IN THIS ISSUE:
FRONT ROW
Youth- and School-Based Sports:
• From Crayons to the Clear
• Seven Sportsmanship Rules for Kids
• Dos and Don’ts for Sportsmanship Makeovers
Professional Sports:
• Moses Commands: Thou Shalt Not Dope
• This Player Gives Character a Kick
Googling With: Roger Federer
Jocks Behaving Badly:
• Red Card in the Morning, Coaches Take Warning …
• From All-Star Line-Up to Jailhouse Line-Up …
• Rank Stupidity From Just About Everybody on This One …
• Oh, How’s That New NFL Conduct Policy Working Out?…
Jocks Behaving Exceptionally:
• This Duck Wins Every Face-Off ...
• Nobody Likes a Rugby Sendoff, but in This Case …
Michael Josephson Commentary: The Quest for the Competitive Edge
SIDELINES
Announcements
Trivia Test: This Quote Was Said About Which Sports Figure?
Sportsmanship User's Guide: Observing the Spirit and Letter of the Rules
You Make the Call: How Do You Fill a New Coaching Position?
Principle of the Month: How to Promote Your Sportsmanship Initiative
Say What?
Upcoming Seminars
Nothing can stop the man with
the right attitude from achieving his goal;
nothing can help the man with
the wrong attitude.
-- W. W. Ziege
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FRONT ROW
YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS
From Crayons to the Clear
 Remember the good old days when popping a couple of Gummi Bears and a slurp from a Coke before sixth-grade class would hop you up for the spelling bee?
That’s so last semester, at least in France. A four-year study of more than 2,000 French sixth graders revealed that 1 percent use doping agents when playing sports. Four years later, the number of drugs used by the respondents had tripled. Nearly half of the energizers were performance-enhancing drugs such as corticosteroids, anabolic agents, and other stimulants.
That’s unfortunate. Now when French kids are teased for having a big head, it may not be because they’re brainy.
[http://youbeenblinded.com, 6/21/07]
Success isn’t based on your ability to change. It's based on your ability to change faster than your competition.
-- Mark Sanborn, author and motivational speaker
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YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS
Seven Sportsmanship Rules for Kids
Tiger Woods has always credited much of his success to his father, Earl, because he taught him much more than how to hit a golf ball. Earl Woods died in 2006, but before he did, many of his life lessons were published in a book called Start Something: You Can Make a Difference. Here are our favorite seven:
1. You are a leader. Leadership is within each and every one of us. It doesn’t mean you have to be a loud, "Follow me!" type; you can do it with quiet dignity. There are many ways to lead – by your words, your actions, your attitude.
2. Hitting a ball doesn’t make someone a hero. Just because someone is famous doesn’t mean you should look up to him. It’s what someone does away from the game – in real life -- that qualifies him or her for role model status.
3. No one wins every time. We all want to win, but if you’ve given everything you’ve got and tried your best, there is nothing wrong with not being number one.
4. Lose like a winner. True winners know how to lose gracefully and treat winners with respect. As Tiger says, "I enter every tournament with the same thought: win. If I don’t, I’m disappointed, but it doesn’t take long to get over it, and I learn from the experience."
5. Showing off isn't the same as showing confidence. People who brag about how great they are aren’t confident; they’re insecure. Confidence gives you the ability to walk into a room and feel strong and comfortable, sure of who you are, without feeling the need to broadcast that you’re better than everyone else.
6. Support your teammates. Remember the last time you struck out? The next time someone else has a bad day, a few nice words ("You can do it"…"Good try") can make a world of difference. Show others you value people over winning.
7. If you don’t want all the blame, don’t take all the credit. No one wants to hear you say, "If it weren’t for me, we would have lost." Be proud of yourself, but let everyone feel proud, too. A true leader makes the whole team stronger.
A leader not only stays above the line between right and wrong,
he stays well clear of the gray areas.
-- G. Alan Bernard, pilot and manufacturer
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YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS
Dos and Don’ts for Sportsmanship Makeovers
After a 0-18 girl’s soccer season; after complaints from players that coaches regularly bullied, cursed, and demoralized them; and after being branded as unsportsmanlike by other schools, Palmerton Area High School in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, said enough.
"We have a really, really bad reputation," resident Deborah Smith told the local school board meeting. "Lehigh Valley laughs at us because we are such poor sports, and that has got to change."
Lauren Hahn, team captain of the winless soccer team, described to the committee the "destructive criticism" their coaches had heaped on them during the season, including cursing, yelling, and calling them "a disgrace to women’s sports," causing many girls to leave games or practices in tears. When word got back to the coaches that a player had told her parents of the abuse, the coaches told the team they should not be "running to mommies and daddies."
