Editors Note: This article originally ran in the Friday, June 3, 2005 edition of The Ledger Independent.
Sometimes we score the big touchdown, hit the winning home run or nail the three-pointer at the buzzer to lift our team to victory.
Other times we fumble, strike out or miss the potential game-winning shot.
Sports, to me anyway, has always been fun to play, to watch and to cover for the most part. The unpredictable aspect and excitement generated by outstanding athletes never gets old to me. Sports is only a microcosm to life in general and shows what true teamwork can achieve when a team plays as one and pulls off a major upset.
These are not only sports lessons but life lessons as well. Young people need to learn to accept these basic facts as soon as possible when participating in sports although the very young should merely be learning the fundamentals and having fun in the process.
Placing a strong emphasis upon winning among children who are beginning to learn the game is unhealthy and causes many youngsters to give up at an early age. Simply reassuring kids and telling them to do their best at all times and have as much fun as possible is the answer.
Most young athletes seem to accept defeat and failure more easily than their parents. Many parents want their son or daughter to win every game, make every play and get every close call from the officials. More than a few parents live their lives vicariously through the success of their offspring so on the occasions their son or daughter makes a mistake that only serves to lessen the parent’s self-esteem.
From my observations in the past couple of years, many players on the field are more mature than their parents and fans in the stands. Screaming at officials and opponents and at times hurling racial slurs only makes participation in sports less appealing to kids and leaves a sour taste in many an adult’s mouth as well.
Since none of us gets everything we desire in life, how can we expect the sports world to be any different? We can’t, of course, but don’t tell that to a great deal of fans out there. They want everything to go their way and appear to not have learned that one crucial lesson of life: Life ain’t fair.
A small, yet very vocal minority of fans and supporters of amateur sports apparently feels officials have it in for the team they are rooting for and their team never gets a break. Impressionable youngsters observe this inane behavior and consequently may feel and act the same. Adults have a responsibility to set an example for their children and from some of the behavior I have witnessed, the example is not always a positive one.
Many fans, supporters and coaches of high school sports desire only positive coverage of their teams and players. I honestly attempt to do exactly that but not everything that occurs on a field or court is positive. Trying to write a “positive” story when the team you are covering gets trounced and does not play well is not an easy accomplishment.
One thing I will certainly not do is criticize a player or second guess a coach on the high school level, because these are kids who are playing for the love of competition as well as school pride. Collegiate and professional players and coaches are an entirely different story. College athletes are getting paid with a scholarship and many of their coaches are compensated very well and professional players and coaches are receiving exorbitant salaries, so they are fair game for more intense criticism.
I am merely the messenger here when it comes to reporting what occurs on the field and although I will not go out of my way to present high school athletes in a negative light, there are times when it is essential to the game story to explain exactly what occurred. For example, if an error is committed and a run scores as a result, I cannot simply ignore the play. Whether I agree with the official scorer’s call or not is irrelevant. Reporting the facts is relevant.
You win some, you lose some. Too bad a lot of kids realize this truism better than their parents.
