IN THIS ISSUE:
FRONT ROW
Youth- and School-Based Sports: Iowa Schools Will Now Use Sportsmanship Coin Tosses
Professional Sports: No Politics in Sports? Since When?
Really Bad Sports Combos
Jocks Behaving Badly:
• Don’t Cut in This Line …
• Tasmanian Cricket Is Going to Be So Boring Now …
• O.J. Steals Into Vegas; Search for Killer Postponed …
Jocks Behaving Exceptionally:
• A Classy Way to Congratulate …
• Now Taking Reservations for Our Next Opponent …
• For Me? Playing These Schools Is a Gift …
• He Threw His Character in the Ring …
• Community Turns Loss Into Win …
• Honor Was Not Declined …
Michael Josephson Commentary: Sportsmanship and Respect:The Story of Jesse Owens and Luz Long
SIDELINES
Trivia Test: What Bobsledder Performed Two of the Greatest Acts of Sportsmanship in Winter Olympics History?
Sportsmanship User's Guide: What Kind of Coach Are You?
You Make the Call: Is Poor Sportsmanship Okay in Sports Videogames?
Principle of the Month: Go T.E.A.M.!
Say What?
Upcoming Seminars
Trivia Test Answer
You can’t build a reputation
on what you’re going to do.
-- Henry Ford, industrialist and inventor (1863-1947)
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FRONT ROW
YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS
Iowa Schools Will Now Use
Sportsmanship Coin Tosses
Character has always counted in Iowa, but this year its commitment will rise to a new level.
In partnership with the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union and the Iowa High School Athletic Association, more than 300 CHARACTER COUNTS! coins were distributed across the state to be used for the official coin toss in football games and volleyball matches.
To complement the coins, districts were also provided with a public-service announcement to be read over the loudspeaker prior to the contests:
Good sportsmanship is part of competition at _________ (school/district).
Tonight’s coin toss is special. We’re using a CHARACTER COUNTS! coin to honor our commitment to the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
In addition to our players and coaches pursuing victory with honor, we invite all of our spectators to hold themselves to a high level of conduct by being positive role models, respecting coaches and officials, and having fun!
[www.charactercountsiniowa.org]
[T]he finish line is merely the symbol of victory. All sorts of personal triumphs
take place before that point,
and the outcome may be decided
long before the end.
-- Laurence Malone, cyclist |
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
No Politics in Sports? Since When?
The latest chapter in the never-ending chronicle of politics intruding into sports concerns a German-Iranian soccer player named Ashkan Dejagah.
A member of Germany’s under-21 national team, he recently refused to travel to Israel where his squad was scheduled to play an Israeli team and lay a wreath at a Holocaust museum. Germany’s decision to grant his request whipped up a swirl of controversy across the country, which has been trying for decades to erase the visages of its ugly past and improve its relations with Israel.
The Iranian-born Dejagah, who claims he has "more Iranian than German blood in my veins" and sports TEHRAN and BERLIN tattoos on his wrists, cited "political reasons" for declining to make the trip to one publication and "personal reasons" to another.
Big difference.
If he meant political, it would be tantamount to "Germany’s leading football body backing a player who sings Germany’s anthem and wears its uniform while identifying himself with a regime which has declared its desire to wipe Israel off the map," wrote journalist Zeev Avrahami in Spiegel. In that case, he added, he should be suspended.
But how hypocritical would that be when countries are allowed to politicize sports all the time in the name of "national interest"? The U.S. and Russian Olympic boycotts during the Cold War. The repeated banning of South Africa from the Olympics. The jingoist media coverage during any significant international contest.
Yet when individual athletes dare to express their political views, they’re censored. The International Olympic Committee banned Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the Olympic Games for life after they raised their black-gloved fists on the medal stand to symbolize black power at the 1968 Mexico Summer Olympics.
If, however, Dejagah meant personal, that’s a different story. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax was given a pass when he declined to pitch the first game of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.
In Dejagah’s case, Iran forbids all Iranian citizens from travelling to Israel. "There is no game in the world worth having relatives suffer for – indeed, no game is important enough to allow a man to be stripped of his right to go back to the country where he and his family came from," Avrahami wrote.
