I saw this the other day. Good for them.
You clearly don’t know the difference between sportsmanship and winning at all costs.
Also both your examples are irrelevant and silly.
That seems to be the standard in team sports, but there’s no reason it has to be. In golf players are expected to call penalties on themselves – even when they know they could get away with it – and they in fact do, all the time. That’s just part of the culture of the sport. That sort of thing is clearly not so much a part of the culture of baseball (or softball), but cultures aren’t static. You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
And in fact they did, and in fact the run scored by the injured baserunner was not necessary to the final outcome.
I don’t think you understand the rules of baseball. Her inability to continue around the bases affected the situation only because of an anachronism in the rules of baseball, which dates back to the 19th century, that a person who hits an automatic home run must touch all the bases in order, even though it’s purely a demonstrative exercise because they cannot be put out anyway. The “what if a runner is injured during an automatic hit?” situation is a fluke situation and a weird part of the rules wherein there is really no fair outcome.
The girl had already hit a home run; she had beaten the opposing pitcher fair and square in terms of the contest of skill. Helping her around the basepaths was quite in keeping with the finest traditions of baseball sportsmanship.
This to my mind is different from exploiting rules loopholes where the other team acts STUPIDLY. A few years back in a softball playoff game I was in, an opposing batter drew a walk and was entitled to take second base; it was a co-ed league, and to discourage intentionally walking male batter to pitch to women, a man who drew a walk ahead of a woman got 2nd base. The batter cut the corner - he never touched first, never even came close. I was playing first, so after the runner took second, I called for the pitcher to toss me the ball, stepped on first, and the guy was called out.
I don’t mind doing that sort of thing (or, say, appealing to a missed base after a home run) because it was his stupidity in not touching first and it’s fair to exploit that. But if he’d twisted his ankle before getting to first there’s no way a decent sportsman doesn’t allow the other team some sort of gimme to advance to an automatically awarded base.
This is Division-Ass-Nothing-Seventeen softball. Nobody here wins anything except the chance to play another game. GAME. Nobody wants to go on to another game knowing that they dicked their way into it. Well, nobody with any sportsmanship or integrity.
Your analogies are inexact because the Yankees and Cubs are playing for money and playoff revenue and… well, so what? That’s the point of SPORTSMANSHIP- you respect the person in the other-colored shirt.
But to be honest, this is a flawed enterprise attempting to explain it to you. One either understands sportsmanship or one does not. If you do not, I can’t explain it to you. If you actually do, then my remarks aren’t suited for this forum except to ask you nicely to stop threadshitting.
Guys, guys. Just consider the source and move on.
But, but, but… Duty Calls!
Even that doesn’t matter. What matters is that, for the rest of their lives, everyone involved on both sides can truly say that they did something to be proud of. How often does that happen?
Regards,
Shodan
Good stuff. Glad to hear that sportsmanship and compassion still live.
I blew my knee out pretty bad this weekend, and until we rounded up crutches, there was usually one guy from each team helping me hobble around. I’m not sure if it really counts, since we were playing my alma mater, but it was pretty cool when there were two different jerseys carrying me to both the dual team photo and the handshake. It was also neat when my teammates waited for me to lead the “hip hip HORAY” for the final time as team captain, at least for the season.
This statement shows everything wrong about modern sports. Winning is NOT everything, even if the great Vince Lombardi thought so. We’ve evolved that concept into steroid use by home-run hitters, divers in soccer, and flat out dirty play by both footballers and basketballers.
“Trying to win” should translate to: playing my best and hoping it’s better than the effort the other side comes up with. It should not translate to: losing sight of the fact that it’s a sport, not a war.
If I ever had a doubt that you post to get a rise out of people, this does away with it.
Folks, please stay on topic. If you want to post about another user, do so in the Pit.
I heard this story on NPR today, but IMO, they underplayed it. My respect and admiration go out to the women who did this. If there were some way of honoring them beyond posting on a message board, I would do that too.
This is a pretty neat story, usually sappy sports stories make me roll my eyes but it was a simple gesture from the girls that meant a lot.
Of course, ESPN can’t simply allow the drama of the video to stand on it’s own (but that’s a common failing of almost all reporter and commentator types), they’ve got to wax eloquent for five minutes to make sure that damnit you know how epic and moving this story is, but it’s great to see video of the Central Washington players carrying Sara home.
Your link doesn’t work, Dave.
And apparently some of 2½’s fellow cavemen can be found in the comments here.
Ok, I admit to being a sentimental sap. I’ve got tears watching that story.
I just saw the video for the first time, and let’s just say I’m glad my mom isn’t here to get me back for all the times I’ve teased her when she watches Oprah.
Aww! I’m not a sports fan by any means, partially because truly magnanimous gestures like this are so rare in the sports I see and hear about. So many people act like it’s some deadly serious war situation and it’s very nice to see some kids who understand when it’s time to put competitiveness aside and just do something genuinely nice for a fellow player. The pain in that girl’s knee will probably fade soon, but I bet the memory of this gesture will never fade in her mind.