All five girls have since quit or been kicked off the squad, and the principal has resigned. Her $75,000 settlement, however, will come in handy since her daughter will need to fill afternoons once occupied by cheerleading practice.
[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16498083/site/newsweek]
A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants
but is miles ahead in results.
-- Ella Wheeler Wilcox, author, poet (1850-1919)
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COLLEGIATE SPORTS
Colleges Urge More Social Involvement
The NCAA’s Division III level has taken a national leadership role to help rebuild the Gulf Coast by encouraging student-athletes from its 49 conferences, associations, and leagues to engage in at least one service project with Habitat for Humanity International during 2007.
Sarah MacInnis, assistant director of Education Outreach for the NCAA, said the initiative’s goal is to have student-athletes "integrate their athletic involvement into an academic lesson -- social involvement."
Although many student-athletes are involved in community service, this project enables them to join a national movement and affect change on a much larger scale.
[www.ncaa.org]
The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.
-- Bruce Lee, Chinese martial artist, actor (1940-1973)
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PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
Do Bad Guys Finish Last?
Warren Buffet once said, "In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. But if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you."
The records of teams known for bad behavior and outlaw rosters seem to bear this out:
Cincinnati Bengals
Nine players arrested for various crimes in 2006
Record last year: 8-8 after 11-5 2005 season
Oakland Raiders
A pirate crew of castoffs, dangerous fans, and Randy Moss
Record last four years: 15-49
Minnesota Vikings
Randy Moss’s antics finally sent him packing, then there was that yacht orgy
Record last six years: 43-53
Indiana Pacers
Detroit brawl, suspensions, and off-court incidents led to Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson trades
Record last two years: 85-79
On the other side of the spectrum was the New Orleans Saints, which despite the loss of their stadium and much of their city improved their record by seven games, came within one win of going to the Super Bowl, and became America's team.
When The Star-Ledger (New Jersey) asked the Saints' first-year coach Sean Payton what his key was to the turn-around, he said, “Finding the right guys and the right fit from a character standpoint.” The result was a 33-player overhaul from the previous roster.
In the meantime, the Bengals just signed former Iowa State defensive end Jason Berryman. He was kicked off the team in 2006 for an incident at a nightclub and jailed for 258 days in 2004 for assaulting and robbing a student.
I do not try to dance better than anyone else.
I only try to dance better than myself.
-- Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer and choreographer
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GOOGLING
with Tiger Woods |
Trophy display cases, multiple
Golf record book, rewriting
cablinasian baby names
do-it-yourself mobiles (see also goofy Phil Mickelson photos)
sportswear design, golf shirts, toddlers
course redesign, Augusta National Golf Club
Google Maps, Augusta, 12th hole
How Things Work, high five
How Things Work, teamwork (see also Ryder Cup)
Pending sponsors, Crest, SAS, Babies R Us
Patent search, fist pump
Marriage dos and don’ts (see also John Daly)
Media faux pas (see also Colin Montgomerie)
Hustling tricks (see also Charles Barkley) |
Nothing focuses the mind better than
the constant sight of a competitor
who wants to wipe you off the map.
-- Wayne Calloway, businessman (1935-1998)
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SPORTSMANSHIP USER'S GUIDE
Can You Pass the Sportsmanship Test?
According to an NCAA Sportsmanship Survey conducted last year, fan conduct is the nation’s greatest sportsmanship concern. Nearly 35 percent of respondents said a school that is welcoming and a good host is the most important way to make a visitor’s experience more positive. Are you a good host?
"Sportsmanship is a never-ending class, and you register for it every time a new season begins," said Vince Dooley, former head football coach and athletic director at the University of Georgia, at the NCAA Sportsmanship Summit in New Orleans last year.
In his keynote address, former Dallas Cowboys running back Calvin Hill added: "You are the trustees of the values and integrity of your schools. There is a cry for decency. There is a cry for civility. We have the opportunity to take back the game."
The NCAA’s Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Committee recently created a "Sportsmanship Tool Kit" to help schools measure how well they’re doing and a self-evaluation test to assess your program. To download the tool kit and take the test, click here.
[www.ncaa.org]
God has entrusted me with myself.
-- Epictetus, Greek philospher (55-135)
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JOCKS BEHAVING BADLY
Accident Victim Just Cannon Fodder in This Town …
It was Snohomish’s homecoming game against rival Everett High School in Shohomish, Washington. The Marine Corps Junior ROTC unit stood by to fire the school’s ceremonial red cannon that traditionally kicks off every home game. Brett Karch, 16, whose goal was to serve his country as a Special Operations Forces recon Marine, had the honor of pulling the trigger before the biggest game of the year.
"Fire!" his officer in charge ordered.
The next thing Karch knew, he was lying several feet away in a haze of smoke. The cannon had disintegrated, as had most of his right leg.
Three months and three surgeries later, Karch’s leg was miraculously saved, but he faces more than a year of rehabilitation and his dream of being a Marine is over. Perhaps the most lasting regret from the incident, however, was what happened afterward.
In addition to getting calls and letters from well-wishers, Karch also received notes, calls, and even visitors threatening to "make sure his other leg got blown off" if the family’s investigation into the incident resulted in the school discontinuing the 20-year-old cannon tradition.
"Football wouldn’t be the same without the big boom at kickoff," wrote one student in a "get-well" card. A campaign to raise money on Karch’s behalf netted just $200, nearly all of it coming from schools other than Snohomish.
[Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 12/20/06]
Quaker Values Not Enough …
Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, is a Quaker school committed to core values such as community, diversity, and equality. At least five members of its football team, however, apparently weren’t with the program.
Last month they were charged with allegedly beating three Palestinian students with brass knuckles, calling them terrorists, and hurling racial epithets. One victim sustained back injuries, another a broken jaw, the third a broken nose.
