General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Bullied Teen Lands In Hospital After Being Beaten, School Presses Charges – Against Bullied Teen [View all]markpkessinger
(8,930 posts). . . and no doubt some actually manage to do it. But to pretend that the overriding ethic of team sports in this country is anything other than one of "win at all costs" is to delude oneself, notwithstanding an exceptional coach here or there. For example, when a university with a strong history in a given sport fires a coach after a run of bad seasons for the university's team, what kind of message does that send to players and fans about the value of sportsmanship? For that matter, what kind of message does it send when a school district will spend money lavishly on a winning high school football team, which might have a roster of 50 or 60 kids, of which only about half will see significant time on the playing field, while leaving the high school band, in which alll members participate fully, minimally funded -- what kind of message about 'sportsmanship' does that send? Or the tendency of many coaches to give most of the playing time to their star players, thus affording little opportunity for some of the lesser talents to develop their skills? Sorry, but I think the rather quaint notion of 'sportsmanshiop' you refer to is by far more the exception than the rule in this country.