IN THIS ISSUE:
FRONT ROW
Youth Sports:
• Extreme Sports? How About Extreme Rules
• Where Is America’s Competitive Desire?
Collegiate Sports: If Your Tree Produces a Bad Apple, Are You to Blame?
Professional Sports: So How’s That Soccer Anti-Corruption Effort in Italy Going?
Olympic Sports: The Official Beijing Olympics Trivia Quiz
Jocks Behaving Badly:
• Gee, Is Latrell Sprewell Playing Baseball Now?
• Not What an Umpire Wants to Hear: “Too Bad
He’s Still Alive.”
• Beanball No-No’s Part III: Throwing at Fans
• Can You Hear Me Now – Wait, I Have to Hit
This Drop Volley
Jocks Behaving Exceptionally:
• How You Win Can Be More Significant Than
What You Win
• Lacrosse Team Honors Opponents – and One
Little Guy
• Sportsmanship – Lost and Found
SIDELINES
Announcements
Trivia Test: Which of These Were Once Olympic Events?
Sportsmanship User’s Guide: Your Last Worst Act
You Make the Call: Should Countries That Prohibit Women From Playing Sports on Religious Grounds Be Barred From the Olympics?
Principle of the Month: Why Retaliation Doesn’t Work
Say What?
Trivia Test Answer
Michael Josephson Commentary: Striving Nobly Is Victory
What we do upon some great occasion
will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.
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– Henry P. Liddon, British theologian (1829-1890)
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FRONT ROW
YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS
Extreme Sports?
How About Extreme Rules
Young children need strong character to meet life’s challenges, and playing sports can help instill values. But what happens when sports has the opposite effect? Some communities have taken outside-the-box measures that may portend where sports are heading:
• El Paso, Texas. The Parks and Recreation Department hosted a Day of Silence last month at all youth sports events to “give the games back to the children.” (Translation: “Parents and coaches, shut up.”)
Spectators were prohibited from directing comments to players, coaches, or officials and could only cheer by clapping. Coaches could give instructions only during timeouts. Kids were encouraged to make their own decisions on the field.
“We will become silent as a community in support of our young athletes,” the rules mandated.
• City of Beachwood, Ohio. After reading an article about children’s fragile self-esteem, Mayor Merle Gordon cancelled all Little League All-Star games.
According to the article's author Fred Engh, founder and CEO of the National Alliance for Youth Sports, “Youth sports aren’t meant to single out only a handful of kids; they’re about making every child feel special.” The mayor said he received no opposition to his decision.
Sports bloggers had a few comments, though:
“I just don’t get this. Are these kids that coddled and sheltered that not making it to a team for one game will destroy their self-esteem? And that they wouldn’t be happy for and root for the kids who did make it?”
“The bruised egos and the self-esteem issues are those of the parents, not the kids.”
“In most school districts, they put kids into different math classes and reading groups based on ability. So Beachwood is afraid to tell a kid he’s not good enough to play in the all-star game but not worried about telling him he’s in the lowest reading group?”
• Northumberland County, England. With parental abuse of junior soccer officials increasing, which has led to officials quitting in record numbers, the Northumberland Association of Boys Clubs league has banned all parents from the sidelines by installing barriers.
“Moving the spectators back has made a big difference, even when the barrier is just cones,” a county development manager told the Daily Mail.
[newspapertree.com, 7/16/08; myfoxcleveland.com, 6/26/08; dailymail.co.uk, 7/15/08; northstarpubs.com]
Failure is the condiment
that gives success its flavor.
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– Truman Capote, writer (1924-1984)
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YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS
Where Is America’s Competitive Desire?
A familiar coaching credo is “Compete to the best of your ability.” Why is that necessary? Don’t all athletes do that?
No, they don’t. And when that happens, the very integrity of a sport can be harmed.
Due to gambling’s increasing influence, professional tennis players are now being monitored for evidence of “tanking” during games.
America’s Winter Olympic team in 2006 was vilified for two incidents questioning the nation’s athletic dedication. After heavy partying and admitting he liked to ski “wasted,” Bode Miller, America’s greatest alpine skier ever and favored to win several gold medals, came home with none.
