Sportsmanship Lacking at End of Florida-Miami Game

Last Saturday, a mini brouhaha erupted in the world of college sports when University of Florida football team head coach Urban Meyer decided to score late in the game against the University of Miami with his team ahead 23-3. The next day, Miami head coach Randy Shannon complained about Florida’s decision to kick the field goal with only two minutes left, suggesting that Meyer was trying to run up the score – a sign of poor sportsmanship.

 

I don’t have a rooting interest in either school, but the Miami coach is correct, in my opinion. The game was won, and there was no need to tack on points.

 

Meyer claims the field goal was his way to give Florida’s young kicker some experience before playing a tough road game. But if that’s the case, why did he call for a pass into the end zone – which fell incomplete – shortly before kicking the field goal? A completed pass would have robbed the kicker of his field goal attempt. And if Meyer’s goal was to give less experienced players game exposure, why did Meyer keep his star quarterback in the game so late, risking him to injury in lieu of playing his little-used back up? All signs point to the desire to score as many points as possible.

 

Was there another reason?

 

The reality is that the betting line on this game was that Florida would win by 21 points, and Florida was only up by 20. Kicking the 3-point field goal allowed Florida to cover the spread, making Florida boosters and others who bet on the game happy. Was this behind the field goal? Makes you wonder.

 

Also, Meyer may have been thinking that he needed the largest win margin possible to impress coaches and media members who vote in college football polls for the nation’s best teams, as these rankings at season’s end determines who plays in the best bowl games, including who plays for the national championship. I guess to some people the final score of 26-3 looks appreciably better than 23-3.

 

I don’t think kicking the field goal makes Meyer a bad guy. (A former Miami player, Warren Sapp, called Meyer ”a classless dirtbag” for kicking the field goal. I think that’s going too far.) But attempting a touchdown pass and then kicking the field goal were not classy moves. And I question whether we’ve gotten a straight answer from Florida about the motivation.

 

By any measure, sportsmanship was not top of mind at the end of this game, and college football wasn’t best served by its absence. 

Women’s golf drops the ball with English-only rule

Women’s professional golf made a monumental error in judgment recently when it announced a new rule requiring that all its players must speak English to be eligible to play.

 

Golf Magazine reports that by the end of 2009, the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) will require all players who have been on the golf tour for two years to pass an oral exam to prove their English skills. Those who fail will not be allowed to play. The LPGA has 121 international players, and by all accounts several dozen are from South Korea.

 

Such a rule is an embarrassment to the LPGA. It reflects poorly on a sport that historically has battled an image of elitism and for so long has been slow to gain widespread popularity, particularly the women’s tour. Golf Magazine senior editor Michael Walker, Jr. – who decries the new rule – writes on-line that the motivation behind it is apparently an LPGA desire for players to be more marketable and enhance the tour’s appeal as entertainment.

 

Apparently, the thinking is that players who do not speak English cannot as easily conduct media interviews, give victory speeches, interact with amateur players who pay to play with the pros, and otherwise be sold commercially to market the tour in the United States.

 

As a golf fan, I don’t care what language a player speaks. I want to see the best players compete. Surely, translators and creative marketing can overcome the most important language barriers.

 

The new rule poses all sorts of issues:

 

-     If a good player is suspended from a tournament because she cannot speak English, will fans feel cheated out of not seeing the best compete?

-     What if a player is mute? Is her inability to speak at all – and therefore her inability to speak English –grounds for suspension?

-     Is the rule legal – or is it in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of many things, among them national origin?

-     Does the LPGA know or care that such a rule smacks of ethnocentrism and projects an “ugly American” persona to its international audience? The whole dictatorial tone of the edict certainly runs counter to the melting pot image of the United States.

 

Perhaps most sad and ironic is that a women’s sports organization would erect such an arbitrary wall to exclude others from participating, given that women have fought so hard for the right to participate in all areas of life, including sports.

 

Don’t be surprised to see this rule repealed before it takes effect. To attract the most fans, women’s golf needs to open its arms to the world’s best players. This rule is an embarrassing step in the wrong direction.

On Celebrating Youth Sports

My 5-year-old daughter now plays soccer, her first foray into organized sports. The focus is on fun: nobody keeps score, and there are no goalies or other positions. Everyone fairly much runs around, kicking wildly at the ball. She has a blast.  

Her playing reminds me that I was fortunate to play youth football between the ages of 8-14. I was too small to segue into organized high school sports, but the experience taught me the very things my daughter is learning now, lessons she can use throughout her life, including how to:

Play fair.

Be tough.

Be a team player.

Be a gracious loser – and learn you can’t win every time.

Be a gracious winner – and be sensitive to those who lose.

Try your best.

Listen to the coach.

Compete – because there are times in life when you must.

Reap the rewards of hard work from practice, practice, practice.

Love playing a game. 

I still remember playing football when I was about 12, scoring a touchdown on a kickoff return. I was the smallest guy on the team – but also nearly the fastest. The opposing coach pointed to me, yelling at his kicker loud enough for everyone to hear: “Kick it to 33!” I guess he thought small equals slow. The ball bounced one time in front of me before I grabbed it and ran about 70 yards untouched. Funny that I still remember it. 

I hope my daughter builds fond memories of playing sports, too.