IN THIS ISSUE:
FRONT ROW
Youth- and School-Based Sports: Why Do Girls Drop Out of Sports?
Collegiate Sports: Recruiters Caught in the Middle
Professional Sports: A Summer Scandal Trifecta
Googling With: Michael Vick
Jocks Behaving Badly:
• Ice Behemoth Spreads Fear Across Canada …
• That's No Bull Run …
• NFL Image Just Got Worse …
• Were Online All-Star Votes for Barry Bonds Juiced? …
Jocks Behaving Exceptionally:
• AD Takes Out the Trash ….
• Good Character on Deck …
Michael Josephson Commentary: If You Love Competition, You Never Lose
SIDELINES
Announcements
Trivia Test: Which Player Did the NFL Suspend in 1986 for a Crime He Didn’t Commit?
Sportsmanship User's Guide: Your Personal Self-Evaluation
You Make the Call: Should Institutions Be Allowed to Punish Athletes Accused of Crimes Before Their Day in Court?
Principle of the Month: Ten Lessons for Coaches
Say What?
Upcoming Seminars
The good Lord gave you a body
that can stand most anything.
It’s your mind you have to convince.
-- Vince Lombardi, football coach (1913-1970)
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FRONT ROW
YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS
Why Do Girls Drop Out of Sports?
Despite the fact that participation by girls has increased at all age levels and that society is more accepting than ever of female athleticism, girls continue to drop out of sports at six times the rate of boys. How come?
In Brooke de Lench’s excellent book, Home Team Advantage: The Critical Role of Mothers in Youth Sports, she explores six possible reasons:
1. Greater desire for cooperation and connectedness over competition. Anne Driscoll, author of Girl to Girl, observed that "Many athletic girls struggle with the fact that competition is not about connecting. It’s about vanquishing the other. And vanquishing is not nice."
2. Less tolerant of poor sports behavior than boys. The values that many female athletes embrace clash with the winner-take-all mentality and abusive behavior by athletes, coaches, and fans that increasingly characterize youth sports today.
3. Crisis of confidence. Studies have shown that girls suffer a severe crisis in confidence and a larger drop in self-esteem during adolescence than boys, who gain confidence as they mature.
4. Image of sports as unfeminine. High school girls interviewed in one book said they could be athletic and have high social status only if they had thin, feminine bodies.
5. They want to play more than win. Unlike boys, who are more willing to sit on the bench, girls expect to play. Many quit because they realize the only way to keep playing is to play competitively as boys do.
6. Little support from family. Many families still engage in gender stereotyping: "Girls are less athletic than boys" and "Sports are less important for girls than boys."
In life, as in a football game,
the principle to follow is:
Hit the line hard.
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President (1858-1919)
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COLLEGIATE SPORTS
Recruiters Caught in the Middle
Which one of these statements from your eighth-grader should not surprise you?
a. "Dad, you were right about Miles Davis. He’s much better than Coltrane."
b. "Mom, I think I’m addicted to homework."
c. "Mom and Dad, I just accepted a basketball scholarship from USC."
The correct answer is c. With so many kids getting bigger and better at younger ages, playing more, and competing against players of first-rate ability, college coaches have had to resort to plucking recruits from the deepest end of the talent pool -- middle schools.
When talent services are ranking players as early as the fourth grade, approaching eighth-graders for commitments no longer seems awkward; it’s a necessity. Joe Camel is out; Jock Camel is in.
In June, USC coach Tim Floyd offered 14-year-old point guard Ryan Boatright from Aurora, Illinois, a basketball scholarship – before the kid knew which high school he would attend. That same month, Arizona State made an offer to eighth-grader Matt Carlino.
Boatright’s mom, Tanesha, seemed unconcerned about her son being recruited so early. "Whether they offered him something at 14, 16, or 18, what is wrong with it?" she told ESPN.com. "What if it was a scholarship for good grades? Wouldn’t that be exciting? My son makes good grades and he is good at sports. He’s a good kid."
[http:sports.espn.go.com, 7/11/07]
Competition is a by-product of
productive work, not its goal.
A creative man is motivated by the desire
to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
-- Ayn Rand, author and philosopher (1905-1982)
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PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
A Summer Scandal Trifecta
So much for summer being a slow period for sports commissioners. In fact, it may go down as the ethical tipping point in sports as Major League Baseball, the NFL, and the NBA each were staggered by jaw-dropping scandals.
Say it ain’t so, Barry
Baseball will probably emerge unscathed after all the doping investigations, trials, tell-all books, and asterisks run their course. That’s because cheating in the sport is as traditional as the seventh-inning stretch. If not steroids, it’s pine tar, corked bats, or spitballs. If it’s not betting on games, it’s throwing them, stealing signs, or creative groundskeeping.
Bonds won’t be the last scoundrel to get into the Hall of Fame, and sadly, traditionalists wouldn’t have it any other way.
Doggone it, Michael
Harming oneself or others may be repugnant, but animal cruelty is a sure bet to unleash national outrage. In Michael Vick’s case, however, there is also plenty of hypocrisy.
