On the TUNNEYSIDE of SPORTS August 24, 2015 #555 Up next…Appreciate the Competition!
After further review…With the fall sports season about to get under way, some coaches and players feel that developing hatred, or at least an aggressive anger, toward opponents is a necessary component for winning. Animosity has no place in sports! Intensity is essential, but let’s not get those two states-of-mind mixed up!
Coaches, in the attempt to get their teams psyched-up for a season or a game, frequently resort to fiery incitement and use hate as a tool to build intensity under the guise of T*E*A*M spirit. Wrong! While team spirit is vital for its power to build camaraderie, it must be kept in perspective. It’s an “I’ve got your back” mantra that pulls individuals together; it doesn’t need to accomplish this by diminishing opponents. The value of sports can be life-long. The current players on the PGA circuit are providing a positive example of sportsmanship. Recent thumbs-up gestures from Jordan Spieth, and similar examples from Jason Day and Rory McElroy are signs of respect for their opponents. Sure they want to win, but they are mindful that they treat their rivals the way they want to be treated.
Values built on competitiveness guided by honesty and respect are transferable to whatever one does in life. While those mentioned compete as individuals, they treat each other as if they were family. Respecting one’s opponent, especially in stressful situations, is a sign of maturity. Maturity, BTW, is not necessarily commensurate with age. The very young can show mature behavior, if given the proper example.
Teamwork, on and off the field, replaces self-importance and ego for the good of others. Steve Young, the Hall of Fame former quarterback of the San Francisco Forty-Niners, once said, “If you play alone you’ll be alone.” Even in individual sports there needs to be a feeling of T*E*A*M, and indeed, there is often an unseen network of support behind an individual performance. As you strive for your goal, focus your efforts on preparation. The secret is preparation, thorough and complete. The old saw “the will to prepare is more important than the will to win” can provide the necessary intensity. This prayerful poem taught to me by my father may say it all:
Dear Lord, in the battle that goes on through life I ask only for a field that is fair A chance that is equal to all in the strife, the courage to strive and to dare And if I should win let it be by the code with my faith and my honor held high But if I should lose, let me stand by the road and cheer as the winners go by.
Will you treat your opponents with the same respect that you deserve?
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