Like the rest of you, I've been reading about the UW/BYU game and the late FG by Florida. Many folks talk about how we need to make sure that we don't lose sight of sportsmanship.

I say that is a little overrated. The only people that tend to be upset by sportsmanship are those that are getting beat or have an interest in watching someone get beat. If a team scores on you late in the game and you don't like it, only blame yourself. If you don't want them to score, stop them. Why should the offensive coach take it easy when the defensive coach won't?

I believe in shaking of hands, not fighting during games, and respecting your opponent but that doesn't mean you stop trying to score because they either aren't very good or well prepared. I guess many people want sports to be Fun Fair Positive Soccer where no on celebrates or plays very hard.

Also, let these kids celebrate in the end zone. If they have a dance, let them dance. If they want to spike the ball, spike the ball. It's not the refs or the NCAA's job to teach my kid how to act after a score, it's mine.

quote:

---

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president... is morally treasonable to the American public.--Teddy Roosevelt

---

[This message has been edited by RedAgs01 (edited 9/10/2008 8:07a).]

No.

No...sportsmanship, like most other positives that we USED to value, is a dying breed!

ie: respect for your elders, common courtesy, work hard, watching your language around others, etc all are becoming a thing of the past. It's becoming all about "ME" who cares about those around me.

What does sportsmanship have to do with all of that? I know plenty of folks that still do all the things you talk about. Most of the time when people complain about stuff like that, it comes from "In the good ole days....". If everyone was expected to do those things, then why did parents stop teaching it?

Why is celbrating such a bad thing? Heck, Mark Richt showed that if the whole team celebrates, it's not about ME it's about the team.

It's a game for goodness sakes, not serious business.

the answer to the question is "no, its not overrated"

you can have good sportsmanship and still celebrate. The two are not mutually exclusive ideas.

How could anybody think that sportsmanship is overrated? It's just common decency. What's the point of winning if you can't do it respectfully?

Not only is it just the right way to act, bad sportsmanship always comes back to haunt you. Your all-star RB makes a habit of showboating enough times, some linebacker of the same moral caliber is eventually gonna put his helmet through the guy's knee.

Football is war! - Kevin Winslow

the poster of this thread should be beotch slapped. sportsmanship overrated? Huh?




[This message has been edited by Old School Wrecking Crew (edited 9/10/2008 8:47a).]

So, should Urban Meyer have kicked that field goal?

Should UW have been penalized?

Why is dancing in the endzone or spiking the ball not good sportsmanship?

quote:

---

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president... is morally treasonable to the American public.--Teddy Roosevelt

---

Sportsmanship matters...unless you rip Ware's helmet off, take Tim Brown's towel, jump in someone's face after they rock you, or call someone Cart.

People whine about it when they lose and ignore it when they win.

quote:

---

So, should Urban Meyer have kicked that field goal?

---

EDIT: went back and looked at the time. They probably should not have kicked it there. Meyer should have been honest and said that fair or not victory total factors into voter's minds.

quote:

---

Should UW have been penalized?

---

As the rule is written, yes, but its a stupid rule. I don't think Locker was acting unsportsmanlike.

quote:

---

Why is dancing in the endzone or spiking the ball not good sportsmanship?

---

it depends on how it is done. sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. I think you know that though.


[This message has been edited by BMX Bandit (edited 9/10/2008 8:50a).]

Exactly. The only people who whine about it are the losers.

quote:

---

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president... is morally treasonable to the American public.--Teddy Roosevelt

---

I don't know if its over rated but I will ask the fans of the Philadelphia Eagles and see what they have to say about it.

not to harp on this, but this thread is a bit disturbing coming from:

Username: RedAgs01
Occupation: Teacher/Coach

now what is wrong with this picture?

I didn't see the penalty that you're talking about, or the field goal. Scoring a touch down and celebrating with your team with everybody jumping up and down and making their way back to the sidelines is not bad sportsmanship. It's part of the game. Spiking the ball is kind of a gray area for me.

Look at it this way: TO scored a TD against the Browns. His team came up to celebrate with him, but he wanted to get down in a sprinter's stance and pretend he was Usain Bolt. Everybody's standing around him wanting to celebrate with him, but he's "not finished". He looked like an idiot and a pretentious @$$. That kind of stuff annoys me.

At least the OP is talking the "Chad Johnson" version of bad sportsmanship, and not the "Marcus Vick" kind.

quote:

---

Exactly. The only people who whine about it are the losers.

---

I'm sure Tom Landry would whine quite a bit if one of his players had scored a touchdown and then ran to the other team's bench and started finger pointing at each player to taunt them.

What a loser Coach Landry would have been, huh?


There is often a fine line between good and bad sportsmanship. But to say only losers care about it is shockingly naive.

[This message has been edited by BMX Bandit (edited 9/10/2008 8:53a).]

quote:

---

Username: RedAgs01
Occupation: Teacher/Coach

now what is wrong with this picture?

---

Nothing. Come watch my team play and you will see them act like they have done it before.

quote:

---

What a loser Coach Landry would have been, huh?

---

Coach Landry has nothing to do with this. I'm sure he would have never started a coke head at linebacker, right?

of course he does. you said only losers whine about sportsmanship. I provided an example of how that is absurd.

being a cokehead has nothing to do with sportsmanship.

So, you have some evidence that proves Landry would have had a problem with this? Link?

Also, I would say starting a coke head at linebacker says more about your character than worrying about someone pointing a finger at the other team.

quote:

---

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president... is morally treasonable to the American public.--Teddy Roosevelt

---

we aren't talking about someone's overall character. we are talking about sportsmanship.