Coming down to her last jump, snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis had such a commanding lead that she decided to show off for the crowd with a hotdog maneuver. She lost her balance and fell, allowing the distant second-place racer to nip her at the wire for the gold.
Has our competitive zeal withered?
Not in Texas. Last month Rochelle High School became the first school in history to win a state track and field championship team title despite qualifying only one girl.
At the 1A Girls State Track & Field Championship in Austin, junior Bonnie Richardson earned the state title by herself by winning the high jump and the 200-meter dash, finishing second in the 100 and the long jump, and placing third in the discus.
Look no further, U.S. Olympic Committee.
[ezinearticles.com]
I have not failed.
I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
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– Thomas Edison, inventor and businessman (1847-1931)
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COLLEGIATE SPORTS
If Your Tree Produces a Bad Apple,
Are You to Blame?
Imagine you’re the athletic director of a major university that boasts one of the most comprehensive athletic codes of conduct in the nation:
• You distribute a 90-page handbook to every coach and administrator outlining your rules and disciplinary guidelines.
• You require every student-athlete to attend a mandatory drug- and alcohol-awareness seminar the first week of the season.
• You mandate that every player meet weekly with a volunteer coach to take part in your character-education program.
• You regularly bring in former players, police officers, and judges to speak to the team about the pitfalls of getting into trouble off the field.
How do you think your players' off-the-field behavior would compare to those from other institutions? If you were from the University of Georgia, which does everything above, you would be scratching your head.
Last month saw the seventh Georgia football player arrested in the first seven months of the year. It is the most arrests in the SEC and ranks seventh nationally in misconduct, according to a website that ranks football programs by number and severity of arrests.
“I just wish everybody could see how often we have those conversations," football coach Mark Richt told a reporter. "How often we sit down with these guys as a group, as individuals, as coaches in meetings. It’s a constant message.”
Even the local police department, which handled many of the incidents, sides with the institution. “Mark does a very good job with discipline,” UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “They have very structured programs and talk to their players regularly about the consequences of their actions.”
So what’s an AD to do? At a recent charity benefit discussing the increase in athlete scandals, former basketball coach John Wooden was asked who’s to blame for such incidents – society, sports, schools, coaches, parents? Wooden didn’t even wait for the end of the question.
“The players,” he said curtly. And the audience almost gave him a standing ovation.
Where do you think the fault lies, and how can it be fixed? Send your comments here and we’ll publish your responses in the next issue.
[ajc.com, 7/14/08]
If he did not succeed,
he at least failed
in a glorious undertaking.
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– Ovid, Roman poet (43 BC – 17 AD)
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PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
So How’s That Soccer Anti-Corruption Effort in Italy Going?
Ever since the 2006 match-fixing scandal involving Italy’s top professional soccer leagues, the country has been trying to clean up its tainted reputation.
Maybe someone needs to make it an offer it can’t refuse. Check that, they may already have.
Last month, Italian police arrested seven people for allegedly trying to buy Lazio, a team in the top league, Serie A, with laundered money from the Casalesi clan, a branch of the Naples-based Camorra mafia syndicate.
Still at large is Georgio Chinaglia, the former Lazio player and president. Two years ago, he was charged with extortion and insider trading while at Lazio and fled the country. He's rumored to be in the U.S.
[soccernet.espn.go.com, 7/22/08; guardian.co.uk, 7/23/08]
You can't tell how much spirit a team has until it starts losing.
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– Rocky Colavito, baseball player
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OLYMPIC SPORTS
The Official Beijing Olympics Trivia Quiz
With so much hype, rumors, and controversy swirling around this month’s Summer Olympics, we felt it necessary to separate the myths from the facts.
TRUE or FALSE?
1. One of the official cheering lessons taught by the Beijing Civilized Workers Cheering Squad is “Don’t insult former wartime enemy Japan.”
2. To decrease rudeness, the 11th day of each month has been designated Queuing Day when all citizens must stand in lines in an orderly fashion.
