Whine of Week: LeBron shames game by not facing music

From: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/3298669/

This isn’t Little League and it’s not CYO ball. It’s professional basketball, and when you are the leader of a professional team, there are things you must do. One of them is to stand up after every game, win or lose, and either bask in the glory or take the heat.

…

[James:] “It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them,” he said, the Associated Press reported. “I’m a winner. It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a competitor. That’s what I do. It doesn’t make sense for me to go over and shake somebody’s hand.”

So, the NBA is not little league…. Here’s what I don’t understand then: Why should James think that a professional should actually be held to a lower standard of behavior than a little-leaguer? It’s a shame our kids had to see this, but it’s pitiful and embarrassing to see James’ remarks the following day actually trying to justify it.

And the nation’s message in response should be: “It is being a poor sport.”

Opponents carry injured home run hitter around the bases

Opponents carry injured home run hitter around the bases – International Herald Tribune
PORTLAND, Ore.: With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the center-field fence.

But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single.

Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count — an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs.

Gotta love the Pacific Northwest! Next time somebody asks me to define “sportsmanship,” I’m going to point them to this article.

Do contact sports lead to off-the-field aggression?

Newswise Social and Behavioral Sciences News | Male Adolescent Athletes More Likely to Be Aggressors

full report: http://www.asanet.org/galleries/default-file/Oct07ASRFeature.pdf

“The results suggest that sports fail to protect males from interpersonal violence. Indeed, contact sports are positively associated with male serious fighting.”

Later in the short preview:

…sports programs, including coaches and parents, ultimately need to emphasize self-control and respect

Which begs the logical question: Do the programs studied lead to violent off-field behavior because they are violent sports or because they are violent sports taught in an unhealthy culture that doesn’t emphasize the values above?

Sportsmanship an issue in the IL state championship game

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Steve Tucker :: Not on their best behavior

As an Illinois resident, I heard a lot of chatter about the conduct of the players on the class AA girls runner-up team after their loss. Here is Chicago Sun-Times’ Steve Tucker’s take on it.