Despite being a felony in nearly every state, dogfighting is soaring in popularity. Breeding and fighting manuals are plentiful on the Internet, in books, and in videos. "It’s a multibillion-dollar industry glamorized in the entertainment industry in hip-hop, rap, and professional sports," said Mark Kumpf, a member of the National Illegal Animal Fighting Task Force, in Newsweek.
Missy Elliott and rapper DMX have featured pit bulls on album covers. An unedited Jay-Z video showed footage of dogs preparing to fight. And Nike showed two dogs snarling before a match in an ad featuring NBA players.
That’s right, Nike. The same company that just cancelled Vick’s new shoe release, pulled all of his apparel from its stores, and suspended his $7 million sponsorship deal after PETA threatened to picket its Niketown stores. If it was cool to link dogfighting to players’ street cred before, why is it anathema now?
An Offer You Can’t Refuse, Tim
None of the above scandals come close to the one facing the NBA, however: Veteran referee Tim Donaghy is being investigated for allegedly working with organized crime the past two seasons to affect the outcome of games and wagering on them.
From all accounts, the NBA is not to blame. Although it reviews every call by every official in every game, looking for abnormalities, virtually nothing can spot or stop a ref from subtly keeping a game within or outside a point spread.
As one blogger wrote: "The next few weeks will probably find David Stern longing for the days when his league was merely known as a ‘thug’ league."
[http://raceproject.org; http://thefeed.blogs.com; http://sports.yahoo.com, 7/17/07, 7/20/07; Los Angeles Times, 7/19/07; 7/20/07; The Kansas City Star, 7/18/07; www.msnbc.msn.com, 7/18/07; The New York Times, 7/19/07, 7/22/07, 7/24/07; www.bloomberg.com, 7/20/07; http://blackinformant.com, 7/23/07; www.leavethemanalone.com, 7/24/07; www.theonion.com, 7/26/07]
We must all suffer from one of two pains:
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
The difference is, discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.
-- Jim Rohn, author and motivational speaker
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GOOGLING
with Michael Vick |
Legal precedent, all-cat jury
Community service (without “animal shelters”)
Copyright application, Michael Vick dog-chew toy
Mailbox deletions, Snoop Dogg, Dog the bounty hunter, the Dog Whisperer
Endorsement cancellation policy, Alpo
Unsubscribe, PETA, Humane Society, ASPCA
“Dawg Pound” contract addendum: personal day allowed whenever playing at Cleveland
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If everything seems under control,
you’re not going fast enough.
-- Mario Andretti, race-car driver
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JOCKS BEHAVING BADLY
Ice Behemoth Spreads Fear Across Canada …
Reports of a boogeyman on the loose in Saskatchewan have alarmed residents and divided the community over what to do about the menace.
Minnesota Wild hockey hulk Derek Boogaard, nicknamed the "Boogeyman" for his reputation as a bruiser, and his brother Aaron, a Pittsburgh Penguins rookie with similar notoriety, recently opened a hockey fighting camp for kids 12 to 18 in the town of Regina.
"We’re not teaching kids how to fight and hurt people," Derek insisted to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Instead, he says, the Derek and Aaron Boogaard Fighting Clinic is intended to teach youngsters how to protect themselves. For $40, youngsters get two hours of boxercise training, a video of memorable Boogaard fights, and a square-off with an opponent on the ice.
How do local parents feel about what’s been dubbed the Goon School? Opponents call it a "ridiculous idea." One radio-show listener said, "Why promote fighting at a time when the NHL is trying to reduce the amount of violence?"
Proponents say they’re doing their children a service. One mother told the paper, "It’s the same as teaching your kids defensive driving."
One dad went further: "Kids have to start toughening up. Youth hockey often puts too much emphasis on fun, equity, and extra be-nice hockey."
[www.startribune.com, 7/14/07]
That's No Bull Run …
We’re all in favor of father-son bonding, but Luis Miguel Gomez of Spain could use a bull session on which activities are appropriate for his 10-year-old youngster.
Last month Mr. Gomez took his son to see the annual Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain. Each year 1,500-pound wild bulls chase participants for a half mile down narrow cobblestone streets. This year’s runs were particularly grisly, with 11 gorings reported.
Unfortunately, Gomez wanted his son to not only see it, but experience it. So he ran the event with boy, ignoring both common sense and the strict age limit for participants (18 and over).
When images of the terrified-looking youngster chased by frothing, horned beasts were broadcast over national television, Mr. Gomez’s ex-wife was not amused. She took Gomez to court, where he was fined and had his visitation rights revoked for putting "the little boy’s life in danger."
Neither the close call with the bulls or the punishments made an impact on Gomez, however. He bull-headedly told city officials he planned to continue participating in bull runs around the country -- with his son.
[www.msnbc.msn.com, 7/17/07]
The incident normally would have warranted just a newspaper filler item: An Elizabethton, TN, woman in financial difficulty was arrested on charges of withdrawing more than $5,000 from a stranger’s bank account after mistakenly receiving the person’s bank statement in her mailbox.
When the thief turned out to be the mother of Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, however, the media machine came to life:
JASON WITTEN’S FORGING MOMMA!
