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IN THIS ISSUE: FRONT ROW Youth- and School-Based Sports: SIDELINES Announcements
YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS Get Ejected, Go to To crack down on coaching misconduct in the state, the Florida High School Athletic Association board of directors has voted to require coaches who are ejected for unsportsmanlike behavior to complete a six-hour National Federation of High Schools "Fundamentals of Coaching" online course. They won’t be reinstated until they complete the exam. "Today’s action sends a strong message to our coaches," FHSAA Executive Director John Stewart said in a news release. "Student-athletes model their behavior after that of their coaches. So it is imperative that coaches exemplify sportsmanship in the way they conduct themselves during contests." [theledger.com, 4/10/08]
YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS The old adage, "Do you know where your kids are?" takes on a whole new meaning in Missouri where a Freestyle Combat League (cage fighting) has begun for children as young as six. Legislators are seeking to ban the children’s matches in the state. "It borders on child abuse," state representative Bryan Stevenson told the Associated Press after seeing video clips. He said in addition to being brutal, the practice is more dangerous for kids than other sports, quoting doctors who say its maneuvers can cause permanent damage in children by putting pressure on still-developing joints. Nathan Orand, whose students at his Tulsa, Oklahoma, fighting studio have fought in Missouri, defends the tyke version because it has extra safety rules and protective gear. But he’s no longer using the customary chain-link fence that keeps the combatants inside the fighting area. "It can look brutal at first glance." [foxnews.com, 4/3/08; armchairgeneral.com/forums, 4/8/08]
YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS If you’re looking for a novel way to instill sportsmanship in your youth sports program, your prayers may have been answered. At the West Weber and Davis West regions of the Mormon Church in northern Utah, a unique sportsmanship scoring system in church basketball games has not only reduced technical fouls but improved the character of its participants. After each game, referees and scorekeepers award each team a sportsmanship score from 0 to 5 points, which is added to the game score. The points are given for demonstrating good behavior as well as limiting bad conduct, such as helping up an opposing player from the floor or not complaining to officials. Thus, a team could win on the scoreboard but lose the game, or vice versa. "You can see a turnaround there because of the program," Utah North Area sports director Leonard Mecham told the Deseret Morning News. Officials love the new system, too. It makes for better basketball, better fans, and better officials. West Weber region officials coordinator Jeff Boyson said it’s special to see young people "compete with manners." "Sportsmanship is the spirituality in athletics," said president Ezra Taft Benson. "Our purpose is to build men and women of character and spirituality." [deseretnews.com, 4/5/08]
COLLEGIATE SPORTS
Do White Players North Carolina junior forward Tyler Hansbrough plays with so much emotion that basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale said he displayed more desire than any college player he’d ever seen. Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, known for his obsessive workout routine, over-the-top scoring celebrations, and frustration with management and players over their progress, plays with intensity, too. Apparently he doesn’t have the right kind. After one game in which he was criticized for playing despite being injured, he said Brett Favre would have been praised for such bravery. San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan has led his team to four titles but shows next to no emotion on the court. He apparently doesn’t have enough desire. Hansbrough is white; Owens and Duncan are black. In a revealing radio interview on "The Boog Sciambi Show" last month, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was asked if white players are graded on a curve for qualities such as emotion and character: Chris Broussard wrote in ESPN the Magazine: "How many times has a black player been criticized for showing emotion: beating his chest, raising his arms to the rafters, or screaming after a dunk? That’s just emotion, but too often it’s criticized as ’showboating’ or ’bad sportsmanship.’ Yet when Hansbrough shows emotion, it’s ’desire.’" What do you think – are white and nonwhite players judged differently on character? Voice your opinion here. [sports.espn.go.com, 4/10/08]
