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Whatever Happened to
GOOD
SPORTSMANSHIP?
I
T WAS
the men's singles
tennis final. The arm–
chair sportsman adjusted
his TV set and sat back com–
fortably to watch his favorite
sport-played by the current
champions.
TV cameras panned around
the huge crowd.
The day was hot, tens ion hung in
the air and the contestants were
nervous. Play began and the shots
were dazzling. The match was
even. As it hung in the balance,
tempers flared- and then carne a
disputed line call.
lt
was al! that was needed to set
off a torrent of abuse at line
judges, the umpire and spectators.
Then carne the throwing down of
a racket, the hitting of balls in the
net and vocal exchanges with
spectators. It was an all-too-com–
mon "sporting" scene and not
confined only to tennís.
The TV viewer's own anger now
by
Graemme
J.
Marshall
erupted at the hold-up in play.
"Get on with the game," he
shouted at the TV set. "Don't take
that from him, Ump. Send him off
the court! Ban him from the
game."
But it fell on deaf ears. T he TV
set couldn't transmit his feelings.
Disrespect f or Rules and Opponents
Good sportsmanship seems old-fash–
íoned, a thing of the past. Anger and
argument have invaded even the
usually placid gentlemanly spo.rts.
Like golf. Notíce the thrown-down
golf clubs, kicked up turf, and clubs
thrown at golf bags.
Cricket sees scuffles and jostling
among batsmen and fielders. De–
feated players walk off the playing
arena and refuse to acknowledge the
umpire. Wild melees involving every
player on the field are commonplace.
And now even the gentlemanly cir–
cles of ocean saílíng have caught the
modero plague of bad sportsman–
ship. Witness the claims and coun–
terclaims of foul play and unfair tac-
tics surrounding last year 's Ameri–
ca's Cup chall enge off Rhode
Island.
Then think also of the efforts of
mostly volunteer labor. The players
wín prizes. The volunteers work for
nothing or little. Yet they, as well as
umpires, submit to uncalled-for
abuse for doing their job.
Newspaper and magazine writers
describe many sports in terms of the
battlefield: "Crushed, blitzed, de–
moralized, flattened, devastated."
Games are described variously as
combinations of "brawls and bril–
liance" "mayhem and magic."
Have you ever wondered why so
many athletes look like ex-boxers?
The cauliflower ears, broken noses
and facial scars all attest to the
reality that violence in sports has
become part of t he game. The
number of crippled players at hos–
pital casualty centers after various
games demonstrates how injurious
many sports have become.
What has happened to society
that many sports can no longer be