Ethos, Ethics and Enjoyment

Hello Feel Gooders! 

Please to be reading the next line in your best monster truck rally voice, yall know what I mean.

It’s Friday, Friday Friday!! It’s a basketball sportsmanship EXTRAVAGANZA!!! It’s ten dollars a seat but you’ll only need the EDddggGE!!!!

"True sportsmanship is…Knowing that you need your opponent because without him or her, there is no game." -Lorii Myers

So, since starting this blog and distro email I've been exposed to a healthy amount of feel good stories, some that are shared with me (which is very much welcomed so keep them coming!!) and others I take note of because I’m in that mindset. This Friday I have two unique stories that are somewhat similar but each with their own remarkable outcomes, the first of which was shared with me.

WiKi defines sportsmanship as follows:

Sportsmanship (or sometimes sports-personship) is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors.

Now those of you that know me are aware that I don’t really care for sports, especially pro sports. I watch a bit of baseball here and there but for the most part I find them to be… well, negative comments aside I will say, that I love sportsmanship.  The definition above is great, right?

Two videos, the first is about Jason McElway. He’s a special needs autistic kid who’s his high schools basketballs team captain. The video explains it best.  Some of you will have seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdmdtNJNC2I

 Tell me that didn’t get at you just a little? McElways coach, Jim Johnson embraced a true level of positivity in sportsmanship by taking on the “Enjoyed for its own sake” He just wanted to play the game and make sure everyone enjoyed it. Amazing.

I came across a second story that was similar, but this one isn’t the ending they were expecting, this story’s heroes are different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTaB-hPg0P4

Again, a powerful display of sportsmanship by the coach, but the unexpected hero here is on the opposing team,  Jonathon Montanez. Jonathon embraced the positivity by showing “proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors.”

I think that when you examine these and a myriad of examples of sportsmanship we know that there is a strong community, sharing and overall sense of joy shared by all… perhaps it’s time to examine where this disappears as competition becomes more severe and monetary based.  This week, I’m going to focus on the positivity of true sportsmanship in the things I do.

Happy Friday

“After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases.”
― Mickey Mantle