On the Politics & Soccer blog, Adrian Martin summed it up best: "Essentially, they [Germany] would be forcing Dejagah to choose between abandoning a future on the German national team and never visiting his family or home country again. I don’t think that’s a decision a 21-year-old should be forced to make."
What do you think? Send us your opinions at CharacterCountsSports@jiethics.org.
[http://en.wikipedia.org; www.lastkick.com, 10/8/07; www.spiegel, 10/10/07; http://a517dogg.blogspot.com, 10/12/07; http://sports-law.blogspot.com, 10/15/07]
If your work is not fired with enthusiasm,
you will be fired with enthusiasm.
-- John Mazur, college football player
and professional coach
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Really Bad Sports Combos
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Under the category of What Could Possibly Go Wrong? we present the case of a young offender’s prison in Dorset, England, that’s begun teaching its inmates to ... pole vault.
The warden, who may not be in charge much longer, said he hoped a future Olympian would emerge from the activity.
He may be onto something. As the world record is just over 20 feet and the prison walls are 20 feet high, the motivation factor has so far been through the roof, so to speak.
This, of course, led us to wonder what other sports might be equally as inappropriate in certain venues, such as:
Bull-riding..................... China shop
Darts ........................... Balloon factory
Discus ......................... Frisbee park
Skeet-shooting ............ Aviary
Bowling ....................... Library
Sumo wrestling ............ Weight-loss clinic
Running of the bulls ...... Interstate
Pistol-shooting ............. Courthouse
Hammer throw ............ Mineshaft
Any other suggestions? Send them to CharacterCountsSports@jiethics.org and put "Sports Combos" in the subject line. We’ll publish the best in an upcoming issue.
[http://100percentinjuryrate.blogspot.com, 11/5/07]
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Leaders are like eagles – they don’t flock.
You find them one at a time.
-- Knute Rockne, college football coach (1888-1931)
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JOCKS BEHAVING BADLY
Don’t Cut in This Line …
With so much unsportsmanlike conduct happening these days, at least the traditional postgame handshake still endures.
Uh, check that.
As football players from Magruder and Blake high schools in Maryland shook hands after Magruder’s 55-7 victory last month, three Magruder players felt a dull pain in the palms of their right hand and noticed blood dripping. A Blake player not in uniform was found with a folding knife and arrested for slashing them during the walk-through. The three injured Magruder players were treated and sent home.
"I’ve never had a situation where you’re dealing with the essence of sportsmanship and something like this happens," Magruder principal Leroy Evans told The Washington Post. "We’ve had game after game with Blake and they’re as polite as anyone in the county. This is clearly an isolated incident."
That was precisely what unnerved Magruder coach Doug Miller afterward. "You never have an inkling of getting accosted while shaking hands," he told the Post. "Was Virginia Tech a concern? Nobody ever thought [the shootings] would happen. You just do everything you can to make sure everyone’s safe."
For a better way to thank an opponent, see "A Classy Way to Congratulate" below.
[www.washingtonpost.com, 11/5/07, 11/7/07]
Tasmanian Cricket Is Going to Be
So Boring Now …
Cricket authorities in Tasmania have had enough.
Invoking tough security measures for its upcoming match with Sri Lanka, surveillance cameras have been installed and a mass of police will be on hand. Most important, beer, beach balls, musical instruments, fireworks, knives, projectiles, and animals will no longer be allowed in the stands during the match.
No longer?
"We’re not here to stop people from having fun," Tasmanian Cricket Association CEO David Johnston said, "just the small minority that want to upset other people."
Whew. Good to know someone’s on top of things in Tasmania.
[www.abc.net.au, 11/15/07]
O.J. Steals Into Vegas; Search for Killer Postponed …
Darn, just as O.J. Simpson was closing in on Nicole’s and Ron’s killer(s), someone allegedly tried to pawn off some of his sports memorabilia in Las Vegas.
Simpson and his allegedly armed posse shut that operation down pronto. Unfortunately, in his zeal to recover the property, the former Heisman Trophy winner may have gone a little too far. He faces a host of charges that could put him away for life.