3. Since Beijing was named the 2008 site, approximately 450 Chinese babies have been named “Olympics.”
4. With historical weather patterns indicating a 50 percent chance of rain during the opening and closing ceremonies, Chinese meteorologists will try to force the rain to occur earlier through cloud seeding.
5. To ensure food safety, each individual vegetable served during the Games will be inspected beforehand and given an identity number so its origin can be tracked in the event of illnesses.
6. Chinese athletes who don’t display their sponsor’s logo on their chests while competing will be fined.
7. To prevent protestors from displaying pro-Tibet signs on the summit, China prohibited all non-Chinese mountaineers from ascending its side of Mt. Everest.
8. China’s merchants have been ordered to remove all horror movies from their shelves, especially those with “wronged spirits, violent ghosts, and strange and supernatural storytelling.”
9. After threatening severe penalties for anyone stealing content from its website, the Beijing Olympic Committee itself was caught pirating American videogames there.
10. According to a French journalist and expert on China’s secret service, in 2006 China allegedly made a deal with Al Qaeda not to conduct terrorist attacks in its country during the Games.
ANSWERS:
All are true except for #3. The correct number is 3,500.
[treehugger.com, 7/21/06; livescience.com, 4/25/07; weirdasianews.com, 11/5/07; heraldextra.com, 12/5/07; lioninoil.blogspot.com, 12/13/07; cnn.com, 2/10/08; deadspin.com, 2/20/08; faniq.com, 3/3/08; fanhouse.com, 3/10/08; blog.studentsforafreetibet.org, 3/13/08]
JOCKS BEHAVING BADLY
Gee, Is Latrell Sprewell
Playing Baseball Now?
The handwriting, so to speak, is all over this one. In an incident reminiscent of the 1997 incident when Golden State Warrior forward Latrell Sprewell attacked his coach P.J. Carlesimo, choked him, and had to be pulled off by teammates, a similar fit of rage occurred in baseball.
In the Houston Astros dining room last month, general manager Ed Wade told pitcher Shawn Chacon he was wanted in the manager’s office. Chacon refused. When Wade yelled at him, Chacon jumped on him and grabbed him by the neck. Teammates had to pry the two apart.
In Sprewell’s case, he was released by the club and the NBA suspended him for the rest of the season. The Astros have likewise dropped Chacon.
[canada.com, 6/27/08]
Not What an Umpire Wants to Hear: “Too Bad He’s Still Alive.”
In his seven years as a youth umpire in Omaha, Nebraska, Charles Anderson has seen frustration and anger make players, coaches, and parents lose control. Last month it happened to him.
After the final out of a game in which his umpiring crew had been verbally assailed, Anderson was confronted by two furious coaches who, bookending him between them, pushed and bumped him with their bodies. A fan then joined the fray and body-slammed Anderson to the ground. He wasn’t injured, but he was sore enough to miss games the next two days.
As he lay on the grass, he heard one parent say it was too bad he was still alive. “This is how angry people act over a baseball game?” he told the Omaha World-Herald.
What hurt the most, he said, was that four teams of 12-year-olds – the two that played the game and the two that were up next – witnessed the incident.
“All those players were watching.”
[omaha.com, 7/15/08]
Beanball No-No’s Part III:
Throwing at Fans
Last month we reported on a pitcher throwing at the opposing manager’s son and another allegedly conspiring with his catcher to bean an umpire. Who will they throw at next? You guessed it – duck!
During the first of a three-game series between the Class-A minor league Peoria Chiefs and the Dayton Dragons, three Peoria batters were hit. After another one was struck in the second game, Peoria pitcher Julio Castillo retaliated by hitting two Dayton batters.
Both managers ran out to complain to the umpires, then went after each other. The benches emptied. Video from the game shows Castillo angrily hurling the ball into the stands. It struck a spectator, who was taken to a local hospital.
Both managers and 15 players were ejected, but Castillo’s punishment will be worse. He was charged with felonious assault, ordered held on $50,000 bond, and ordered to surrender his passport (he's from the Dominican Republic and only been in the U.S. for a month). If convicted, he could face eight years in prison.
[nytimes.com, 7/25/08]
Can You Hear Me Now –
Wait, I Have to Hit This Drop Volley
In what has to be a first, a female Ukrainian tennis player was banned from a junior tournament in Christchurch, New Zealand, after an official spotted a communication device in her ear.
