Dishonesty in sports? What is acceptable?

[muck]

I understand that embellishment is, to some extent, a part of sports. I don't expect all sportsmen to play like golfers, although I must admit that I find it admirable that golfers police themselves. Think about it. You call a penalty on yourself and, as a result, lose a tournament and everything that goes with it. Can you imagine if in the World Series a batter with the basis loaded and the winning run at third corrects the umpire and tells him that he was not hit by the pitch?

 

But I suppose that there is a distiction between an individual sport and a team sport.

 

Sports encourage men to act dishonorably, which I don't think a good thing.

 

I imagine that you fathers face a quandry in this situation. I don't know what I'd tell my child if he/she asked me my opinion on the Jeter incident or something similar. "Gee Jimmy, sometimes its ok to be dishonest" or maybe "its not right to be dishonest, unless your playing sports." How else do you justify it to the kid? I think that saying that its just "part of the game" is a pretty facile way to deal with it.

 

Anyway, say what you will, Jeter acted in an undignified manner. (Like a chump.) So I'd say that it was "unacceptable."

 

+1

 

**************************************

 

As an aside, this really happened to me playing high school hoops:

 

A guy on my team made a pretty lousy pass in my diretion and a guy on the other team tipped it. I have NO idea if it hit him or me first, but I stepped out of bounds and looked at the ref like, "You going to hand that thing to me so I can inbounds it?" ... and he did and I did ...

 

And 20yrs later, I don't remember anything about the outcome of that trip down the court or the game, just that one inbounds play ... and I still don't know if I handled that honorably or not.

[Ursa Majoris]

But I suppose that there is a distiction between an individual sport and a team sport.

First time this important point has been raised.

[wiegie]

First time this important point has been raised.

The only reason the point would be important is if you are saying that it's ok to cheat if it helps not just you but the rest of your team as well. I say bullsh|t.

[Ursa Majoris]

The only reason the point would be important is if you are saying that it's ok to cheat if it helps not just you but the rest of your team as well. I say bullsh|t.

Not saying it's OK. Just wondering if it makes a difference "because everybody does it", which includes by inference one's own team.

[SayItAintSoJoe]

I understand that embellishment is, to some extent, a part of sports. I don't expect all sportsmen to play like golfers, although I must admit that I find it admirable that golfers police themselves. Think about it. You call a penalty on yourself and, as a result, lose a tournament and everything that goes with it. Can you imagine if in the World Series a batter with the basis loaded and the winning run at third corrects the umpire and tells him that he was not hit by the pitch?

 

But I suppose that there is a distiction between an individual sport and a team sport.

 

Sports encourage men to act dishonorably, which I don't think a good thing.

 

I imagine that you fathers face a quandry in this situation. I don't know what I'd tell my child if he/she asked me my opinion on the Jeter incident or something similar. "Gee Jimmy, sometimes its ok to be dishonest" or maybe "its not right to be dishonest, unless your playing sports." How else do you justify it to the kid? I think that saying that its just "part of the game" is a pretty facile way to deal with it.

 

Anyway, say what you will, Jeter acted in an undignified manner. (Like a chump.) So I'd say that it was "unacceptable."

 

What about when a child asks you about a base runner that is running to second and has been clearly called out by the ump but continues to try to basically roll into second in hopes of breaking up a double play? Or the base runner running from first to second on a ground ball and tries to block the fielder's view of the ball in hopes of making the fielder miss. Or the base runner on second stealing the catcher's signs to the pitcher and relaying the signs to the batter. The list goes on and on. And God forbid you should even try to explain to a child why a pitcher purposely hits a batter the inning after one of his teammates was hit by a pitch. Even though the batter that just got hit had nothing to do with the play that started the ruckus. Hell I'm still trying to figure out the logic behind that one. Then again I'm still trying to figure out the choices in this poll.

[Jackass]

The only reason the point would be important is if you are saying that it's ok to cheat if it helps not just you but the rest of your team as well. I say bullsh|t.

 

It's not cheating. it's part of the game.

 

What about when a coach or player gets on a ref for calls that he knows are correct in an effort to win favorable calls in the future. Is that cheating?

 

It's not as black and white as you're trying to make it out to be/

[Clubfoothead]

Dishonest and acceptable. My Dad is as old-school baseball as it can get. I was raised that on any inside pitch close enough, act like it hit you. This comes from the man who caught me stealing at age 13, made me take the money back and I've been employed ever since for the most part. You'd have to ask my Dad what's the difference. Good enough for him, good enough for me.