Hockey Players Don’t Want It’s that time of year when NHL sportswriters vote for the player with the most "sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct" by awarding the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. And many players are praying they don’t get it. When Alexander Mogilny of the Toronto Maple Leafs won it in 2003, he said he didn’t want it and boycotted the ceremony. "Everyone in the clubhouse started calling me ’lady’ and the name stuck," he told the Thebrushback.com. "Not to mention I’m a much more attractive target for thugs. I mean, who wouldn’t want to nail the Lady Byng winner into the glass?" When three-time Byng winner Teemu Selanne of the Anaheim Ducks was assessed a slew of penalties during one month in 2006, Orange County Register columnist Randy Youngman jokingly asked if he were trying to forfeit the award. "I don’t want Lady Byng," the player joked. "Burkie [general manager Brian Burke] would probably trade me if I won." When the writer asked Burke if that was true, he said the award was the only one he "won’t give a bonus for" when negotiating contract incentive clauses. "It’s something I don’t particularly want to see on my team." He wasn’t joking. Tampa Bay Lightning’s Brad Richards won it in 2004 and, like many others, was underwhelmed by the honor – until assistant coach Craig Ramsey pulled him aside. "Don’t say you don’t want to win it," the coach told him. "It’s a trophy in the National Hockey League. Anything you’re selected to win is an honor. Don’t forget that." At the award ceremony, Richards said, "The more I thought about it and the more people talked about it, the names that are on it, I’m very happy, very honored to accept the trophy." [Sporting News, 6/21/04; ocregister.com, 12/20/06; thebrushback.com; hfboards.com, 3/27/08; cbc.ca/sports, 4/1/08]
Protests Torch the Olympic Spirit When the International Olympic Committee selected Beijing as the site for the 2008 Summer Olympics, celebration and pride swept across the most populous nation on earth. What it’s feeling now are shock, dismay, anger, worry, and fear. Instead of inspiring peace and friendship, their "Joy of Harmony" torch relay has become a grueling marathon of humiliation and condemnation. And it’s a shame. Yes, China isn’t close to being a global role model: oppression, human-rights violations, Darfur, Tibet, unsafe products, food safety, air pollution. But what country is? Should the committee have chosen one of the other candidates instead: Havana, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, Bangkok? As Indian actor and torch runner Aamir Khan said, "If we were to try and find on this planet a place to hold the Olympic Games where the government has not been responsible for human-rights violations, I suspect we would be left with very few options, if any at all." The Olympics should be about competition, goodwill, sportsmanship, peace, progress, and unity. Athletes who’ve trained and sacrificed for their country deserve the opportunity to compete for their homeland on the grandest sporting arena in the world. Then there’s the other side: The torch relay is sponsored by Coca-Cola, Samsung, and G.E. Prestige isn’t why countries compete to host the Games; it’s to expand their global marketing opportunities. The Games have always been a grandstand for nationalistic fervor and protest. Still, wouldn’t it be nice if everyone for once honored the Olympic ideal: to compete in celebratory competition and transcend political ideologies? "It’s antiquated, out of place, unrealistic…and I absolutely love that about it," wrote columnist Dave Boling for The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington. [merinews.com, 4/5/08; thenewstribune.com, 4/10/08; chinadaily.com.cn, 4/11/08; tcpalm.com, 4/11/08]
OLYMPIC SPORTS As the protest-marred Olympic torch relay continues, onlookers wonder why the Chinese haven’t been able to quell the demonstrations. Well, the silly folks at Littlefivers.com have a few suggestions on how they could do so:
Urine the Wrong Sport Cycling scandals have forced drug authorities to get a lot tougher on competitors lately. Shortly after racer Kevin van Impe’s newborn son died, the grieving Belgian went to a crematorium to make funeral arrangements. While there, a drug tester showed up and demanded a urine sample. "He wouldn’t even come back later in the day," van Impe told The Sydney Morning Herald. "It was either do it right on the spot or it would be taken as if I had refused." The penalty for refusing a test can be a two-year suspension. Bert Anciaux, the Flemish minister for sport, apologized for the incident. "The law is the law, but you must take a human perspective." [smh.com.au, 3/17/08] Is America Taking Its The biennial Ryder Cup Matches between U.S. and European teams traditionally have been graced with goodwill, camaraderie, and fair play since the golf competition began in 1927. Not so much lately. The 1999 contest, held in the U.S., was soured by excessive celebrating by the Americans and "disgusting" behavior by the galleries. The Europeans responded by taking five of the next six matches, including the