Forest Wells - Author
  • Home
  • Novels
    • LunaTheLoneWolf
    • BloodofanAlpha
    • FogofWar
  • Shorter Works
  • Appearances
  • Author
    • Not my wolf
  • Contact
  • Newsletter

Friendly Sportsmanship

2/21/2014

3 Comments

 
Picture
Five skaters remain for the women's free dance.  Two Americans, a Russian who's never won gold, a South Korean often called "The Queen" for her dominance, and an Italian whose country has never won a medal before in the event.  The Russian takes a commanding lead, then come the Americans.  Both are smooth, elegant, and amazing to watch.  Yet both falter, and in an instant you know.  They won't medal.  The comes the South Korean.  She too skates wonderfully, spectacular even.  But is it enough?  Everyone waits on pins a needles.  The Russian watches back-stage to see the final score.  An eerie silence falls over the crowd.

It's not enough.  Silver for South Korea.  Italy holds on for bronze.

The roof blows as the home crowd celebrates the victory.  The Russian skater sprints through the halls to find her coaches and support team to do the same.

And I have a hard time not being happy for them.

Isn't that what sports should be?  What the Olypmics were created for?  Sure, we will cheer for, and hope for, success for our country.  But when they don't, can we not still take joy in a young woman who just won her first ever gold?  For the Italian, who just got the first medal ever in that event for her country?

Announcers often talk about the fraternity of sports.  When an NFL player suffers a serious injury, the players might as well have merged into one team while he's tended to.  Both sides will form a circle to pray for the injured man to be well.  So too in the Olympics, do we see so many with differing views cheering on others not of their nationality.

I can't help remembering a prime example of this back in December.  The final home game for the San Diego Chargers.  It was hard fought, physical, even controversial, but the Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs to sneak into the playoffs.  Then, as I'm in line for the bathroom afterward, I turn to a Chiefs fan, a bitter division rival.  I extend a hand and honestly say, "Good luck in Indy."  He takes it warmly, offers a friendly shake and smile.  "Good luck in Cincy."

For reference, by then we already knew that the Chiefs would go on to face the Indianapolis (Indy) Colts in the playoffs, while the Chargers would play the Cincinnati (Cincy) Bengals.

This is true sportsmanship, and what we see in the Olympics.  I promise you, not everyone cheering for the Russian, South Korean, or the Italian, were from any of those countries.  The applause after an impressive jump, or the groan after a painful fall, is not heard from only their countrymen.  All who watch that event are fans of the game, and share the highs and lows of it.  They won't cheer as loud as they would for their team, and that's fine.  It's even expected.  Yet they'll still give a standing ovation when a skater absolutely nails a routine.  They'll still offer a prayer when one doesn't get up after a fall.  I've even seen the athletes sharing in each other's success, or pain, during a competition.  On the ski slopes, you often find the leaders talking away between runs, even goofing off now and then like they were best buddies.

Their countries may not be allies.  They may even be at war.  But for one day, they share the joy of a sport they love, win lose or draw.  With any luck at all, they'll also part ways with a warm handshake and smile, and one will say, "Good luck next time."

And the other will respond, "You too."

3 Comments
Ann Wells
2/23/2014 05:24:28 pm

We have an excellent example of that at GAM, our annual Mariner Girl Scout Competition. I guess you could say we have one "ship" that qualifies as our main rival at the competition, though there are several ships there capable of giving us a run for our money. For three years we came close to beating them. Last year we won! The two ships have become good friends in large part because of the respect we have for each other's skills, but also because of who they are as individuals.

Going back through pictures for a recent Expo I found two mirror images. In 2012 one of our girls is giving their rival a huge congratulatory hug. In 2013 one of their girls is giving our girl that same hug. The cool thing is that it was so spontaneous and genuine.

M.S.S. Conchilla salutes M.S.S. Horizons, and all of the Mariner ships that manage to give it their all while cheering their competition as they give their all, too.

Great blog, Forest.

Reply
Jenny Sturgill
3/2/2014 07:26:17 am

Enjoyed this great blog. Keep on writing!

Reply
Kylie link
3/8/2021 10:02:21 pm

Hi nice reading yoour blog

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    "Be You"

    "Let your words be eternal yet time honored.  True yet not betraying.  Strong yet uplifting.  Challenging yet harmless.  But above all, let all you say, do, and be, remain forever and exclusively you."
    - Forest Wells

    A blessing, and perhaps a personal hope, for this blog and so much more.


    REMINDER: Blog is now on Wordpress. You can find it via the link below.
    https://forestwells.wordpress.com/2018/06/26/coming-soon-impressions/

    Archives

    June 2018
    December 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    Writer's Life

    Subscription Service not working properly.  I am working to fix it.  I apologize for any inconvenience.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from graffiti.freiburg, VinothChandar, ZeroOne, Muffet, markhillary, Editor B, Kool Cats Photography over 2 Million Views, Jeanne Masar, marcusrg, soundfromwayout, quietlyurban.com, The_JIFF, Ashley Campbell Photography, Will Folsom, D.B. Blas, Doug Kline, Rob Marson, celesteh, rocksss, ✖ Daniel Rehn, Amy Aletheia Cahill, Pink Sherbet Photography, One Way Stock, APB Photography™, *~Dawn~*, fdecomite, Jade♥