WHAT IS ROGER GOODELL GOING TO DO WITH THIS?
"Things have gotten so bad in the NFL, even players’ MOTHERS are committing crimes," one blogger wrote. "But the real story is, why is the mother of an NFL player experiencing financial difficulties?"
An Associated Press article disclosed that Witten "did not return a phone call seeking comment," which is often used to imply guilt.
In an era when increasing numbers of pro athletes are involved in scandals, it was nothing more than tabloid journalism to link someone of Jason Witten’s reputation to such an incident..
He is involved in many charities including the Salvation Army, the Children’s Medical Center, the Voice of Hope Ministries, and his own football camp that’s free to participants. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo says of him, "It’s a joy for me just to be around him. To have a guy so committed to winning and not to himself and his stats is a breath of fresh air."
Guilt by association is not a satisfactory explanation for why the media jumped on this. It was done to sell papers. So who’s behaving badly now: jocks or the media that cover their stories?
[www.johnsoncitypress.com, 6/18/06; Dallas Morning News, 6/18/07; http://deuceofdavenport.com, 7/6/07]
Were Online All-Star Votes for Barry Bonds Juiced? …
Remember when that massive surge of fan votes rocketed Barry Bonds into the All-Star game despite his reputed widespread unpopularity? Giantsboard.com may have solved the mystery.
An online program may have been created that allegedly enabled Giants fans to vote for Bonds online at MLB.com 25 times in the space of seconds. With the use of the F5 refresh key, they could conceivably up that tally 3,600 times in an hour.
A San Jose group claimed to have electronically generated 600,000 votes that way. One individual boasted that he personally added 200,000 to Bonds’s total. That’s not to say fans of other players weren’t doing the same thing. Unfortunately, there’s no way to validate such claims.
In either case, the league might want to review its voting system for any future performance-enhancing glitches.
[www.aolsports.com, 7/6/07]
In the arena of human life,
the honors and rewards fall to those
who show their good qualities in action.
-- Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384 BC – 322 BC)
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JOCKS BEHAVING EXCEPTIONALLY
AD Takes Out the Trash …
"Sports is the front porch of your school," Harold Slemmer, executive director of the Arizona Interscholastic Association, told attendees at our recent Pursuing Victory With Honor seminar in Los Angeles. "An athletic director is coach of the coaches. What you say you’re about should be what you are about."
One person who understands that is reader Bob Hoyt, principal of Vernon Middle School in Marion, Iowa. He wrote to us asking if he could share the following incident he witnessed a few years ago:
During a high school football game, a fullback broke into the open and ran 60 yards for a score. As he did, he taunted his nearest pursuer by holding the ball just out of reach. The player repeated the same gesture on another run later in the game.
The following Monday, the athletic director of the school called the fullback into his office. He directed the player to write a letter of apology to the visiting coach requesting that it be read aloud to the team.
The AD of the visiting school called a few days later and said both he and the head coach had been impressed with the letter. It had helped soothe some ruffled feathers.
The offending team committed no more unsportsmanlike actions the rest of the year.
[Thank you Bob for the tip!]
Good Character on Deck …
If only they all grew up this way.
 Last season was pretty good for 10-year-old Christopher "C.J." Cobb of Newark, California. He made the all-star team in football, basketball, and baseball. In the latter, he played shortstop and second base for the champion Newark American Minor Orioles, was team captain, and was voted most inspirational.
But his athletic accomplishments pale to that of his character.
On the all-star team, he is currently limited to one inning and one at-bat. Nevertheless, he leads the team in warm-ups, team chatter, and celebrating.
He has accepted his demotion with exemplary insight: "Now I understand what coach meant when he said some of us would have different roles on the team," he told his dad. "He plays us where he thinks it’ll benefit the team to help us win. I just need to be ready when it’s my turn."
As if that weren’t enough, he sent his coach this note:
[Thanks Bryan for the tip!]
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, too, 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.
There is no quality of human nature
so nearly royal as
the ability to yield gracefully.
-- Charles Conrad
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 COMMENTARY BY
MICHAEL JOSEPHSON
If You Love Competition,
You Never Lose
Suppose you’re an Olympic athlete and you hear that the only person who has a chance to beat you is ill and may have to withdraw. Are you overjoyed or disappointed?
If you love and understand sports, you ought to be crushed. John Naber, the winner of four gold medals in swimming, says a true sportsman wants to compete against his best competitor on his best day. Yes, that makes winning more difficult and less likely, but it also makes the event more exciting and a victory more meaningful. Being declared a winner is not real victory. Being the best is.
If you play tennis or any other sport, what’s more fun -- to play against someone you easily dominate or against someone who makes every point an exciting challenge? The point of sports is to have fun trying to win and loving the game enough that you can have fun whether you win or not.
Athletic competition is not a form of war. The people you compete against are also the people you play with. They are not your enemies. The word competition comes from the Latin root competere, which means to strive together, not against each other.
Be thankful for quality competitors who push you to your limit. You’ll find sports more healthy and enjoyable when you respect and like your opponents rather than hate them.
When you compete with someone as good or better than you, you may not always win, but you never lose.
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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