Palmerton’s athletic director Kelly Bollinger responded by saying yelling is part of the game and if girls can’t take criticism, varsity sports might not be for them. Several parents agreed. "Teams that have winning records have coaches who yell and yell often," said one. "But it’s a varsity sport, and the common goal is winning."
For a lesson on how to restore order -- and how not to -- the following is what Palmerton and the school district did and didn't do.
What to do:
• All three coaches were removed from the soccer team.
• All district coaches will be required to attend in-service sensitivity training to discuss how to avoid bullying and intimidation and how to improve sportsmanship.
• The district will develop a code of conduct for players, coaches, and spectators. What not to do:
• All three soccer coaches retained their jobs as P.E. teachers.
• One of the coaches was appointed head field hockey coach.
• Another coach was appointed assistant field hockey coach.
• The athletic director, who said the head coach got "a raw deal," is still the A.D.
[www.mcall.com, 6/21/07]
Every man has three characters --
that which he exhibits,
that which he has,
and that which he thinks he has.
-- Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, French critic, author (1808-1890)
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PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
Moses Commands: Thou Shalt Not Dope
Nelson Mandela once said, "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire."
That’s why two-time Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses is so upset. With doping scandals tarnishing sport after sport in recent years, he felt it necessary to publish a letter on behalf of "all clean world-class athletes from every sport" to dispute "the false claim that doping is the way it is and the only way to the top."
As chairman of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which uses sports as a tool for social change, Moses wrote a letter to the Times of London: "To suggest that drugs are a de facto key to world-class victories is a lie. I delivered 122 consecutive victories and four world records on the basis of sweat and refined skill, period."
Moses added that performance-enhancing drugs degrade the noble ideals of sports and its true heroes: dedication, integrity, self-sacrifice, honesty, fairness, and courage. "Sportsmanship, a level playing field, clean competition, and sheer passion for the game…are the values that must propel me and others like me to speak out loudly against the systems and stakeholders that enable and sustain the crooked work of doping."
[Los Angeles Times, 6/12/07]
If you’re not working at your game to the utmost of your ability, someone out there somewhere with equal ability is.
And one day you’ll play each other.
-- "Easy" Ed Macauley, basketball player
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PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
This Player Gives Character a Kick
When former Iowa All-American and current San Diego Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding attended high school in Iowa, he won five state championships in three different sports in three cities – two football crowns in Cedar Falls, two basketball titles in Des Moines, and one soccer cup in Muscatine. He knows how beneficial it can be for small towns to host a state championship.
When Des Moines recently began gobbling up most of the state’s sporting events, however, he took notice. "I don’t think that’s the right thing to do," he told Hawkeyenation.com.
"You look at a town like Marshalltown. [The state baseball tournament] was their huge thing. They had parades and all. I understand the central location [of Des Moines], but it would be neat to have each place enjoy that benefit each year and have them take ownership and pride."
To back up his statement, he founded a golf tournament last year with half the proceeds going to an organization that bids on sporting events around the state for small towns like Iowa City and Coralville.
This month Kaeding is holding his second annual all-sports camp at his alma mater, Iowa City West High, with former Iowa teammate and current Oakland Raider lineman Robert Gallery.
What’s special about Kaeding & Gallery Camp is that it’s a CHARACTER COUNTS! project with character-development lessons twice a day. "CC! counselors come in from around the state to reinforce teamwork and responsibility and honesty, all the things you learn through sports."
After graduating with an education degree, Kaeding wanted to help kids. While playing for the Chargers, he took a continuing education class at the University of San Diego and became certified as a character educator. "When I’m done playing, I want to get involved as a coach and an educator, to do something of substance."
[www.hawkeyenation.com, 6/11/07; www.kaedinggallerycamp.com]
He who has done his best for his own time has lived for all times.
-- Johann von Schiller, German poet,
playwright, and historian (1759-1805)
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GOOGLING
with Roger Federer |
French slang for “Rafael is French toast.”
Landscaping estimate, clay court installation
Aussie slang for “Hot? I don't feel hot.”
eBay, selling, French Open runner-up silver trays
English slang for “Your Majesty, I’ll relinquish
my crown when you do.”
Miniature baby golf driver, Tiger Woods address
New York slang for “Andy, you and me again?”
Amazon books, how to beat left-handers
Dubai slang for “My yacht goes there.”
