opdizzle33

I have formulated an idea for college football scheduling that would absolutely make the BCS a more efficent way of determining a champion. The idea is at the start of the season, every program will play the last team they faced the year before. Therefore, the previous national championship contenders would start the next season facing one another in a rematch and so on.  If the teams didn't make a bowl and the last team they played did, there are enough schools play in place from the FBS. This scheduling format would create new rivalries, create great opening week games, and most importantly determine a true champion. Every year would start off with top 25 teams losing but would honestly show who the really good teams are and who are the poll posers.  I wish there was an oppertunity to pitch this idea to the NCAA or whoever is in charge of the schedule process. 
 

Sportsmanship: Where has it Gone?

            “Sports are over,” stated New York Times sportswriter Robert Lipsyte (Cox par. 7).  Literally, sports are not over, yet it seems sportsmanship is.  Sportsmanship is defined as when players, parents, and coaches all treat each other with respect while competing in an athletic event.  Always, sportsmanship has been a critical component in the outlook people have on any sport.  Unsportsmanlike behaviors from parents, players, and fans are detrimental in the moral values of all sports.  These negative actions are destroying the meaning of sportsmanship. 

            First off, the values of sports rely strictly on sportsmanship. Parents are a major influence in learning the values of sportsmanship. It is important that sportsmanship is taught at an early age.  It is great for parents to be involved in their child’s life, but becoming too involved is becoming a typical issue. These parents, who are too involved, often force their children into athletics at an early age. Val Belmonte, member of the U.S.A. Olympic coaching committee, exclaimed, “Parental pressures are astronomical right now” (Cox). The pressure on athletes to perform well from parents has become ludicrous and could lead to anxiety and stress on athletes. In some cases, parents unsportsmanlike measures have even cause physical disputes. In one particular case, a father was supervising his son’s hockey practice, when the parent of another child on the hockey team complained that the checking was getting too rough.  The supervising parent reportedly made the remark, “That’s what hockey is all about” (Cox). Once hearing these words, the complaining parent became so infuriated that he decided to take things into his own hands, literally, pounding the supervising parent into a coma which became his cause of death. Parents becoming too involved in youth sports often grow to be verbally aggressive, teaching the youth to do the same. This may possibly teach young athletes to curse at or verbally assault their opponents during the competition. From what parents say, to actions minute as their hand gestures, children pay close attention to their parent’s actions and believe what they hear and see are acceptable actions for them to replicate. These actions could also translate from the playing field to the classroom or possibly everyday life. Parents play a major role in instilling sportsmanship into young athletes and should encourage their children to play fair, have a great time, and to concentrate on fulfilling their position duties for the team while developing their individual skill. Most experts seem to blame parents for promoting and teaching the unsportsmanlike behaviors that have become dominant in the athletes in sports today.

From fights in baseball, like the brawl in the 2000 MLB World Series, to taunting and trash talking every Saturday on an NCAA football field, unsportsmanlike behavior is dominant in every level of sports. Many athletes have been taught and reached the mindset where it is not acceptable to lose; therefore they will do anything to win. With success as the number one priority for athletes, the sportsmanship boundaries are not just passed, they are leaped. Some athletes have even have used performance enhancing drugs to gain an edge on their competition. Some athletes seem not to care about their actions and how people perceive them, not understanding how much of an influence they may be.  In 2007, O.J. Mayo, a senior McDonanald’s high school All-American (now second year star for the Memphis Grizzlies), was suspended from competing for his high schools basketball team for five games. The reason, he allegedly assaulted a referee after being ejected from a game. Professional and college athletes are generally role models for all younger athletes and their examples are closely followed.  A few weeks ago, Oregon football star running back, LeGarrette Blount, was suspended from playing football by his school for the rest of his senior season. This infraction was enforced after Blount’s aggressive physical retaliation to a few negative words by Boise State’s defensive end Bryan Hout.  On the way off the field, Blount became irate once again and then pursued heckling Boise State fans. The actions from neither Blount nor Hout were acceptable. "Under no circumstance is fighting acceptable.... Sportsmanship is everyone's responsibility, including student-athletes, coaches, officials, institutions and fans,"(Punch at Boise Ends Blount’s Season) proclaimed NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson.

Fans are often bearers of bad sportsmanship, and their belligerent actions are helping demolish the values of sports.  Fans often threaten and downgrade athletes and referees. An ideal example, when college basketball freshman phenomenon, Kevin Love, decided to attend UCLA instead of Oregon where Kevin’s father, Stan Love played, Oregon fans wanted some kind of revenge.  So when UCLA traveled to Eugene, Oregon, the day before the UCLA-Oregon game, Kevin Love checked his phone to find more than 30 voice messages! He listened to the first message: “If you guys win, we’ll come to your house and kill your family” (Wahl 40).Kevin Love played the next message: “We’ll find your hotel room and blow your f------ head off with a shotgun” (Wahl 40). Love proclaimed, “I mean, these were death threats” (Wahl 40). Kevin Love, disturbed by the threats, called his mom and cancelled his cell phone service.  The game the following day was no better when Kevin’s family attended; they were harassed by Oregon’s 1,500 student section, the Pit Crew, both verbally and physically.  Stan recalls hearing, “every dirty word you can think of” (Wahl 43), including calling Love’s grandmother and thirteen year old sister “whores” (Wahl 43). Along with being verbally abused, the family endured popcorn and soda baths from the obnoxious Pit Crew. Tom Izzo, Michigan State’s basketball head coach, proclaims, “The abuse that fans are bringing on talk radio and in stands is going to ruin the game” (Wahl 42).  These fans should understand that their actions do not only put a negative label on themselves, but more so the organization or institution they are representing. The careless abuse fans have shown in the past are fine examples of horrendous sportsmanship and are tagging all sports with a bad name. 

            It is important to realize that negative behavior is becoming more and more of a problem and tarnishing the meaning of sportsmanship. From parents becoming overly aggressive in youth sports and, players fighting and setting bad examples for the youth, and fans threatening and insulting players on a game to game basis, sportsmanship is becoming less significant as each day passes.  These unsportsmanlike actions from parents, players and fans are detrimental to the values all sports. If something is not done about this sportsmanship crisis, then sports could well be over sooner than everyone realizes.

Works cited

Cox, R. S. "Sportsmanship." Cq Researcher Online. N.pag. library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cq
resrre2001032302>.

“Punch at Boise ends Blount's season.” ESPN.com. 5 September 2009. 8 Oct. 2009

<http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/
story?id=4446898>.

Wahl, Grant. “Over The Top.” Sports Illustrated. 03 Mar. 2008: 40-44.