Now thats sportsmanship

[hurdleisu24]

We live in a world where Peyton Manning walks off the Super Bowl field without shaking anybody's hand. Where Tiger Woods leaves the Masters without a word of thanks to the fans or congratulations to the winner. Where NFL lineman Albert Haynesworth kicks a man's helmetless head without a thought.
So if you think sportsmanship is toast, this next story is an all-you-can-eat buffet to a starving man.
It happened at a junior varsity girls' softball game in Indianapolis this spring. After an inning and a half, Roncalli was womanhandling inner-city Marshall Community. Marshall pitchers had already walked nine Roncalli batters. The game could've been 50-0 with no problem.

Link to rest of story...http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5218228

[Statsman515]

Thanks for sharing this !!!!!

We live in a world where Peyton Manning walks off the Super Bowl field without shaking anybody's hand. Where Tiger Woods leaves the Masters without a word of thanks to the fans or congratulations to the winner. Where NFL lineman Albert Haynesworth kicks a man's helmetless head without a thought.
So if you think sportsmanship is toast, this next story is an all-you-can-eat buffet to a starving man.
It happened at a junior varsity girls' softball game in Indianapolis this spring. After an inning and a half, Roncalli was womanhandling inner-city Marshall Community. Marshall pitchers had already walked nine Roncalli batters. The game could've been 50-0 with no problem.

[HiltonMagic]

Rick Reilly: Compassion and Competition - ESPN

[Hawkfan44]

Wow! What a story! Thanks for posting!

[no2cyclones]

I don't think we're allowed to post entire articles and/or stories here, especially without posting a link...just FYI.

That being said, I read this a few days ago and it is absolutely phenomenal, what those girls and coaches did. I can't believe that people would be that outgoing without being demeaning, as Reilly made abundantly clear that they were on an even level with the players that they were helping out. Just awesome.

[HiltonMagic]

I don't think we're allowed to post entire articles and/or stories here, especially without posting a link...just FYI.

That being said, I read this a few days ago and it is absolutely phenomenal, what those girls and coaches did. I can't believe that people would be that outgoing without being demeaning, as Reilly made abundantly clear that they were on an even level with the players that they were helping out. Just awesome.

hurdle never posts links

[cyfanatic13]

Rick Reilly is awesome. I love reading his stuff on ESPN. That's a great story. It shows not everyone is obsessed with winning a silly little game.

[Tre4ISU]

This is pretty good but I don't like Rick Reilly in general.

On sportsmanship-Up through high school, I think sportsmanship is very important. Even in lower college divisions it is important. Once you get to D1 or especially the pros, this is business. I don't mind people walking off without shaking everyones hand. It is a joke anyway. Is it really better to shake hands with no sincerity? I don't really think so. I certainly don't go around to competitors when I get a new customer from them and shake their hand and they wouldn't do the same for me. I think a lot of people still think big time college sports and pro sports are simply sports. It is a huge business with a ton of money involved. Like anything else, when you inject money into it, it's whole complexion changes.

[wxman1]

Rick Reilly is a great writer...SI hasn't been the same since he left.

[mac4cy]

What a great story. This should be shown to all High School kids who think they are above it all. We have too many kids these days that think they can do whatever they want with no consequences, especially in sports. If they don't like it they quit, if they don't get enough playing time they have parents complain to the coaches. More sportsmanship, and not just this kind, would be a welcome change.

[helechopper]

Best story ever.

[cyclones500]

This is pretty good but I don't like Rick Reilly in general.

On sportsmanship-Up through high school, I think sportsmanship is very important. Even in lower college divisions it is important. Once you get to D1 or especially the pros, this is business. I don't mind people walking off without shaking everyones hand. It is a joke anyway. Is it really better to shake hands with no sincerity? I don't really think so. I certainly don't go around to competitors when I get a new customer from them and shake their hand and they wouldn't do the same for me. I think a lot of people still think big time college sports and pro sports are simply sports. It is a huge business with a ton of money involved. Like anything else, when you inject money into it, it's whole complexion changes.

I don't mind a little sportsmanship at the big-biz levels. But using those pro sports examples as a lead-in to an otherwise feel-good story was apples-and-oranges. Manning not shaking hands sort of fits the competitive continuum; there aren't too many JV players are at head-kicking status.

He could have found some flip-side examples at a high-school level and led with that. Or found an alternate leade. Or just dived right into the story.

[cyrocksmypants]

Great story. It's funny, though, because Roncalli's football team has kind of been known as being a bunch of dirty players. Funny how the two teams at the same school could differ so much

[LutherClone]

True class acts.

[Cloner97]

To be fair to Manning, the second after the Super Bowl ends is chaos on the field. The guy is just looking at what tunnel he needs to head to before gtting mobbed. And it's not like any of the winners are seeking out the losers either.