Where are they now, Hewitt, Blake, Safin
Swiss slang for “You cannot be serious!”
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Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
-- Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, co-developers of the One Minute Manager concept
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JOCKS BEHAVING BADLY
Red Card in the Morning,
Coaches Take Warning …
You coach a boy’s soccer club. Your team just won 7-0 in the state semifinals. You’re ecstatic, right? Well, you would be if the overzealous referee hadn’t "reffed by card" throughout the game by handing out yellows and reds like they were business cards. Your leading scorer gets one of the red cards, making him ineligible for the title game.
But then you get a break. The referee forgets to report the red card to the youth soccer association. The tournament director’s hands are tied. Since it wasn’t reported, he can’t enforce the sanction. Your player can play.
Except your opponent in the finals knows what happened.
What do you do?
This incident actually occurred last month in Oregon. Stewart Boniface, coach of the Southside Soccer Club, was faced with this decision against the Cascade Helix. He chose to play the kid.
The player ended up scoring a penalty kick -- the only goal in the game -- that gave Southside the state championship.
"Some will say you should have done the ethical thing," Boniface told The Oregonian. "It’s easy for people on the outside to say that. But this kid shouldn’t miss a state cup final because a ref got a little carried away. These kids want to win, and I wanted to give them the best shot at winning."
As expected, the Helix protested. The Oregon Youth Soccer Association sided with them and ordered the game replayed.
Just as a helix spirals away from a fixed point, so did the Helix from Boniface’s stationary mindset. They upset Southside and advanced to the regionals.
[Thanks for the tip, Lisa!]
[www.oregonlive.com, 6/12/07]
From All-Star Line-Up to Jailhouse Line-Up …
As the girl’s all-star softball team was being announced at the Haughton Dixie League award ceremony on the softball field in Benton, Louisiana, one of the league’s coaches, Gina O’Neal, was telling some other coaches how great her players’ parents were: "I have the best!"
That’s when one of them came after her with a bat.
A cursing Sherry Savage lunged out of the crowd toward her. Savage had just learned her daughter had not made the all-star team. O’Neal, along with three other coaches, voted on the all-star team.
In front of the parents, coaches, and 6- to 8-year-old players, the woman berated O'Neal and slapped her. The coach attempted to walk away several times to "be a good example for the kids."
Fortunately, another parent grabbed Savage's bat before she could wield it. Her husband eventually pulled her away and escorted her off the field.
"The children who saw it were the victims, not me," O’Neal told TV station KTBS afterward.
Savage was arrested at a shopping center later on charges of disturbing the peace, simple battery, and aggravated assault.
[http://ktbs.com, 6/8/07]
Rank Stupidity From Just About
Everybody On This One …
Situation: Northwestern High School’s football team is ranked number one in Florida and heading for the state championship.
Dumb Move #1: Antwain Easterling, the senior star running back, has sex with a 14-year-old freshman on the floor in a school bathroom. More than 20 school employees are aware of the incident.
Dumb Move #2: One month goes by before one of the witnesses alerts principal Dwight Bernard.
Dumb Move #3: Bernard buries the report, fearing it will harm the team’s chances in the playoffs.
Dumb Move #4: School police become aware only after the girl’s mother approaches an officer at a Dunkin’ Donuts.
Dumb Move #5: Easterling is arrested for lewd and lascivious battery, but he’s allowed to enter a pretrial program that clears his record.
Dumb Move #6: The school district does not discipline Easterling, allowing him to play in the state final.
Dumb Move #7: Northwestern wins the title. A grand jury concludes that Bernard “hoped it would all go away and allowed for the glory of football to trump the needs and safety of a little girl.”
Sane Move #1: Principal Bernard is fired.
[South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 6/6/07]
Oh, How’s That New NFL Conduct
Policy Working Out? …
Well, let’s see.
• The NFL suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones for the upcoming season after a February melee and shooting involving his posse at a strip club.
Since then: Jones is caught speeding in a car that was involved in a 2006 drug bust and is questioned about another alleged strip-club shooting with the same entourage.
• The NFL suspended Chicago Bears defensive tackle Terry “Tank” Johnson for the first eight games of 2007 for violating probation on a gun charge.
Since then: Johnson is pulled over by police for speeding and is arrested for driving under the influence.
• Just last month:
o Cincinnati Bengals running back Quincy Wilson is charged with disorderly conduct outside a bar, the 10th Bengal player arrested in the last 14 months.
o Green Bay Packers linebacker Nick Barnett is charged with battery outside a nightclub.
o Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Frederick Davis is charged with disorderly intoxication, trespassing, resisting with violence, and multiple counts of battery on a peace officer outside a nightclub. Police have to Taser him to subdue him.
o Cleveland Browns receiver Mike Mason is charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing official business, and resisting arrest outside a nightclub. Police have to Taser him to subdue him.
