I had a bit of a paradoxical weekend. Let me start with the last part first. I'm not a huge NBA fan, but on Sportscenter this morning, they had a clip of Rajon Rondo dislocating his elbow, and then coming back later in the game, essentially playing with one good arm, but still playing and motivating his team with his determination. They then showed various clips from history - Willis Reed playing in a Game 7 with a torn thigh muscle, Jack Youngblood playing with a broken leg in a championship game, Emmit Smith playing in a championship game with a dislocated shoulder, Kirk Gibson hitting a game winning home run on one leg. I've actually used the Willis Reed clip to motivate my son to come back from an injury for a big game.
For the most part, we shouldn't view professional athletes as our heroes. They are human, and they have flaws just like all of us do. We should be looking to our family, teachers, coaches, ministers, and those close to us as our heroes. Still, those events noted above are heroic efforts that are etched in our memories and should be viewed as heroic efforts.
Which brings me to the beginning of the weekend, our high school soccer playoff game. Hebron Christian Academy was playing in the quarterfinals against Pace Academy. Pace was ranked number 2 in the state, and were a very good team. What was so troubling was that so many of the Pace players resorted to diving during the game. For those that aren't familiar with soccer, diving is a technique to pretend you are fouled by the opponent by falling down, when in reality, you weren't fouled. If you can get the call from the referee, you get a free kick and an advantage. This has grown in popularity since it works so well in World Cup and other professional soccer venues.
On one hand, it becomes painfully obvious why soccer has never really caught on in America, and most likely never will. While it is a great sport and very popular with kids, we prefer our athletes to display heroic acts, like Jack Youngblood, Kirk Gibson, or Willis Reed. While I'm sure there have been many great soccer players, like John Terry or Franz Beckenbauer, who have done heroic things on the field, too often what kids see are the players who feign injuries, or act like they've been fouled, when in reality, they weren't. It's not something we should be holding up as an ideal for our kids to be shooting for.
On the other hand, I have a far greater concern for our children as we move forward. What are we teaching them? I've always told my sons, if I ever see you take a dive on the field, if your coach doesn't pull you off the field, I will. Diving is cheating, it's dishonorable, it's unethical. While some kids may come upon this naturally by imitation by watching professional soccer, when a team does it consistently, it is obvious that it is being coached and encouraged. Coaches are also teachers and leaders of our children, so what are we teaching them to do? What are we telling them is appropriate? When you get to college, if you can cheat on one of your exams, and get an A, that's OK. As long as you don't get caught. When you get into the work world, if you can take credit for another colleague's work, but not get caught, that's OK. Winning is all that matters, at any cost.
I'm very thankful that each of the coaches my sons have had in their lives have encouraged them to play hard, but play within the rules of the game. I wouldn't have it any other way. I would encourage those coaches out there that advocate winning at all cost, who advocate diving or other unethical methods to winning, to look in the mirror and consider what their role is in our children's lives. Do you want to develop the next Thurgood Marshall or Albert Schweitzer or do you want to develop the next Bernard Madoff or Kenneth Lay? My sons still talk about coaches they had 5-10 years ago with fondness and admiration because of what they taught them. Dave Dickerson, Franklin Lawson, Colin Hutton, Bob Gardner and Henry Hardin will be some of the names etched in my sons' memories for what they taught them, which was play hard, play as a team, play to win, but always play fair and within the rules.
In the end, we learn so much, no matter what the lesson is. In this case, we learned that winning really doesn't matter nearly as much as losing with dignity and with class. Just as the coaches need to be able to look at themselves in the mirror, the players need to be able to look at themselves in the mirror. While as spectators we can guess at the motives for a dive, only the player himself knows his own motives. Except for God of course, who knows all of our motives, but then again, that's a whole different story. At the end of the day, we all need to be able to look in the mirror and feel good about what we see. I can't imagine that winning at all costs would provide a pleasant picture looking back at me.
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