But good news. His book If I Did It is not only a success, but it finally reveals the suspect he's been tracking down since the 1994 double homicide -- a man called "Charlie."
But Charlie who? Thanks to Gheorghe77blogspot.com, here are some possibilities:
Charlie Sheen. He’s killed his career at least twice. And a couple of marriages to boot. Why not Nicole and Ron? In fact, has anyone seen Emilio lately?
Charli(z)e Theron. Don’t let her beauty fool you. You saw Monster, right?
The Viet Cong. Charlie don’t surf, so no one’s looking for him in SoCal.
Charlie Bronson. Bronson became enraged to learn that not one, but two, rip-offs of his classic Death Wish would be released in 2007. Add that to the fact he never truly recovered from trying to tunnel out of a Nazi labor camp for months and we have a recipe for disaster.
Charlie Hustle. Now there’s a reason not to get into the Hall.
Charlie Manson. Too obvious? Nothing is too obvious when it comes to this case.
The only place you can win
a football game is on the field.
The only place you can lose is in your heart.
-- Darrell Royal, college football coach
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JOCKS BEHAVING EXCEPTIONALLY
A Classy Way to Congratulate …
After running their hearts out at the Blossom Valley Athletic League finals last month, cross-country runners Yonathan Seleshi and Daniel McDermott of Willow Glen High School in San Jose, California, stood at the finish line for several minutes, congratulating and high-fiving every runner who came in after them.
"What a wonderful example they were to all the other competitors," BVAL Commissioner Colette M. Cluff wrote the California Interscholastic Federation afterward. "This one small act truly exemplified their ability to honor the game. Thank you for the values you have instilled in these young people."
Now Taking Reservations for
Our Next Opponent …
For the third year in a row, North Salinas High School in Salinas, California, hosted a rival school in a Unity Dinner in their gym the night before the two football teams met on the field.
Their "lucky" opponent this year, Alisal, was greeted with a salad bar, pizzas, hamburgers, hot dogs, burritos, baked potatoes, and much more. Digging in were the players, coaches, cheerleaders, and administrators.
At the Friday night game, North Salinas also presented special commemorative towels to all the Alisal senior players, cheerleaders, students, and administrators.
This may be the only away game that schools in the state’s Central Coast Section look forward to each year.
For Me? Playing These Schools Is a Gift …
Showing respect for your opponents is one of Six Pillars of Character. Despite fierce competition during the critical final games of the season last month at the Monterey Bay League Volleyball Championships, three high schools in the California Interscholastic Federation’s Central Coast Section took time out to honor their competitors.
Monte Vista Christian recognized the seniors from Monterey and North Monterey County high schools with bios on each player and a bouquet of flowers. In a subsequent match, North Monterey County presented all ten seniors on MVC’s squad with a balloon bouquet and a Halloween goodie bag.
More swag, less swagger. That works for us.
He Threw His Character in the Ring …
Anyone who has ever heaved a javelin knows that how a throw feels does not necessarily equate to how far it goes. Where it lands is the determining factor. Or at least it’s supposed to be.
At last year’s USA Youth Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, 16-year-old Colin Kennedy was in contention. On his second throw, he hurled the javelin 153-6, a lifetime best. It elevated him to third place behind Alex Ivanov’s mark of 156-1.
Kennedy’s third throw felt about the same, so he was shocked when the scoreboard flashed 178.8 (54.45 meters). Everyone could see the javelin was stuck in the ground well short of the 50-meter mark. Sitting in the stands, Colin’s father Bruce figured the scorekeeper had erroneously transposed the numbers (from 45.45 to 54.45) and that a correction would be made. It wasn’t.
Upset, Colin went to his dad, who agreed the error had to be corrected. As they looked for an official, Ivanov’s father stormed up to them angrily, saying his son had been cheated. When the Kennedys explained they were on his side, the man calmed down.
Together, they tracked down the meet referee, who checked both the recording sheet and back-up recording sheet. Unfortunately, both had the same distance (54.45 meters). The referee said he could not alter the decision.
