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IN THIS ISSUE: FRONT ROW Youth- and School-Based Sports: Are Big Egos Bad for Kids? SIDELINES Announcements
YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS Are Big Egos Bad for Kids? Some would say yes. Others would say no. Bill Gosse, a columnist and president of TeamScore Inc., a nonprofit organization promoting sportsmanship in youth sports, says it depends. “I’ve learned an ego is neither good nor bad. It’s how we use it,” he wrote in a recent column. When kids start playing sports, their healthy egos can be easily and wrongfully amped up by teammates, coaches, or parents. “If coaches are in check at the developmental stages (elementary school through JV), pride will be submitted and records won’t matter,” Gosse wrote. When he got his first assistant basketball coaching job, he was fortunate to have a head coach who didn’t care about records. His only concern was how much the kids developed. “It wasn’t about playing five guys and going 14-0.” To Gosse, if you make the team, you’re good enough to play. If 12 kids are good enough to play, then 12 should play each game. “What good is a middle-school championship when several kids don’t even take off their warm-ups? Put yourself in the shoes of the young kids who play only at mop-up time.” To Gosse, if you have the proper perspective, wins will follow. “I’d rather be held in high regard by a kid who got to play – even if it meant we lost a game or two – than being considered for some youth-level coaching award for number of wins.” [teamscoreinc.com; postcrescent.com, 10/4/09]
Tiger’s Transgression Team As the world waits to see when and how Tiger Woods will emerge from his scandal-induced seclusion, the biggest question is: Should Tiger fess up or stay silent? First, a little history. Fifty years ago, “one of the most symbolic documents of our age” was published. In 1959, the 864-page Celebrity Register listed addresses of celebrities for the first time. Overnight, talent and achievement was subordinated to publicity. “The hero was distinguished by his achievement; the celebrity by his image,” wrote historian Daniel Boorstin. “The hero created himself; the celebrity is created by the media.” Fast-forward to 1997. Less than a month before Tiger Woods would win his first Masters, his management team at International Management Group okayed an interview with GQ magazine, reasoning that the exposure would help jump-start his career. In the interview, Tiger kicked back and was himself, lacing his comments like many 21-year-olds with profanity, lewd jokes, and racial stereotypes. After the firestorm died down, Woods’s army of handlers and sponsors did a 180, and the world hasn't seen the real Tiger again. Since that incident, interviews have been nonexistent, press conferences brief, replies brusque, public appearances rare, contact with fans atypical. He even named his yacht Privacy. The old celebrity adage “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” did not apply to Tiger Woods. Maybe his team was right. Partly due to his self-imposed insularity, he gradually grew to become an unparalleled $1 billion empire. Unfortunately, there was one flaw in their plan. Tiger lives in an unfavorable era for athletes. In the old days, sportswriters and journalists never reported the peccadilloes of the icons they wrote about. Today, their (and the public’s) appetite for those details is insatiable. Tiger made far more money from selling himself, his image, than from playing golf. “That image, partly genuine and partly sculptured, has been one of decency, modesty, filial devotion, and paternal responsibility,” wrote Charles McGrath in The New York Times. Add to that the tradition of golf, which, more than any other sport, is built on honesty and integrity, “whose rules are accorded a kind of Talmudic reverence,” added McGrath. Golf “holds participants to a higher standard than life does, penalizing them for infractions that would readily be forgiven in most social transactions. That’s why golf is one of the rare games that really do build character, or at least reveal it.” Clearly, the pristine image that Tiger and his high-priced consultants, lawyers, and sponsors worked so long and hard to project and protect was one of the dumbest gambles of our time. “The very agency which first makes the celebrity in the long run inevitably destroys him,” Boorstin wrote in 1961. So why didn’t Tiger, of all people, realize that his private conduct made his public image nothing more than a straw man – and just as brittle? Stan Teitelbaum, author of Sports Heroes, Fallen Idols, says many athletes fall under the “toxic athlete profile,” a mix of arrogance, grandiosity, and entitlement. Well Tiger, that pine straw under your ball just shifted, and your ball sunk into the worst lie of your career. Many feel that Tiger doesn’t owe the public anything and that his private conduct is nobody’s business. “Woods can continue to have his team deliver statements. He can finally show up for a tournament, stonewall the news media, insist on taking golf-only questions,” wrote William C. Rhoden in The New York Times. “It may work.” But not likely. What Tiger needs to do is what he would honorably do without hesitation on the golf course – call a penalty on himself. For once, he must swallow his pride, ignore his sycophants, and emerge from his insulated compound. On news network HLN, longtime friend Charles Barkley and filmmaker Spike Lee said Woods changed his cell phone number and isn’t talking to even his friends. “You should reach out to your celebrity friends when things go bad,” Barkley said. “They’re the only people who understand what it’s like.” Lee added, “If Charles and Michael Jordan can’t get to him, and those are his boys, then other people are making bad moves.” Woods must ultimately do the most difficult and inconceivable thing for him: Appear before a global audience, confess his sins, admit he’s human (at least off the course), plea for forgiveness, and pledge to resurrect himself and his image. If he doesn’t, the scorecard of his life will forever be in question. Golf writer John Feinstein once told The Washington Post about a lunch Arnold Palmer had with Tiger Woods when he was 21. Tiger complained to the king that he couldn’t be normal because he had to sign autographs, talk to the media, do photo shoots for sponsors. “It just never ends,” he said. “You’re right,” Palmer replied. “Normal 21-year-olds don’t have $50 million in the bank. If you want to be normal, give the money back.” [cbsnews.com, 12/6/09; nytimes.com, 12/6/09, 12/12/09, 12/13/09, 12/15/09, 12/16/09]
In a wonderful article in hardballtimes.com, Jack Marshall, president of ProEthics, a national ethics training firm, asks: “How should we measure greatness in a baseball player?” According to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” Rarely have so few words caused more debate, to wit: Should a player belong in the Hall if his statistics, work ethic, and skills are exemplary but he’s a known racist? Should a borderline Hall of Fame candidate belong in the Hall if, after a child is hit by a broken bat, he leaps into the stands and carries him into the dugout for assistance, saving the child’s life? Should boozing womanizers in the hedonistic ’20s and steroid-users in the permissive ’90s be judged in the context of society during those eras? Many people feel the Hall’s prerequisites of “integrity, sportsmanship, and character” are irrelevant (because the cultural norms in the game and society are constantly changing), subjective (did the conduct occur before, during, or after the player’s career? Did it occur during the season or off-season? What was the nature of the conduct?), and unclearly weighted (is being admirable as important as being skilled?). Marshall concluded his article with principles that he believes should be used when assessing one’s greatness: • Only misconduct that directly harmed or threatened to harm the game should disqualify great players. To those experts and fans who feel that integrity, sportsmanship, and character have nothing to do with baseball greatness, Marshall says they should start their own Hall of Fame. “This Hall of Fame, the one in Cooperstown, NY, believes there is more to being a great ballplayer than an outstanding VORP [a player’s 'value over replacement player'], and I agree with that.”
