I have to admit that I thought about writing this story for a few days. Friday night at 3am I was staring at the expected time of my alarm clock on the ceiling. With every passing minute, I saw a different face looking back at me. Some seemed to say “Leave him alone, he’s not worth making a fuss about.” After two minutes, his face changed and he said: “Come on, it’s another windmill in your life that you’ve adopted.” A reference to Don Quixote. He and I are a little crazy sometimes. However, we believe that the only challenge in this life is to face windmills, dragons and knights sometimes.
After I got the newspaper last Thursday morning, I wanted to find the results of the previous evening’s games. It took me a minute to find the story. In less than fifty words, the winners took credit for their second win of the young season. The only reference to the losing team was its name in the title. Full credit was given to players who scored 111 points for the home team. The players on the losing team who scored those eight points are no name for their accomplishments on a tough night.
The story writer gave the game little attention in Thursday night’s Ohio Valleys contest. Or perhaps they hesitated to mention such a game to the world of high school sports. After all, there were games in which the results were so lopsided that they made national news. Maybe this should have been one of those games.
But in my opinion, the match was not lopsided, but rather a complete massacre. Massacre, the deliberate and comprehensive defeat of an opponent. Show no mercy.
Very harsh words on my part, don’t you think? Yes, but they are my opinion. All my life I have enjoyed sports and good team competitions. Maybe I like them so much that I would have a hard time throwing a basketball in the sink and scoring. I just don’t have the hand-eye coordination in sports, however I love watching sports competitions.
Why, because I think I still remember my friends and I playing games in high school. We enjoyed the sports and friendship. What did you gain from those days more than half a century ago? I treated the players with friendship and learned sportsmanship when we won and when we lost.
The team learns that the world is not always easy and that winning comes with hard work and skills. Hopefully, we understand that if you win, the other team will lose. I don’t remember playing and our team’s goal was to humiliate other players.
That game last week was a complete massacre of a team of players trying too hard to score. They kept their heads up to be able to say a good game afterward. But when you lose by 103 points, it’s hard to sustain anything and find something positive in a high school sporting event.
The superior team came out clearly and quickly, giving the visitors full pressure for the entire first half. By half-time the visitors had just two points in their column. Home team 67. The visiting team were clearly out of play on every level, some of which weren’t even in the charts.
I believe that in the name of sportsmanship, the superior team will give up full pressure on the pitch in the second half. Well, they did, they picked the ball up in their own half stopping all possibilities of the visiting team salvaging a bit of honor in the match.
In the end, the final score, home 111 and the visiting team, 8. This isn’t a contradiction, it’s all out carnage. It is clear that the home team’s players have a lot of skill, and I bet that by the end of the season we will find them back at the top of the charts. You have to give credit to the team on their playing skills, understanding good sportsmanship is what I’m wondering about. The home team’s players followed the offensive and defensive directions of their coaches. Getting the result to a team with no prospect of winning that night was a coach’s choice, and it was not a good game.
Before football matches, the announcer reads the words before play begins. Attendees are asked to remember that this is a game between high school athletes and friendly rivals. He stressed that in addition to competing in the game, players learn sportsmanship.
Sportsmanship: Fair and decent behavior or dealing with others, especially in sporting competitions. “They showed great sportsmanship in defeat and in victory.”
When a match can be described as a sporting event with great sportsmanship, it is a sight to behold. When a game is described as a massacre, it’s ugly no matter how you look at it.
You may not agree with me, but in today’s world I see more and more people being bullied. Slaughtering a team in droves on the scoreboard has become a new pattern of sports bullying in today’s world, at least that’s how I see it through the lens.
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