If athletics is not about building character, why bother?

[soccerdad]

The Beautiful Game has had its beautiful weekend marred by fans who choose to be pigs. In addition, both baseball and football are scandalized by episodes of pedophilia and extreme rough sex. WTH?

I trust that my kids and grandkids learn lessons of both winning and losing, about tolerance (even for referees), about fairness and honesty, about often not being THE BEST when they participate in athletics.

Mexico fans forced the halting of a match TWICE with their homophobic chant. In both cases momentum was building for their team and they forced it to stop. Do they somehow think this makes them as fans or their team look good? Or have athletics in Mexico not built an ounce of character in anyone after all their investment in it? Is hate more important?

English soccer fans (some of them) are up in arms with their coach, but even more heinous they are verbally assaulting three players who did not convert their spot kicks after regulation time in the Euro Final.

Someone took time to build character in these three young men. Specifically:

• Marcus Rashford, who during the pandemic campaigned — and succeeded — in securing government-funded meals for children who otherwise wouldn’t have food to eat while not attending in-person schooling
  
  
• Jadon Sancho, who previously worked with sponsors to build new football fields in the underserved London borough from which he hails, so that children like him will have access to the sport
  
  
• Bukayo Saka, who at just 19 years old is growing into his role as a voice for youth football and helping local communities as well
  

I would have any of them in my organization anytime. The fans wetting their pants over this are not fit to tie their boots.

Was I raised in the wrong era? When character was valued? Is it now just about hate?

 

[Megary]

Fans and players have been behaving like this forever. This isn't anything new, its just more exposed nowadays. No generation has held a monopoly on decency or incivility.

Just my opinion.

 

[Donoroto]

There is a marked difference between amateur and professional sports. Or perhaps better said as child and adult sports.

Adults in sports are paid to entertain, and when they fail to, 'fans' feel entitled to be harshly critical. I agree that these people are NOT entitled to be mean, even cruel. But humans, despite some great redeeming qualities, can also be frighteningly evil. Especially as a crowd, or when feeling anonymous.

Being of Italian descent, I was both happy and sad to see England fail to win. But I will not gloat nor disparage: ALL if them played far better than I could.

I volunteer to mentor a local high school robotics team. These are smart kids who generally are not athletic, and so unlikely to learn the valuable life lessons from being on a sports team. Instead, we teach these lessons on a robotics team, and we are successful. This is what sports are about, and once players get to college, the message and goal changes, to the sport's detriment.

 

[soccerdad]

You are probably right. Right now I am blinded by the piggishness. It may be that not every British fan is a racist and that not every Mexican fan is homophobic, but it may be two or three weeks before I can see straight.

 

[SabreSteve]

Trying not to make this political (which it isn't to me, but some people like to make it that) but there has long been a toxic masculinity in sports and it's that the long overdue reckoning is happening now. Before anyone gets triggered by that I have no problem with men wanting to be masculine or women wanting to be feminine or anyone of any gender not wanting to conform to those norms. There's a difference though between real masculinity and the toxicity that has been in locker rooms forever. You can be tough and rugged and still be in touch with feelings and not be crazy sex-fueled maniacs. But fans have always been awful. I've seen documentaries and seen the stuff they used to put on posters and chanted at Georgetown and specifically Patrick Ewing. Ho-MO-sexual chants at Christian Laettner because he dared to have a close male friendship with a teammate. NHL fans chanting Cindy Crosby or calling Corey Perry "Katy". You just hear more about it now because of social media and because people are more sensitive to it and teams and leagues are finally taking action.

The NHL has only recently has had their culture publicly called into question.
Akim Aliu, a Nigerian born player from Canada came forward in 2019 saying that now former Calgary flames and at the time of the allegations Rockford (AHL) coach had been abusive (mainly verbally) that he thought was based on his race (did reportedly use the N word) and beyond that basically torpedoed his career by labeling him difficult and having him demoted to the ECHL despite producing pretty well at the AHL level. More recently the Blackhawks (whom I get into frequent debates on Twitter over their logo) are involved in a sex abuse scandal with a former assistant coach/scout that they're trying to claim they aren't responsible for. There's a lot of ugliness in sports but have to remember that sports are largely a microcosm of society as a whole. It might suck to see the ugliness but only when it's exposed can we try to address it.

 

[soccerdad]

And don't forget Steve, Nashie was a hoser, eh?

Do you remember that commercial?

But seriously don't forget, we come from a different sports culture. The place where Sabres fans chanted Bernie's name in the waning moments of the Sabres first SC final. The place where Daryl Talley was made solvent before there were go fund me pages. The place where Lamar Jackson's favorite charity got a quarter million dollar boost from WNY donors. Maybe that's what I am thinking is normal when it isn't.

 

[soccerdad]

And it's not politics. It's sportsmanship. It's respecting those who play the game you love.

 

[SabreSteve]

And it's not politics. It's sportsmanship. It's respecting those who play the game you love.

I meant the toxic masculinity part. That accounts for much of the hazing and bullying. The rest though is just good old fashioned racism, sexism and bigotry.
But so much of that is just part of the culture. The media even gets in on that. There was the time QB Jim Everett almost beat the crap out of Jim Rome on camera cause he kept calling him Chris after Chris Evert the women's tennis star. Rome has long since apologized and said he regrets that but like people didn't see anything wrong with that kinda stuff just 25-30 years ago. I think we're making progress, just maybe not as much as we'd like or as fast as we'd like sometimes.

And don't forget Steve, Nashie was hoser, eh?

Do you remember that commercial?

But seriously don't forget, we come from a different sports culture. The place where Sabres fans chanted Bernie's name in the waning moments of the Sabres first SC final. The place where Daryl Talley was made solvent before there were go fund me pages. The place where Lamar Jackson's favorite charity got a quarter million dollar boost from WNY donors. Maybe that's what I am thinking is normal when it isn't.

Buffalo fans are a different breed. Still not perfect but you know you've done right when the first reaction when someone slights your team or fanbase is to donate to a charity in their city