Sportsmanship

Here is the big issue in sports today? The lack of sportsmanship. When I was a young boy in Africa I learned two great lessons which I still follow today about sports and games. My grandfather played checkers with me everyday from the time I was five. He never played sports, he had grown up in an age when you had no time for such activities. My sports came from my father who excelled at every sport he got to play in Africa. What the two men taught me was the essence of sportsmanship. My grandfather taught me to play to learn. You weren't playing to win but to learn and thus every time you played you learned. Your love for the game came from the playing. Do not take this to mean losing was ok, it wasn't. Winning was the motivation to learn and play better, losing was the inspiration to be better. Both had equal value.My father taught me fairness. Sport is about rules and fairness. Every sport has rules. Every sport requires you to follow rules. Thus sport is about following rules and succeeding within those boundaries. Fairness is understanding the rules apply to all. Lying and cheating had no part in sports. My father told me early, if you cheat to win, you lie to win, you lose. The only person you hurt is you. You will always know you cheated, and living with that is your punishment. In history, the greatness of athletes was their sportsmanship. Their understanding of what it means to be a sportsman. The winners as well as the losers had dignity and honor. Today their exists no such honor. Today the world of sport is about winning at all costs. The winning at all costs leads to the lack of ethics. These so called athletes and wannabe athletes are able to justify their lack of ethics in the guise of winning. We have millions of people putting value on their rec sports as if its something the world is wanting to remember for posterity. Ethics have come into play as scandal surrounds the sporting world. Athletes being caught or accused of doping and their fans having to choose sides. The most amazing thing about this saga with Lance Armstrong is how the people who most value ethics or who most vehemently defend ethics are the ones who most support Mr. Armstrong. I for one am not convicting him, however I will never defend him. The answer to "Have you ever taken drugs, cheated or doped?" is NO!!!!! The answer is not " I have never failed a test." Its only logical if you are cheating, your goal is not to fail the drug test. What amazed me was the so called athlete, sportsman refused the chance to answer his critics. My upbringing and subsequent association with sportsmen thru my life and in various sports, has me convinced no sportsman, no fair minded athlete would stand down at the question of ethics associated with his accomplishment.Winning at all costs, is not the phrase for the kids. It has corrupted the parents and the children. Winning thru work, fairness, and competition is the goal. Losing thru work, fairness, and competition is a learning experience. How are we going to change this, if the parents themselves have no sportsmanship?My father played sports with his friends all his life. He played professionally, but he played every chance he got with his friends. I play with my friends, and its my friends who keep me playing. Winning makes the beer taste colder, however winning without friends is drinking beer alone. I am the most competitive person I know, and I have spent the last two decades hiding the urge, as I wanted to teach my kids sportsmanship. I can become a win at all cost kind of a guy, but the price is not worth it. My daughter hates to lose, but she hates it more when you let her win. Her biggest hatred is cheating. When rules are broken or ignored she goes ballistic. Its a good thing in life to have principles. Those with principles don't do it to show the others. Those who value fairness and sportsmanship will find honor and greatness thrust upon them. Those who don't will always find the cloud of suspicion.In the end most of us normal people who play sports should find the joy in playing and in friendship sport brings. My biggest competitors became my friends and associates. When the game ends I find solace in genuine shake of hands at a joint accomplishment. There can be no winners without losers.