ANNA NARDELLISPORTS AND SOCIETYMR. CURRIEMARCH 16, 20168.3 SPORTSMANSHIP CASE STUDY

SPORTSMANSHIP

• Sportsmanship is a lot of different things, and applies to many different people. It applies to everyone involved in the game; players, coaches, and even fans.

• When applied to players, sportsmanship should be defined as playing with your best efforts, without breaking any rules of the game, or trying to gain an unfair advantage over the competition. Treating everyone involved in the game with respect is a huge part of good sportsmanship.

• The purpose of sportsmanship is to play with fairness, integrity, responsibility and respect (Hanson and Savage).

SPORTSMANSHIP Sportsmanship is really about having good ethics and morals about every aspect of

sports, for all people involved

GAMESMANSHIP

Gamesmanship is thought to be the complete opposite of sportsmanship. Gamesmanship furthers your own team’s score, benefiting one team even if it is

cheating Doing whatever it takes to win A base notion of gamesmanship is that “It’s only cheating if you get caught” (Hanson

and Savage)

ETHICS – OWNERS AND COACHES

The sportsmanship of owners and coaches of teams set the impression on the players. They are at the top, and the attitude of the team starts with them.

Sportsmanship in owners and coaches goes beyond the game. Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey demonstrated good sportsmanship when he kept the

Jimmy Fund in good hands. He adopted the Jimmy Fund as the Rex Sox’s official charity back in 1953.

This was a great act of sportsmanship. Charity is a great cause and this one was for research and care for cancer patients.

Sports may not always be about the game, but instead the good things a team does for society, such as charity games.

ETHICS – OWNERS AND COACHES

The attitude and sportsmanship of players directly descends from their coaches actions Mike Tomlin, coach of the Pittsburg Steelers was fined 100,000 dollars and penalized during

the draft pick by the NFL for unsportsmanlike behavior. During a kickoff return, on the side lines, Tomlin stood very close to the white line with his back to the play. His actions slowed the run of Baltimore’s kick returner Jacoby Jones.

Tomlin was penalized by the league for unsportsmanlike conduct, proving everyone is responsible for having good sportsmanship

ETHICS – OWNERS AND COACHES

This is the symbol representing how the Red Sox sponsor The Jimmy Fund. It shows that they have been involved for 60 years, and continue to do good work with the charity.

This is an image showing how Tomlin reacted to losing. He stood on the line and was penalized for his actions. As the coach of the team, he did not show good sportsmanship.

ETHICS – HEALTH AND SAFETY

Sometimes, injuries occur as a result of playing the game. These are called ethical injuries. In other cases, injuries can be unethical, or intentional.

Hurting another player intentionally is an example of very bad sportsmanship When another player is hurt unintentionally after an accidental collision, one can show

good sportsmanship by helping the other player up or apologizing

ETHICS – HEALTH AND SAFETY

Sports injuries occur in professional sports all the time, some of which are just a result of playing the game, and some are unnecessary and a result of poor sportsmanship.

An example of an injury that occurred in professional sports as a result of poor judgement by trainers and coaches, and the individual’s drive to win and push himself was the knee injury Robert Griffin received.

Decisions like this put the players health at risk

ETHICS – HEALTH AND SAFETY

The care an injured player receives can also be related to ethics When I received my injury I received what I consider ethical medical care because I was

treated right away and taken good care of Griffin did not receive ethical care because both coaches and trainers allowed him to

continue to play when they knew he was injured

ETHICS – HEALTH AND SAFETYHere is an example of an athlete receiving good care. He is receiving the right treatment to get in back on the field as soon as possible.

This is an image of the moment Griffin severely hurt himself. This injury was a result of playing on his knee that was already hurt, with permission from his trainer.

ETHICS – ATHLETES AND COMMUNITY

Athletes contribution to their community is a huge part of sportsmanship Sports go beyond just the game There are many athletes that do charity work to help their communities and make the

world a better place. An example of an athlete that had an impact on his community was Sergei Fedorov. He helped his community in a positive way by doing charity work.

ETHICS – ATHLETES AND COMMUNITY

The actions of professional athletes, whether showing good sportsmanship or bad directly affect their community.

An example of this is the whole deflate ball issue involving Tom Brady His actions and the situation he created did have a negative effect on not just his team or

his community, but the whole country and football league. It had a negative affect because some people thought he was dishonest and the

commotion tore fans apart.

ETHICS – ATHLETES AND COMMUNITYThis is a picture of Sergei Federov. He created a foundation for charity that impacted his community in a positive way.

Tom Brady affected his community negatively because of the scandal he was involved in with the deflated footballs.

ETHICS – FAN BEHAVIOR

Fans are also responsible for demonstrating good sportsmanship There is a line between getting into the game and being upset by a bad call, and going too

far, taking your actions to a whole other level such as fighting with the other team’s fans Fans can get very upset by calls, even get into fights with the other fans and referees. In my own experiences, I have played games both home, and away. At home games there

is a lot more support. One time we were playing an away game and a group of boys from the other team’s fans were yelling mean unnecessary things at my team’s players, and the referees. They were so obnoxious they were asked to leave.

ETHICS – FAN BEHAVIOR

At a Western Hockey League playoff game, some fans got in a fight with the visiting players. In this case, four fans were even arrested, five were kicked out of the game, and a police officer trying to break up the fights was injured.

This is a link to the game where this extremely bad sportsmanship happened: https://youtu.be/gAyYK-Mdlt0

ETHICS – FAN BEHAVIOR

This is an example of good fan behavior. They are cheering on their home team with a good attitude,

unlike the fans at the game I played in where the fans were thrown out of the game.

CONCLUSION

Sportsmanship is very important in not only professional sports but sports at all levels. Keeping the spirit of the game positive and keeping the integrity of the game intact will make a better experience for the fans and both teams.

In the future, I think professional sports will become more honest and hopefully have better morals

This is a video of some great moments of amazing sportsmanship in high school sports. I chose this video because it is very moving and inspirational. I also chose this because it is so relatable and it made me ask myself, ‘what would I do if I was in their situation?’

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:11157816