last three (2002, 2004, 2006). Last month, U.S. captain Paul Azinger attacked his European counterpart and TV analyst Nick Faldo in a scathing interview in The Daily Mail: "If you’re going to be a p***k and everyone hates you, why do you think because you’re trying to be cute and funny on the air, they’re all suddenly going to start to like you? The players from his generation really don’t want to have anything to do with him." Sam Torrance, Europe’s 2004 captain, said Azinger has damaged the spirit of the Cup. "Come September, this won’t help the U.S. It’s important to maintain the integrity and sportsmanship of an event that means so much to all of us." [dailymail.co.uk, 4/12/08] Height of Hypocrisy on the Ice Last month’s Stanley Cup playoff series between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils was memorable, hands down. In Game 3, Ranger forward Sean Avery positioned himself in front of Devils goalie Martin Brodeur and waved his arms and stick in his face trying to block his view. "I’ve played for 15 years in this league," Brodeur, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, told The Canadian Press afterward. "I had never seen that in my life." After the game, as the players traditionally skated by each other and shook hands, Brodeur dropped his when he came to Avery. Brodeur’s reply: "I shook everybody’s hand but one." [canadianpress.google.com, 4/19/08]
They Touched ’Em All If Hollywood ever runs out of ideas for tearjerker sports movies, all they have to do is read the sports wire for stories like this to come along. Last month, Central Washington University’s women’s softball team hosted Western Oregon. At stake was a bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs. In the second inning, Western had two runners on base when 5-foot-2-inch senior right fielder Sara Tucholsky came to the plate. A career .153 hitter (.088 this season), Sara did something she’d never done in four years: smacked a pitch over the wall. As the team whooped it up and high-fived the runners ahead of her, Western’s coach Pam Knox looked around. "Where’s Sara?" She was lying in a heap near first base. In her excitement, Sara had missed the bag. As she darted back to touch it, her knee popped. In agony, she could barely move, let alone run. For a home run to count, a player must touch all the bases with no assistance from the team. "Our first-base coach was telling me ’I can’t touch you or you’ll be out,’" Sara told The Oregonian. "’I can’t help you.’" The umpires told Knox if she put in a pinch runner, Sara would be awarded a single and two RBIs. "It was her only home run in four years. She’s going to kill me if we sub and take it away," Knox said. "I didn’t know what to do." Then a voice behind her said, "Excuse me, would it be okay if we carried her around?" It was senior Mallory Holtman from Central. The umps said nothing in the rule book prohibited the opposition from helping her. Holtman and a teammate picked Sara up in a fireman’s carry and walked her around the bases, pausing at each one so she could touch the bag. The stadium was in tears. The entire Western Oregon team was sobbing. Coaches were crying. At home plate, the two Central girls passed Sara into the arms of her teammates, and the crowd gave them a standing ovation. "We’re never bigger than the game," Knox said afterward. "We forget that because as coaches, we’re always trying to get to the top. But I will never, ever forget this moment. It’s changed me. And I’m sure it’s changed my players." Sara will accompany the team in its bid for an NCAA berth. Holtman intends to get a graduate degree in sports administration. Her dream is to become a coach. [sports.espn.go.com, 4/28/08; statesmanjournal.com, 4/28/08; oregonlive.com, 4/30/08]
Two recent events demonstrate that everything a coach, athlete, or school does matters. Two different Salinas, California, parents sent the following e-mails last month to two different principals after observing separate sporting events.
It’s rare to see a championship end with both teams hugging each other. It’s almost unheard of in ice hockey. And especially after what happened in this contest. At the end of regulation in the Division I Michigan high school state championship between Marquette and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, the score was 0-0. Michigan rules prohibit shootouts, so the teams played an overtime period. Then another. Then another. And another. After eight overtimes – the longest high school hockey game ever played – the game remained scoreless. With the players exhausted, nauseated, and dehydrated, officials ruled the title game a tie, giving the evenly matched teams the co-championship. "It ended the right way," one player told the Detroit Free Press. "After eight overtimes, there’s no loser. Everyone goes out a winner. We’re champions and we get rings."
[doubleazone.com, 3/18/08]
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