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sports system, as it is currently struc–
tured,
denwnd r
.1
win attitude.
Understandabl). when an additional
SI
0,000 per athlete rides on one kick of
the football - as was the case during
the last nine seconds of the '71 Super
Bowl - winning will be important.
Understandably, an athlete drawing
.$100,000 a year to play a particular
sport will play to win.
Understandably, a coach who must
win his games or lose his job will drill
his team on how to win.
Understandably, a spectator who has
his money and
1
oc
his affections aligned
with a particular team will scream out
his emotions for that team to win.
Frank Broyles, coach of the Arkansas
Razorbacks explained his dilemma, "At
the end of the season they don't ask
who you played, just how many you
won." If the win record isn't high
enough to suit the owner, trustees,
alumni, or fans, a coach could quickly
find himself without a job.
The Cleveland Indians recently fired
manager Alvin Dark. The owner's rea–
soning? "We just weren't winning." To
fue Dark, the owner was forced to buy
the remainder of his five-year contract
for an estimated $150,000. The desire
to win - thus drawing additional
spectators - was deemed to be worth
the
price
to the lndians.
In all this concern about winning,
where is the traditional concern about
the character development of the ath–
letes? It was once believed that sports
built character. Is this still the case?
Recently two psychologists reported
theic findings on this subject. Drs.
Bruce Ogilvie and Thomas Tutko spent
eight years working with twenty-seven
professional teams and 15,000 athletes
from hundreds of high schools and
colleges.
Their report, published in the Octo–
ber issue of
Psychology Today,
found
"nothing
to support the traditional idea
that sports build character."
"How the Game Is Played"
Proper attitude and sportsmanship
are still taught in sorne athletic
programs, but unfortunately not in most
others. Most coaches pontificate more on
how the game is won than on how the
game ought to be played.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
"1 don't cace what you do to the
other guy. Just win
!"
is the game phi–
losophy forced upon far too many play–
ers at every leve! of athletic endeavor.
Many coaches candidly admit that
winniog is all that matters. One coach
was humorous enough to concede,
"Winning is not everything, but," he
hastened to add, "losing
is
nothing !"
Other big-name coaches believe and
teach a similar adage. The late Vince
Lombardi's well-known cliche was,
"Winning isn't everything, it's the
only
thing !" Jim Owens, football coach for
the University of Washington, impro–
vised on this Lombardiism by adding,
"Tying
is like kissing your sister !"
Lombardi, recently added to the
Football Hall of Fame, used to tell hi s
pJayers,
"If
you can accept losing, you
can't win !" He has been eulogized as a
coach who could produce winners at
any cost. Because Lombardi fielded
teams of wioners, others have adopted
his much-studied techniques for win–
ning.
lt's time everyone - coaches, ath–
letes, and spectators alike - analyzed
the alarming win-at-all-costs attitude in
sports today. How important is charac–
ter training? Where is the place for
teaching sportsmanship? Is it really im–
portant? What, after al!, has happened
to all the enjoyment and fun in sports?
Where Has All the Fun Gone ?
Most might agree in theory that
ama–
teM
sports, at least, are for fun. But
there was no fun for anyone recently
when two California high school teams
played a vital basketball game. The
game location was kept secret even from
the players. Sealed envelopes containing
the destinations were handed to the bus
drivers. The envelopes were opened in
transit, and both busses headed for
a neutral gymnasium, where, behind
locked doors and a police guard, the
two teams played their key game.
Because of a past history of spectator
violence, the officials deemed thís action
necessary. Fanatical spectators had be–
come so viciously incensed toward one
another that to hold this game at either
team's home court would have been
courting disaster.
1s
this any way to play
a high school basketball game?
When sportsmanship and character
December
197 1
training are neglected, and wioning be–
comes too important, the stage is set for
víolence.
The Violent Athlete
Wheo the Saiots meet the Líons in
the "Coliseum" or "Fo'rum," only the
n.unes- and the relative finishing posi–
tions - are remioiscent of the Roman
games sorne 2,000 years ago. Recently
the Saints learned to their chagrín that
the Coliseum is no place to entertain
Líons. Certainly there is no trend of vio–
lent death in most professional sports,
such as the unarmed "saints" of old suf–
fered before Nero and other bloodthirsty
"fans."
But physical violence and serious in–
jury among modero sportsmen is clearly
on the increase. Various defensive foot –
ball players are considered by their ad–
mirers as "the Animal" or "the Beast."
One West Coast lineman is noted as the
"dirtiest player in football" for his
repeated crack-back blocks, spearing,
and cripplings of "name" quarterbacks.
Such violent "play" is often encour–
aged by coaches, teammates, and
cheering fans. And sportswriters and
Las Vegas oddsmakers know that the
major team with the fewest injuries is
usually the one favored to go "all the
way." This is true of basketball and
baseball - the so-called "non-contact
sports" - as well as the violent but
well-padded games of football and
hockey.
lf
you've watched many professional
team games, you're probably familiar
with the all-out brawl which empties
both benches. Perhaps a player of one
team contacts a player of the other team
harder than he should. One of them
throws a fist, and theo up to 80 meo
are charging at each otber with both
fists llying. The five (oc fewer) belea–
guered officials are then faced with
separating up to forty violent skirmishes
between heavily padded, but very angry,
"sportsmen."
Sure, "boys will be boys," as the
sports announcers say -
but, they
should be
MEN,
since thousands of im–
pressionable children are watching.
Few players are badly hurt
in
such
melees - most serious injuries come
from "normal" play - but the poor
example set on the field is often copied