Anastasiya Korzh claimed she was just using the earpiece so her father and coach could tell her the score. “If the girls lie or cheat, my dad can tell me what should I say,” she said.
Her father said he didn’t know it was illegal and was just trying to “keep the game honest.”
Oh yeah, Anastasiya is eight years old.
[tvnz.co.nz, 7/24/08]
A certain amount of opposition
is a great help to a man.
Kites rise against and not with the wind. Even a head wind is better than none.
No man ever worked his passage anywhere in a dead calm.
Let no man wax pale, therefore,
because of opposition.
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– John Neal, author and critic (1793-1876)
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JOCKS BEHAVING EXCEPTIONALLY
How You Win Can Be More
Significant Than What You Win
When underdog Fresno State shocked the baseball world by winning the College World Series and becoming the lowest-ranked team to ever win a Division I NCAA national championship, many were impressed.
But one graduate saw something else taking place. Heather Tackitt told us the real chills she got were “little things” that left a far lasting impression:
• In game three, Fresno State was leading Georgia by five runs with one inning to go. With the game and series still undecided, Fresno’s manager Mike Batesole inserted a freshman into the game who hadn’t played in the series. He demonstrated that he had faith in all his players and that each one had a role to contribute.
• In the final game, a player made several critical errors. Instead of displaying anger, his teammates smiled and laughed with him. Their actions reminded everyone that people play sports ultimately to have fun.
• As reporters surrounded Batesole after the series and asked about his players’ accomplishments on the field, he made a point to remind them that the kids were student-athletes first – then highlighted their GPAs.
After the series, Batesole was named Coach of the Year by the College Baseball Writers, the ABCA West Region Division I, and the Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
[Thanks Heather for the tip!]
Lacrosse Team Honors Opponents –
And One Little Guy
When the K-W novice select Braves, a boy’s lacrosse team of 9- and 10-year-olds in Ontario, Canada, visited the Elora novice B squad, it was clear it wasn’t going to be much of a contest. K-W was second in the league and Elora hadn’t won a game all season.
Elora was shorthanded also and had to scrounge for another player. The only one available was a 7-year-old.
K-W won easily, as expected, but the players and their coach Steve MacGregor showed uncommon sensitivity. MacGregor told his players to concentrate more on improving their skills than scoring. Make extra passes, involve the Elora players in the game, keep the contest close, have fun.
The players allowed the 7-year-old extra time to handle the ball and room to move. They checked him but not hard enough to push him off the ball. As a result, he scored one of Elora’s goals.
After the game, the Braves saluted Elora with a sticks-raised honor guard. “It’s a trademark for me,” MacGregor told The Record. “It’s our way of showing a measure of respect for our opponents.”
Elora’s coach e-mailed the K-W minor lacrosse association to show his appreciation: “I have never seen such a display of sportsmanship from any team anywhere. The parents, coaches, and players should all be applauded for the way they handle themselves.”
[news.therecord.com, 7/11/08]
Sportsmanship – Lost and Found
Bryan Felker was several blocks ahead of the pack in the 2.1-mile annual Downtown Runaround in Columbus, Ohio, last month when he made a wrong turn and got lost. It was his first appearance at the event and hadn’t had an opportunity to observe the course beforehand.
By the time he got straightened out and rejoined the race, he was far back. He finished tenth, more than a minute after the winning time of 10 minutes, 42 seconds by Mathew Trampe.
At the trophy ceremony, Trampe asked the event director to announce Felker as the winner and to give him the trophy instead. “I was just lucky,” he told the Columbus Telegram. “Bryan should have won. No one was going to catch him.”
Trampe might want to also give Felker a GPS. It could come in handy because the two runners will be cross-country teammates at Concordia University next year.
[columbustelegram.com, 7/27/08]
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CHARACTER COUNTS! Sports, a project of the nonprofit Josephson Institute, leads the Pursuing Victory With Honor sports campaign, which is endorsed by the country’s leading amateur athletic organizations.
