Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Superbowl and good sportsmanship

Neither HW2 or I pay much attention to pro football, so we wondered who was even playing this year while deciding to watch the game. HW2 enjoys the commercials as do I, but we really enjoyed this game. After a bit of discussion, we decided to root for the NY Giants, but for no particular reason other than they were the underdog by 14 points. It quickly became apparent that the Giants really wanted to win and prove that they were number one. The game stayed close, and the scores seesawed back and forth making for a good game. Manning proved to be a great quarterback getting off some spectacular throws that finally won the game, since his equally talented teammates managed to catch these throws.

The game was over, and the coach of the Patriots left the field without shaking the hand of the coach of the Giants, and in postgame interviews he displayed his displeasure over losing. He managed to not be sportsmanlike and set a terrible example for all viewers.

In a game like football, there are winners and losers, and players, coaches, and fans need to learn how to lose and win gracefully. This is one of the important aspects of good sportsmanship. After this day or game or season, there will be other games, and people have long memories. I must say that it is a good thing that I am not the owner of the Patriots, because if I were, that coach would no longer be with my organization.

I hoped you managed to watch the game and enjoyed it, but I am particularly interested in your thoughts on this issue of good sportsmanship. Comments???

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I only watched until half-time. But i heard it was a good game. Now on sportsmanship... You should always ALWAYS say good game. Or else your just a sore loser. Youm ight not want to say good game but you should . And so should the patriots coach.

Terry said...

Good sportsmanship seems to be a thng of the past. People seem to forget that these things are "games." Pro "gamers" should be fined for such unbecoming behavior. They get paid enough to set good examples and behave like civilized humans.