At the award ceremony, however, Colin found a way to do it. As the crowd looked on, he traded his medal with Ivanov and stepped down to the third-place spot on the podium, allowing Ivanov to stand on the rightful second-place position. "I felt really good about myself," Colin said later.
But perhaps not as much as his father. "You can imagine how proud I was of my son’s sense of sportsmanship," his father told us.
[Santa Barbara News Press, 7/5/06]
Community Turns Loss Into Win …
When Polk County (TN) High School football coach Derrick Davis broke down in tears after a 31-3 loss to White House, it probably wasn’t the first time a losing coach had felt like doing that. Except he wasn’t weeping over the numbers on the scoreboard. It was the numbers on the check that a Polk County official presented to him.
Just three days before the contest, as he and White House coach Jeff Porter were finalizing arrangements for the game, Davis mentioned offhandedly that his house had just been burglarized. "They took everything," he told Porter. Even their little girls’ bicycles.
Porter told his principal Jeff Cordell about it and asked if there was any chance they could round up some money for Davis’s family in time.
The call went out. Students and parents contributed dollars, quarters, even pennies. In just 1½ days, the school raised $1,000. The community also pitched in with a furious, last-minute campaign to churches and banks. During the game, a White House football player’s grandparent passed around a coffee tin for the last few dollars.
By the end of the game, a check for $2,400 was handed to coach Davis, who was almost too choked up for words. "For them to think about another coach when they’re preparing for a game is just amazing," he told the Tennessean. "That’s just the type of people they are. Words can’t describe that kind of gesture."
White House’s school motto is Blue Devil Pride, and their community lived up to it. "This is what it’s about," principal Cordell said. "We’re supposed to do things like this when we can."
[Thanks, Anthony, for the tip!]
[http://preps.tennessean.com, 11/14/07]
Honor Was Not Declined …
Football coaches and players live for shutouts. It’s the ultimate victory because it takes a superlative all-around effort to achieve one and can make a team’s entire season. That’s why what happened in the game between St. Francis and San Lorenzo Valley high schools in central California all the more noteworthy.
St. Francis, a new private school, wasn’t expected to win. Their varsity squad comprised just 18 players, several of whom were underclassmen. Not surprisingly, they were down 49-0 late in the fourth quarter.
All of a sudden, one of their players broke free on a dazzling play and scored from 40 yards. Pandemonium on their sideline. Their joy turned to moans seconds later, however, when a yellow flag was spotted on the field. It was against St. Francis. The touchdown would not count. San Lorenzo would preserve its shutout.
SLV’s coach Doug Morris then exemplified what Pursuing Victory With Honor means. He declined the penalty and allowed the touchdown to stand.
As he and his team left the field, St. Francis fans saluted them with chants of "SLV! SLV! SLV!"
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.
If you wish to hide your character,
do not play golf.
-- Percy Boomer, British golfer, instructor, and author (1874-1949)
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 COMMENTARY BY
MICHAEL JOSEPHSON
Sportsmanship and Respect:
The Story of Jesse Owens and Luz Long
Consider the pressure. Jesse Owens, a black athlete, was to compete for America in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin in an atmosphere filled with swastikas and Nazi rhetoric about the Aryan master race.
Although Owens held the world record in the long jump, he foot-faulted on his first two qualifying jumps. If he fouled again, he would be eliminated.
Luz Long, Germany’s premier long jumper, introduced himself and suggested that Owens play it safe by making a mark several inches before the take-off board. It worked. Owens advanced to the finals to compete against Long. That’s sportsmanship.
Owens went on to set an Olympic record and won the gold medal, barely inching out Long. The German was disappointed, but he had wanted to compete against the best in the world and was proud to have done so. That’s class.
Knowing it would not please Adolf Hitler watching from the stands, Long embraced Owens and walked with him arm in arm around the stadium before 100,000 astonished Germans. That’s character.
Owens never saw Long again (the German was killed in battle during World War II), but he never forgot the competitor’s gesture. Describing his feelings later, Owens said, "You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment." That’s respect.
Today, sports is so consumed with getting an edge, so dominated by the desire to win rather than a passion to compete, that Luz Long’s gesture of common decency and sportsmanship seems shockingly foolish. That’s a shame.
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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