The incident shocked the Quaker campus, which has a history of recruiting Palestinians from the Friends School in the West Bank. Newsweek rated the school the "hottest for social conscience" in 2006.
The good news is how the Quaker community reacted. For that story, see below.
[The Christian Science Monitor, 1/29/07]
Want More?
For more examples of jocks behaving badly, check out these websites:
www.badjocks.com
www.donaldcollins.org
www.deadspin.com
To report acts of unsportsmanlike behavior to the NCAA’s Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct, click here.
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.
God has entrusted me with myself.
-- Epictetus, Greek philospher (55-135)
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JOCKS BEHAVING EXCEPTIONALLY
Quaker Community Stands Up to Intolerance …
Appalled by the ugly incident in which at least five football players from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, allegedly assaulted three Palestinians, students have taken unusual steps to condemn what happened.
Amid candlelight vigils and class boycotts, anti-hate banners were hung, peace signs were scrawled on sidewalks, and a community scarecrow was erected on which passersby were encouraged to post definitions of community (TOLERANCE…WELL-BEING…ACCEPTING OF ALL).
The response heartened Greensboro's Muslim community, estimated to be 10,000. "The Quakers are our friends," Badi Ali, president of the Islamic Center, told The Christian Science Monitor. "They have always opened their hearts to us. What we’re seeing now is the fruit of those years of cooperation."
The town’s succor was reminiscent of what Amish residents of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, did last year after gunman Charles Carl Roberts massacred five girls in a schoolhouse, then committed suicide.
Hours after that incident, Amish neighbors comforted the Roberts family and forgave them. At Roberts’ funeral, half of the mourners were Amish, causing one fireman who witnessed the outpouring of forgiveness to weep.
[www.foxnews.com, 10/5/06; http://hootsbuddy.blogspot.com, 10/11/06]
This Gesture Was the Pits …
Legendary NASCAR racer Benny Parsons, who died last month at age 65, was one of racing’s most likeable personalities, a quality that led to one of racing’s most memorable demonstrations of sportsmanship.
Parsons entered the final race of 1973 with a slim lead in the championship standings over Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty. On lap 13, however, a car slammed into him, tearing off the entire right side of his Mercury.
"I knew it was over," Parsons said later. "You don’t repair damage like that." Parsons was out of the race; his championship bid was history.
His car was on the wrecker when someone noticed a vehicle in the garage that had failed to qualify. Mechanics and crew members from rival pit teams sprinted into the garage, salvaged parts from the other car, raced back to the Mercury, and began hammering away. Miraculously, they got the car back on the track in 75 minutes.
Although he completed only 308 laps and failed to complete the race (Petty went out earlier with a broken camshaft), Parsons finished 28th -- beating Yarborough, who was third, by 67.15 points for his first, and only, Winston Cup.
[www.sportsillustrated.cnn.com; www.nascar.com]
Giving Their Heart and Sole …
Distance runners are renowned for giving it their all, but a lot of them also give some of it back. With so many 5Ks, 10Ks, and marathons linked to a charity events, part of a runner’s high now is knowing he or she is supporting a worthy cause.
Recently, ultra-marathoners Sam Thompson and Dean Karnazes took altruism to a new level by embarking (separately) on the ultimate competition/charity event: the 50in50in50. Both men vowed to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days for charity.
Thompson’s goal was to help Hurricane Katrina victims. He left the starting line at the Leadville Trail Marathon in Colorado on July 1, 2006. For the next seven weeks, he traversed the country and completed his 50th marathon on August 18. To view his effort, click here.
 Karnazes’s motivation was to raise $50,000 for his nonprofit KarnoKids foundation. On September 17, he began at the Lewis and Clark Marathon in Missouri. Sponsored by The North Face, he completed his last stage, the New York City Marathon, on November 5 – then turned around and ran a third of the way back across the country.
For more information on his effort, 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
To report acts of good sportsmanship to the NCAA’s Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct, click here.
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.
God has entrusted me with myself.
-- Epictetus, Greek philospher (55-135)
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 COMMENTARY BY
MICHAEL JOSEPHSON
A Parent Talks To a
Child About Winning
In his marvelous book, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court, former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden includes the following poem from an unknown source that conveys both the value and dangers of sports.
A Parent Talks to a Child Before the First Game
This is your first game, my child.
I hope you win.
I hope you win for your sake, not mine.
Because winning’s nice.
It’s a good feeling.
Like the whole world is yours.
But it passes, this feeling.
And what lasts is what you’ve learned.
And what you learn about is life.
That’s what sports is all about. Life.
The whole thing is played out in an afternoon.
The happiness of life.
The miseries.
The joys.
The heartbreaks.
There’s no telling what’ll turn up.
There’s no telling whether they’ll toss you out in the first five minutes or whether you’ll stay for the long haul.
There’s no telling how you’ll do.
You might be a hero or you might be absolutely nothing.
There’s just no telling.
Too much depends on chance.
On how the ball bounces.
I’m not talking about the game, my child.
I’m talking about life.
But it’s life that the game is all about.
Just as I said.
Because every game is life.
And life is a game.
A serious game.
Dead serious.
But that’s what you do with serious things.
You do your best.
You take what comes.
And you run with it.
Winning is fun.
Sure.
But winning is not the point.
Wanting to win is the point.
Not giving up is the point.
Never being satisfied with what you’ve done is the point.
Never letting up is the point.
Never letting anyone down is the point.
Play to win.
Sure.
But lose like a champion.
Because it’s not winning that counts.
What counts is trying.
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
© The New Yorker Collectiion 2001. Pat Byrnes from cartoonbank.com.
All Rights Reserved.
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