Sense shines with a double luster
when it is set in humility.
An able and yet humble man
is a jewel worth a kingdom.
-- William Penn, British Quaker colonizer (1644-1718)
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JOCKS BEHAVING EXCEPTIONALLY
This Duck Wins Every Face-Off …
It all started for Anaheim Ducks’ right winger George Parros when his father grew a mustache. Then he did. Soon he and his brother Jeff were holding mustache-growing contests.
In college, he had a fantasy hockey team called the All-Star Mustaches, and his cousins participated in Mustaches for Kids, an event in which facial hair was shaved off for charity.
Today, hockey’s roughneck Rapunzel has one of the most recognizable – and charitable -- ’staches in sports. At the Honda Center, where the Ducks play, $5 Parros lookalike mustaches sell briskly, partly because fans love the Parros look and partly because $3 from every sale is donated to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children with medical hair loss.
 In addition, each year Parros lets all of his hair grow out, then cuts it and donates it to organizations that make wigs for children with cancer.
Don’t be surprised next season when Duck fans don’t chant "Go, Ducks, go!" but "George, George, let down your hair!"
[Thanks for the tip, Carin!]
Nobody Likes a Rugby Sendoff,
But in This Case …
It was Rookie Day at an off-campus rugby club party at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. Six wannabe ruggers – two men and four women – were trying out for the men’s and women’s squads. The initiation ritual called for drinking games that involved consuming large quantities of alcohol. Did they pass? A better question would be, Did they live?
In one of the ugliest hazing incidents we’ve heard of lately, the six survived, but all were hospitalized -- some in intensive care -- for alcohol poisoning. Their blood-alcohol levels were as high as five times the legal threshold. A witness probably saved their lives by calling 911 when one student passed out and "turned blue."
Eight players on the men’s and women’s teams were charged with hazing and unlawfully dealing with a child. The university issued a statement afterward that it “does not tolerate hazing” and would investigate the incident.
Right, the standard reply issued by countless campuses each year after a hazing tragedy that never amounts to much. But in this case, the school meant what it said.
RIT suspended the eight players charged with hazing and.banned the men’s rugby team for five years. "The punishment fits what happened," a university spokesman told the Star-Gazette. The women’s team could face similar punishment when its hearing concludes.
Hazing expert, author, and professor Hank Nuwer, whose website http://hazing.hanknuwer.com tracks hazing incidents nationwide, lauded RIT’s decision. With a five-year ban, he told the paper, "It gets all the current members out."
[www.democratandchronicle.com, 5/10/07; www.star-gazette.com, 6/7/07]
Want a Free Sportsmanship Patch?
We sent each of those who contributed an item a free Pursuing Victory With Honor patch for telling us about honorable deeds on and off the field of play.
We'll send you one if you send us your stories at CharacterCountssports@jiethics.org. Put "Jocks Behaving Exceptionally" in the subject box.
You can also report acts of good sportsmanship to the NCAA's Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct by clicking here.
The man who complains
about the way the ball bounces
is likely the one who dropped it.
-- Lou Holtz, football coach
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 COMMENTARY BY
MICHAEL JOSEPHSON
The Quest for the
Competitive Edge
"If you were on a plane and discovered your competitors on a project you would be bidding for were sitting in front of you discussing their strategy, would you listen?"
A professor once posed this question to an ethics class. He then asked, "Who would not listen?" Only two students raised their hands. One said he would introduce himself to warn his competitors.
This was greeted by laughter and booing. The majority of the class claimed it was not only ethical to listen, it would be stupid and wrong not to. It wouldn’t be serving the best interests of the company if the person passed up this competitive edge.
Ah, the seductive power of the competitive edge, the Holy Grail of modern commerce, politics, and sports.
This is an exceptionally difficult situation. The issue is tough not because it’s hard to know what we ought to do, but because it takes extraordinary character to do it. The ethical question is not what would you do, but what should you do.
When there is a gap between the should and the would, our task is not to justify what we want to do -- with rationalizations and gamesmanship theories that put all the responsibility on the competitors’ imprudence -- but to recognize that we have a choice and that what we choose to do reveals our character and our commitment to concepts like honor, candor, respect, and fair play.
Sure, it’s hard not to eavesdrop, but is there really any doubt what a truly honorable person would do?
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.
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