Every morning I listen to "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on ESPN. This morning the topic of major discussion was "sportsmanship" in regards to what happened to QB Matt Cassel of the KC Chiefs, or more importantly what happened after he was sacked, laid writhing on the field in obvious pain. While I know that football players are constantly compared to the gladiators that once fought in the coliseum of Rome, are we reverting back to those times? I would have thought by now we have evolved...okay maybe I am asking way to much of the fans. I do understand being a "die hard" fan. But jeering and booing a player that has been injured on a play, continuing to do so while a player is hurt, is POOR SPORTSMANSHIP!!!
I have been to many sports venues, including The Carrier Dome, Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, Progressive Field, Lucas Oil Stadium, Busch Stadium, and have heard the boos, hisses, when certain players and teams take the field, and have been in places where it has gone from complete pandemonium to dead silence in a matter of moments when a players was injured on the field of play. What happened Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium amazes me. Granted that KC hasn't had a winning team in a very long time, makes this venue a little more apt to erupt, however what happened Sunday has shocked many people in the sports world including Ron Jaworski, Mike Ditka, to name a couple. The following is an excerpt of what tackle Eric Winston had to say about what happened:
"It's sickening," Chiefs tackle Eric Winston said. "I've never, ever -- and I've been in some rough times on some rough teams -- I've never been more embarrassed in my life to play football than at that moment right there. I get emotional about it because these guys, they work their butts off. Matt Cassel hasn't done anything to you people. Hey, if he's not the best quarterback, he's not the best quarterback, and that's OK, but he's a person. And he got knocked out in a game, and we've got 70,000 people cheering that he got knocked out. We are not gladiators and this is not the Roman Colosseum. ... We've got a lot of problems as a society if people think that's OK."
Now my question is, "What are we teaching our children?" in regards to sportsmanship. Children learn from example. When they are young we dress them in our team colors, we take them to games, we watch the games on television with them. When they are old enough they sign up for t-ball, softball, little league, pee-wee football, hockey, etc., we also teach them as the coaches do that you may not win every game. Whether we win or lose you will shake the other teams hand, and say "good game". We also teach our children when in the stands, that while 'booing" is not polite, it does happen; when a player gets hurt on the field you say a prayer that he/she will walk away with minimum of injury.
What do we teach our youngsters who either watched Sunday's game or have seen the replays? Do we say, "It's okay to jeer, boo, hiss" at an injured player? Or do we teach them to quietly say a prayer for the player and hope he walks off the field?
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