The campaign’s purpose is to help administrators, athletes, coaches, legislators, officials, and parents improve personal and organizational decision-making and behavior in sports.
Archives of Past Issues
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SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE
| CHARACTER COUNTS! Chronicle (monthly character-education topics) |
| Commentary (weekly character essays by Michael Josephson) |
| Pursuing Victory With Honor (monthly sportsmanship topics) |
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Survey Says: Sportsmanship Today Is Worse Than Before
For the third year in a row, an overwhelming majority (85 percent) of Americans believe sportsmanship is worse now than when they grew up, according to a national survey conducted by market research company TNS and the Awards and Recognition Association.
There was also good news: 1) the dissatisfaction level was 10 percent lower than last year’s figure, and 2) 83 percent witnessed more positive displays of sportsmanship than negative ones (78 percent).
The most often-cited negative incidents were fan behavior.
[earthtimes.org, 7/24/08]
Learn the Same Character-Building Skills as the U.S. Olympic Team
Josephson Institute is proud to have helped develop the Olympic Ambassador Program, a series of sportsmanship training sessions that more than 500 U.S. athletes and 300 coaches attended prior to the Beijing Games.
Those same character-building concepts are the core of our CHARACTER COUNTS! Pursuing Victory With Honor Sportsmanship Seminars, which help coaches, athletic administrators, counselors, officials, and other youth-group leaders cultivate strong character in young athletes.
Our distinguished sports faculty are available to come to you and customize a program for your school or organization.
Learn more here or call 800-711-2670.
Olympian Shawn Johnson’s Character Is a Perfect 10
The sports world, the media, and Madison Avenue have been searching for “the next Mary Lou” for the last 20 years, ever since gymnast Mary Lou Retton captured America’s heart with a rare combination of skill, charm, looks, and character.
Wait no longer. After the Beijing Olympics, they may upgrade that lofty goal to seeking “the next Shawn.”
Shawn Johnson from Des Moines, Iowa, meets all of the qualifications: she’s a world champion; she’s wooed by Coke, McDonald’s, and Adidas; and she has a megawatt smile and personality. But it’s her character that's made the biggest impression on people.
A straight-A student at Valley High School, Johnson walks dogs at a local animal shelter and ranks charity work above medals as her most important accomplishments.
She's also a product of CHARACTER COUNTS! schools and hasn’t forgotten its principles, becoming practically a CC! spokesperson in West Des Moines.
“She’s got a nice instinct for decorum,” her mother Teri told USA Today. “As parents, that’s what you want them to display. But I think she’s been self-taught in that respect. She’s got a beautiful heart.”
That was exhibited recently when she was unable to answer a fan letter in time asking for help with a school project. Flying to an international event, Johnson felt guilty not answering.
“She kept thinking about how some little girl out there was in a bind because she hadn’t responded,” wrote AP writer Nancy Armour. “As soon as she got home, Johnson wrote back.”
But that wasn’t enough. She tracked down the phone number of the student’s school, contacted her teacher, and said if the girl's paper was late, it was Johnson’s fault.
“People look up to her because she has a great character, not because she’s winning,” said her coach Li Zhuang.
[usatoday.com, 4/4/08]
Olympian Writes Children’s Sportsmanship Book
Olympic track cyclist Erin Mirabella wants kids to develop healthy thinking at a young age by learning about teamwork and sportsmanship – and by getting off the couch and playing outside.
Her book Shawn Sheep the Soccer Star, published this month to coincide with the Olympics, is the story of a talented sheep whose ego causes his downfall – until he learns about character and fair play.
Aimed at children 5-8, the book includes a brief soccer tutorial for kids and healthy eating habits. Available from Velo Press for $15.95.
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With each search you make on Goodsearch.com, powered by Yahoo!, roughly a penny goes to the organization of your choice. That may not sound like much, but if just 500 people designate the same charity and make four search clicks a day for one year, that group earns $7,300.
"CHARACTER COUNTS! Los Angeles" is one of the nonprofits listed on Good Search, so you can start earning money for CC! today. It’s a great way to stay connected with your favorite cause and show loyalty to an organization that promotes ethics in education, sports, business, public service, and policing.
