Mo's Marketplace | Sportsmanship?

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Sportsmanship?

 

I realize this won’t be a popular stance, but it is what it is I guess. 

 

Western Oregon University senior Sarah Tucholsky hit the first homerun of her career, but suffered a knee injury as she rounded the bases. Players on the opposing team, of Central Washington picked her up and helped her around the bases for what would be the deciding run. They don’t pick her up, she doesn’t score, she’s out and the game remains tied. We’ve seen the story a bunch of times over the last 24-48 hours or so.

“I’m just glad to get this story out because it was an awesome thing they did for me,” Sara says in this report. It’s true – it is an awesome thing they did for her.  Her and her team: remember softball is a team game - you don't win or lose as individuals, you win and lose as a team.  The Central Washington players saw another player in pain: there are ways to comfort another, but what they did thereafter, though, overstepped that.  What happened there would be the sporting equivalent of treason. 

The “ULTIMATE act of sportsmanship?” Perhaps it’s a gender difference, I’m not sure, but I don’t see this as sportsmanship.  In fact, I see this act is as the antithesis of sportsmanship.  It’s competition, it’s a game. It’s about pushing physical limits. That is why some make the team and some do not – their physical ability to play the game. Sometimes injuries happen. That’s part of the game.

 

What happened here was awesome for an individual and for a team, but it was not sportsmanship. There is a difference between not taking advantage of injured opponents and enabling a flouting of the rules. In this case, a runner must touch all the bases without help or assistance from her teammates – the rule is written such because the assumption is that the opposing team would not help. 

 

In my opinion, while the Central Washington players did what one should do outside of competition and showed compassion for their fallen opponent, they actually circumvented fair play. Sara needed to be able to carry herself around the bases – that’s the rule of sport. 

 
It’s a great story, but it’s not sportsmanship.

Posted by Mo at 8:21:01 AM in Sports (62) | Comments (2)

Comments

1. Fragnoli said...

That's a tough line to walk Mo! They did the right thing, but I agree, the term "sportsmanship" needs to redefined.

5/1/2008

2. Mo said...

It is a tough line to walk, but I just have a hard time with it. It just feels like it was what someone should do if you see someone on the street, but this was competition. It was compassionate, but it hurt the team as a whole.

5/1/2008

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