This Player’s Conduct Stunk Soccer players are notorious for flopping, head-butting, and all manner of gamesmanship. But a ploy used in an amateur match at Manchester, England got the butt of jokes this year. Just as a player for International Manchester FC was attempting a penalty kick, a player on opposing Chorlton Villa broke wind. Ruling that the sound had distracted the goalie, the referee issued a yellow card to the offending player for his “ungentlemanly conduct”and ordered the kick retaken. When two Villa players expressed disbelief at the call, they were ejected. When Villa’s goalkeeper called the referee the worst he’d seen in years, he was tossed. Pauline Riley, secretary and treasurer of International Manchester FC, said later that both teams were normally very friendly. “It was just hilarious.” Chorlton Villa went on to win anyway, 6-4, but coach Ian Treadwell fears the stench from the incident may linger. “This has come at a bad time in the season as we’re looking for a new sponsor for next season.” Beano, are you reading this? [guardian.co.uk, 4/5/09]
Under Coach Brian Kelly’s tenure at the University of Cincinnati, his football teams enjoyed three winning seasons, including 12-0 this year and a match against former No. 1 Florida in the Sugar Bowl. He had a five-year contract with the institution. He was about to help prepare his Bearcats for the biggest game of their young lives on the national stage. And then he got a phone call. Notre Dame, which had just fired Charlie Weis, wanted Kelly as its new coach. Calling it a “dream job,” Kelly accepted. Within days, he was gone. The Bearcats offensive coordinator led the athletes against Heisman winner Tim Tebow. So what did Brian Kelly teach his young student-athletes? “He is teaching them that the concept of team is meaningless, that loyalty takes a backseat to personal concerns,” wrote Dan Liggett of the Wilmington News Journal. “Kelly expected loyalty from his players. Now he is teaching them that he is exempt from that measure of character. One would think that coaching the Bearcats and leading their transition to national powerhouse would be a dream job. One would think that leading a fine group of young men into the Sugar Bowl would be a dream come true.” What do his players, who believed in him, who committed to play for him, and who were the last to know he was deserting them, say about the man who decided that a few days of recruiting for his new boss was more important than leading his loyal kids in their last game and their one moment of glory? “We don’t care what he has to say anymore,” said tight end Ben Guidugli. “We’re ready to move forward with whoever wants to move forward with us. He’s not on the boat anymore.” On January 1, Florida crushed Cincinnati 51-24. [wnewsj.com, 12/14/09]
Paying an Opponent The high school homecoming football game between Davis and Valley in Davis, California, last November was a typically hard-fought but respectful contest. “We hate them while we’re playing, but after the whistle blows, we’re all friends,” Davis senior Max Berry told channel CBS 13. Just 17 seconds into the second half, junior defensive back Will Barker of Valley broke his neck in two places and was taken to the hospital. Barker’s family was stunned afterward when Davis’s football team raised $12,000 for them, prompting other schools in the Elk Grove Unified School District to do the same. “I don’t think anyone would have expected the different communities and support that have come to rally around this kid,” said Valley’s Coach Preston Jackson. [cbs13.com, 11/10/09]
Ubisoft Vancouver’s newest soccer videogame for the Wii, Academy of Champions Soccer, is unique in the sports game market for its emphasis on not only playing skills but sportsmanship.
The premise: Players are budding soccer stars who’ve gained a spot at the renowned soccer school Brightfield Academy run by the greatest soccer player in history, headmaster Pele, who values teamwork, selflessness, friendship, and respect. To win, players must follow Pele’s principles while battling rival academies such as Scythemore, which brutally instills in his students how to play dirty and win at all costs. As Brightfield’s players improve their skills at goalkeeping, shooting, passing, and tackling, they also get instruction in sportsmanship and fair play from American soccer legend Mia Hamm. [villagegamer.net, 10/16/09]
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CHARACTER COUNTS! Sports, a project of the nonprofit Josephson Institute, leads the Pursuing Victory With Honor sportsmanship campaign. |
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