Download the Good Search toolbar here and tell your friends and family to do the same. Now, doing good is only a click away – you know it makes cents!
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TRIVIA TEST |
Which of These Were Once Olympic Events?
Chariot racing
Tightrope walking
Pistol dueling
Pigeon shooting
Ballroom dancing
Life saving
Auto racing
Waterfall barreling
Water skiing
Parachuting
Ballooning
Surfing
Bowling
Trapeze
Tug-of-war
Roller hockey
Bridge
Croquet
Cricket
Golf
Polo
Lacrosse
Tai chi
Chess
See the answer below.
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SPORTSMANSHIP USER’S GUIDE |
The Ultimate Sportsmanship Toolkit is an all-in-one resource to help athletic programs achieve sportsmanship and character-building goals.
Your Last Worst Act
Education, politics, and sports are perhaps the three most dominant and pervasive social forces that influence the quality and character of American culture.
In sports, those who have leadership positions or serve as role models have enormous power to uplift and improve the nature and character of society. With this power comes responsibility.
To illustrate what can happen when such power is abused – even once – do you remember what each of these sports legends will be most remembered for?
Pete Rose
Juan Marichal
Barry Bonds
Marion Jones
Bill Belichick
Woody Hayes
Michael Vick
O.J. Simpson
Despite their considerable lifetime accomplishments on the field of play, each of these individuals will be forever judged on their last worst act.
Character is what we are; reputation is what people think we are.
Read more about the Ultimate Sportsmanship Toolkit here.
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YOU MAKE THE CALL |
The Olympic Charter states that “any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on the grounds of race, religion, politics, sex, or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement.”
Why is it, then, asks William Pesek of Bloomberg.com, that nations such as Saudi Arabia, Brunei, etc., are still allowed to participate with men-only teams?
Should Countries That Prohibit Women From Playing Sports on Religious Grounds Be Barred From the Olympics?
• Yes.
• No.
• I’m not sure.
[bloomberg.com, 7/30/08]
Click here to vote
Results of Last Month’s Poll
Should a national regulatory body govern horse racing?
| Yes. |
74% |
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| No. |
26% |
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| I’m not sure. |
0% |
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PRINCIPLE OF THE MONTH |
Principle Nine: Why Retaliation Doesn’t Work
Dave Cisar, a Nike Coach of the Year designate and author of Winning Youth Football: A Step-by-Step Plan, wrote an excellent Web essay on coaches who run up scores and those who retaliate. Here are his reasons for not seeking revenge:
• When they see you retaliate, it gives them more justification for running up their own scores. “He did it, why shouldn’t I?”
• When you show a different way – letting off the gas, putting subs in, calling plays you know won’t score, not calling blitzes, etc. – the other team sees a different approach to coaching.
• Why penalize kids for the sins of their coaches? For something they had no part in? That’s who you’re punishing when you retaliate.
• What does it teach your team? If you retaliate, why shouldn’t the kids retaliate when they get cheap-shotted or pushed or called a bad name in school? You have no moral authority to tell them not to do so if you retaliate.
• What does it teach your kids about compassion? Does your ego require a shutout? You’re so fragile that the score of a youth football game is going to determine your self-worth? The other team scoring a meaningless touchdown against your backups is going to make you less worthy?
It all comes down to what you want to teach your players. How do you want to be remembered by them? By your opponents? The kids need to know they can’t control the actions of others, but they have 100 percent control over their own actions.
Principle Four of the Arizona Sports Summit Accord states that character-development responsibilities must “not be compromised to achieve sports performance goals and that the ethical well-being of student-athletes is always placed above desires and pressures to win.”
[rowiekzho.blogspot.com, 7/4/08]
Nearly 50 influential leaders in sports issued the Arizona Sports Summit Accord in 1999 to encourage greater emphasis on the ethical and character-building aspects of athletic competition. Read the full text here.
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SAY WHAT? |
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“I was trying to protect the integrity of the game.”
– Detroit Shock assistant coach and former Detroit Piston “Bad Boy” enforcer Rick Mahorn after throwing WNBA player Lisa Leslie to the floor during a brawl with the Los Angeles Sparks
“It was just nice to finally play a home game and to see little kids in the stands, cheering for you. They all know our names; it was the perfect atmosphere.”