I don't need a link to know what Tom Landry would have thought about this issue. If you want to believe he would have been okay with that kind of stuff, that is your perogative.

Id be willing to bed that if the UW player had not thrown the ball into the air the way he did there would not have been a celebration penalty. IMHO that is what stood out to me as to why he got flagged.

I think I finally realized where you're coming from RedAgs. People that whine about celebrations and spiking the ball should be told that "if you want them to stop celebrating, keep them from scoring."

The problem occurs when you encourage that kind of excessive behavior. Now you're just being a jerk, and chances are, somebody's going to put you in your place. When they are the one's kicking the field goal (and eventually, they will be), you will have no room to complain.

sportsmanship is about competing and certainly playing to win, but not at the expense of your opponent's honor or dignity. celebrating because you are happy you scored or made a play is one thing, while showboating and celebrating as a way to draw attention to yourself is another entirely.

Being a good sportsmanship doesn't make you a loser and a wimp. Just the opposite. Good sportsmanship means you are under control. Control does not mean you are week, it means you are strong. You can’t control what you don’t have power over.

Show me a good sportsman and I’ll show you someone who has power over his base emotions – not someone who doesn’t have emotions, but someone who doesn’t need to wear his emotions on his sleeve. A good sportsman doesn’t have to build himself up by putting down everyone else. A weak man must pretend to be strong.

It’s about meekness – which is sort of a lost word today where everyone tries to act bigger and stronger than everyone else.

Unfortunately the idea of being “meek” has been lost probably because meek rhymes with weak and often associated with the word “mild”– but meek is probably one of the most powerful ideas in the world second only to “grace”.

Meek means controlled strength. Meek means that you are so strong that you don’t have to pretend to be tough. Weak is the little yappy dog who tries to put on a big act – meek is the big dog who quietly sits at the door guarding his family. Meek is the man strong enough to put others first and serves causes bigger than himself.

I like the quote “when you score a touchdown, act like you’ve been there before”.

quote:

---

The problem occurs when you encourage that kind of excessive behavior. Now you're just being a jerk, and chances are, somebody's going to put you in your place. When they are the one's kicking the field goal (and eventually, they will be), you will have no room to complain.

---

I don't complain when the other team scores. Complaining about them scoring requires me to blame someone else for something when I'm the one to blame. If Randy Shannon(whom I have great respect for) didn't want Urban Meyer to kick the field goal, let's call the game early and not play out the last four or five minutes of the game.

If throwing the ball up in the air is going to hurt the dignity of the BYU players, they have bigger things to worry about.

If taken plenty my fair share of butt kickings as a coach and it's never the other teams fault.

Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser.

I agree, if a team beats you 77 - 0, it is your fault right

Absolutely.

I think his point is that the Locker celebration was not deserving of the penalty it received and he's annoyed that society seems to encourage that kind of protection of people's feelings. In that light, I agree with him (like the FFPS thing, which is retarded). However, sportsmanship as a whole is not overrated.

you are missing the point. throwing the ball in the air and the resulting unsportsmanlike penalty is a fault of the ncaa and the rule itself. i agree with you to a point, that if you cannot celebrate something like that what the hell can you celebrate? it was a game changing play and it is a GAME, lets not forget. as for the CJC comment, that is just assinine. you play your best and sometimes your best isn't good enough. that doesn't mean you have to act like or become an asshat if you don't win.

Personally I agree with the idea that it was a bad call by the ref. The penalty of the rule is for unsportsmanlike conduct (15 yards). However, while he did throw the ball, there was no obvious in taunting in the face of the other team. If we take everything as literally or strict as some make it then all of us would have tons and tons of speeding tickets for going over by 1,5,10 miles over. There needs to be some judgment there b/c otherwise any play where players celebrate could be ruled unsportsmanlike.

The OP is laughably illogical and full of sweeping generalizations. The fact that the poster is a "teacher" responsible for educating someone's children is frightening.

Sportamanship is a positive thing and should be encouraged. If you don't encourage sportmanship, you are condoning unsportsmanlike behavior. Now, everyone may have different definitions of what constitutes sportsmanlike behavior, but to argue the concept of sportsmanship is "overrated" is absurd. You might as well argue that traits like honesty, hard work, and kindness are overrated.

Sportsmanship is offering a hand up to the guy you just put on his ass. It's also taking that hand when he put you on yours. It's telling the other team, "You beat us fair and square." It's not rubbing peoples' noses in the loss or the good play you just put on 'em. Some think it's a lost art.

However, I have seen some of our Aggies learning it from Sherm. Just listen to the audios when they give all credit to other team members or downplay their own great play(s). They also give credit to what their opponents were doing, even in a loss. I've also seen that hand offered even when the opposing RB just made a good run.

i have a hard time believing that if we were the one's kicking the field goal late, or if mcgee or johnson had spiked/thrown the ball in the air like that, that any of us would think it was "poor sportsmanship".

let's face reality, name a team in the top 10 that is known for their sportsmanship? the only legitimate teams i see up there are ohio state and missouri, and i could make an argument that their players will rub it in your face once they beat you. players today rely on "swagger", and to be completely honest it'd be nice to see some of that around kyle field. maybe a few excessive celebration penalties (which means we're putting the ball in the endzone) and maybe a taunting penalty here and there might have people fearing kyle field again, instead of "bring on the '12 man' of texas a&m."

people are too concerned with others "feelings" these days. i believe in shaking hands after the game and allowing bench players to get in the game late if we're up big, but give me a break, do you think tiger/jack/arnie would pull off a birdie putt if they were winning a major by 10-11 strokes. didn't think so...