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What is sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is demonstrated in various ways from the earliest levels from pee-wee baseball all the way through to the major leagues. Sportsmanship is defined as the conduct and attitude considered as befitting participants in sports, especially fair play, courtesy, striving spirit, and grace in losing.
At the end of high school games, you can see sportsmanship being demonstrated with both participating teams lining up to shake hands and offer congratulatory remarks. In a wrestling match, the two competitors shake hands before the match starts and after the match and in most cases the opposing coaches hand as well. Boxers touch gloves at the start of their match and often can be spotted sharing hugs with one another at the end of a grueling bout. The list can go on and on with numerous other sports.
Unfortunately, in the sports world of today, we often associate sportsmanship in a negative way. For instance in baseball, when a home run is hit a player may stand at the plate and "admire" their shot before slowly strutting around the bases. In football, after a big play (whether it be a sack, interception, touchdown, etc...) is made, the player may taunt the other team or an opposing player with excessive celebration or performing an opposing players "signature" trademark. Once again the list can go on and on. Point being the true display of sportsmanship goes unnoticed all too much.
As I was skimming through espn.com the other day I came across a very touching sports story involving sportsmanship in the positive way. The story came from a Western Oregon and Central Washington (Div. II) softball game on Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.
Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky stepped to the plate in the top second inning in a scoreless game. The senior was batting a woeful .088 on the season heading into the game. Then on an 0-1 pitch she belted a three-run homer over the center field fence for an early lead. The homer was the first of Tucholshy's career.
As Tucholsky was approaching second base when rounding the bases, she realized she had missed first base, and as she was circling back to touch the base, her knee gave out, collapsing just short of first base.
Before head coach Pam Knox motioned for a substitute runner to take the place of the fallen batter, opposing first base man Mallory Holtman, who is incidentally the career leader in home runs for Central Washington, and Central Washington's shortstop Liz Wallace picked up Tucholsky and carried the injured player around the base paths, helping her gingerly touch each base and giving way to a swarm of Tucholsky's teammates waiting at home plate.
At the time it was made clear that if Tucholsky could not round the bases on her own power a substitute could be brought in and take over at first base, giving her credit for only a two-run SINGLE and not a home run. But Holtman, a senior herself, playing on senior day knew that her and her teammates could help and it still count as a home run.
"Honestly its one of those things that I hope anyone would do it for me," Holtman told Espn.com writer Graham Hays. "She hit the ball over the fence, she's a senior...I don't know it's just one of those things I guess that maybe because compared to everyone else on the field at the time, I had been playing longer and knew we could touch her, it was my idea first. But I think anyone who knew that we could touch her would have offered to do it. Just because it's the right thing to do. She was obviously in agony."
This was not just another game, the two teams have never qualified for post-season play, and heading into the double header only one game separated the two teams atop the conference standings with just a handful of games remaining.
Speaking from experience, it feels great when you win, but it can be just as hard to be a good sport when you have won a game as when you have lost one as well. Good sportsmanship takes maturity and courage. When you are so involved in a game/match it is not easy to admit that you made a bad play or just simply the other team/player had a better game or made a better play than you. In competition, just as in life, you may not always come out on top, but their are valuable lessons to be learned from losing as well.
How many people can honestly say, that given that situation they would do the "right thing" and help an opposing player out? Especially when it means it could be the difference in the game and possibly a berth to post-season play at stake.
I for one, being the competitor that I can not honestly say what I would do if I came face to face in that situation. But now after reading this moving story I would like to believe I would have done the "right thing".
Travis David is a sports writer for the Greene County Daily World and can be reached at 812-847-4487 or by e-mail at tdavid@gcdailyworld.com