– Canadian national women’s soccer captain Christine Sinclair after a pre-Olympic match during which she gave her opponents the finger
“What makes [you] so sure these players signed up to be role models? I thought they signed up to be soccer players. If your kids are traumatized by seeing someone give someone else the finger, you better keep them in their box.”
– Blog post in response to incident above
“As a sport, cycling is dead. As a spectacle, it is still running – like a chicken with its head cut off.”
– Editorial in Libération after the third 2008 Tour de France cyclist was kicked out for failing a drug test
“Those people are so jealous of him. They got nothing to do but try to destroy him with his personal business. We should line all these paparazzi people up and shoot ’em.”
– Charles Barkley on media harassment of New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez
“This is the first time I’ve worn this uniform that I wasn’t hung over.”
– Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on wearing throwback 1983 jerseys
“Don’t ask about income or expenses. Don’t ask about age. Don’t ask about love life or marriage. Don’t ask about health. Don’t ask about someone’s home or address. Don’t ask about personal experience. Don’t ask about religious beliefs. Don’t ask about political views. Don’t ask what someone does.”
– Chinese government poster advising citizens how to “chat with foreign guests” during the Olympics
“We are there to represent our country in sporting terms, just as our army do[es] when they go off to war. It is not supposed to be about politics.”
– Darren Campbell, former British track gold medalist on his government prohibiting its athletes from criticizing China during the Olympics
“To pardon one of the biggest frauds perpetuated on the Olympic movement would be nothing less than thumbing our collective noses at the world.”
– Letter from Doug Logan, CEO of USA Track & Field, to President Bush asking him not to pardon or commute the six-month jail sentence of track athlete Marion Jones
“I really don’t know why Michelle continues to do this. We have a major this week, and if you can’t qualify for a major, I don’t see any reason why you should play with the men.”
– Golfer Annika Sorenstam on 18-year-old Michelle Wie pulling out of qualifying for the Women’s British Open after she was offered a sponsor’s exemption to play in the PGA’s Legends Reno-Tahoe Open
~ Classic From the Past ~
“I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.”
– Greg Norman, golfer
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TRIVIA TEST ANSWER |
Chariot racing
Pistol dueling
Pigeon shooting
Auto racing
Water skiing
Ballooning
Tug-of-war
Roller hockey
Croquet
Cricket
Golf
Polo
Lacrosse
[news.therecord.com, 7/26/08]
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MICHAEL JOSEPHSON’S COMMENTARY |
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Striving Nobly Is Victory
Earlier this year, I guided top leaders in more than 40 sports in a discussion of Olympic ideals and the challenges they present. To prepare, I immersed myself in the history and values of the modern Olympic movement launched in 1894 by French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
The experience was both uplifting and upsetting.
It was uplifting because Olympian ideals are so huge, wise, and profound – fair play, respect, effort, excellence, persistence, and peace.
It was upsetting because of the widening gap between the rhetoric and the reality.
The Olympic Creed states this grand vision: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
The creed is fortified by the Olympic Oath taken on behalf of all athletes, which includes a promise to participate “in the true spirit of sportsmanship” and “for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.”
The world has changed a lot since these ideals were first expressed. Today, sports involve much more than the pursuit of athletic excellence.
The value of victory from news, entertainment, economic, and political perspectives creates enormous incentives and pressures to win, essentially reducing the Creed to sentimental rhetoric.
The irony is that if Olympian ideals are abandoned in favor of an all-that-matters-is-winning mentality, the Games will become less newsworthy, less entertaining, and less profitable – and winning won’t be so important anymore.
Only a tiny few get medals, but everyone who pursues victory with honor is a winner. And so it is in other life pursuits. Striving nobly is victory.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
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TRAINING AND CONSULTING |
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IN SEARCH OF SPORTSMANSHIP |
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CONTACT US |
Josephson Institute
9841 Airport Blvd., Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(310) 846-4800
(800) 711-2670
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http://CharacterCounts.org/
http://JosephsonInstitute.org/
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