These days, they say if you aren't cheatin' then you aren't tryin'. That saying is part satire and part true in American athletics. Sportsmanship has taken a back seat to winning.
Last week there were plenty of bad sportsmanship moments. Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers talked trash to the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero after he hit a squib shot to the second baseman (Vlad had words for him while rounding first after hitting a home run on his next at-bat). After making a shot, Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks taunted Paul Pierce of the Celtics who was kneeling on the ground (The Hawks lost their next playoff game to the C's by 25). Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks even flipped Jannero Pargo of the New Orleans Hornets down by his head on a fast break (The Hornets lost that series 4-1).
Meanwhile in an NCAA Division II women's softball playoff game, we see that real sportsmanship is not dead, as the Central Washington players showed us that winning is not everything in a game against Western Oregon.
After hitting a three-run home run, her first home run in high school or college, Central Washington player, Sara Tucholsky collapsed with a hurt knee while going back to hit first base that she had missed. The umpire ruled that she would be out if her teammates tried to help her around the bases and that if she could not make it home, she would have to settle for a two RBI single.
The Western Oregon players not wanting to win on a freak thing, picked her up and carried Sara around the bases, giving her the home run. They would have been justified to let her settle for a single, but they believed in a more sublime spirit of competition.
Western Oregon lost the game and thus were eliminated from the playoffs; but they created a legacy that will last longer than a championship would have lasted. And when these women go out into the real world as professionals and mothers, they will be the ones keeping the world right; not the win at all costs crowd.
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