Refreshing comment from player/coach

[Mark Padgett]

My local HS boys varsity team lost a squeaker by two points earlier this week. With three seconds left, one of their players was called for an illegal dribble. Did they complain about the officiating and/or the call? No! After the game, the team captain said, (as quoted in the local fishwrap) "We would have won if we had made our free throws." The coach said, "We had too many scoreless stretches. Can't win when that happens."

Thank you both for having your heads screwed on straight.

[Back In The Saddle]

Hmmm. Yesterday my local fish wrapper prominently mentioned how our HS got screwed by a no-call on a shot at the buzzer. I was there for the first half. People I know and respect in other settings were, as they have been all year, acting like apes and idiots. What are house prices like where you are?

[Rusty Gilbert]

There is an art to losing with dignity, and one to winning with dignity.

Too often those who come out on the losing end of athletic contests cry "we were robbed"--the handiest excuse for why they can't find a decent reason for their collapse. The convenience of blaming "bad calls" or "willfully biased officiating" (euphemism for cheating) is the dodge of choice among teams that cannot stand to give proper credit to their opponents for being better....or proper blame to themselves for not being good enough!

However, it is refreshing when some athletes and some coaches rise above the crowd.

Thanks, Mark, for reminding us that these kinds of "good sports" do still exist!

[Lotto]

Last night I was working the championship game of a Christmas tournament---very physical (much more than a typical girls game), very close. With under a minute left, the visiting coach says to me: "You guys did a great job tonight, no matter what the outcome." At that point it was a one point game.

(I'd even made a disconcertion call against his bench earlier---one of the girls yelled "Box!" just as the shooter would release the ball. The second time she did this, I called it. The coach was incredulous, and the fans of that team started yelling "Box!" loudly on every subsequent FT.)