The Philosophy Of Sportsmanship

Often times when asked what sportsmanship is many respond that it is the acceptance and acknowledgement of rules placed before them at a sporting event. However sportsmanship is more than abiding by the rules of a particular game, sport, or event, it is learning to apply the discipline achieved by following those rules in the real world. When one does something unsportsmanlike he shows no respect for the game being played, his teammates, and the opposing player’s coaches and fans. Many coaches share the philosophy of making their players into good citizens. They focus on molding their players into respectable people and preparing their athletes for the life each one of them has ahead of them. Sportsmanship is taking the discipline, character …show more content…
Sports today have placed more attention on winning rather than building decent citizens by teaching them life lessons. Through this constant attention on winning the concepts of support toward oneself and one’s teammates have been overlooked. The idea of winning has caused a great deal of our time to be devoted to being extremely competitive and somewhere along the way many of us have turned the concepts of support for oneself to discouragement toward the opposing team and players. The quest for glory and greatness among athletes has blurred the ultimate goal in mind: to build honor and integrity. For example, referees do not always see every foul of every game, but those that retaliate over a foul they think should have been called demonstrate poor sportsmanship. Not only does this display a lack of focus, it also displays a lack of discipline and control. This can also lead to a decrease in opportunity for those that do not show the discipline and control wanted by others. For instance, many colleges and universities send scouts to various sporting events to watch a specific player that is playing at that specific event, but if he or she were to act out in a defiant manner in which he or she did not display …show more content…
He had scored six goals throughout the entire competition and had been recognized for being one of the most talented players there. Colombia was set to play Brazil in the quarterfinals and had lost 2-1 with Rodriguez scoring their only goal. Regardless of his record breaking performance, James Rodriguez was outwardly upset that his team had lost its chance at winning a World Cup. David Luiz, one of Brazil’s star players, recognized Rodriguez’s performance and encouraged the home crowd of mostly Brazilian fans to acknowledge his outstanding performance. The crowd had responded immediately respecting the talent they had witnessed, despite the fact that Rodriguez was playing for the opposing team. This acknowledgement lifted Rodriguez’s spirits about losing the match and made him appreciate the experience he had at the World