I read with interest somewhere that last Tuesday was National
Sportsmanship Day, as advanced by a group called the Institute for International
Sport, with an eye to “engaging athletes and other community
members in thoughtful discussions and well planned activities about
the concepts of sportsmanship and fair play.ot; This sounded like
an admirable idea, so I went ahead and did a little research on
this group and discovered that their goal is to “use sport and the
arts as mediums of peace.”
Peace and sportsmanship? Well, this sounded a
little too kumbayah for me, especially when I saw that they sponsor
an annual World Youth Peace Summit. It seems that sportsmanship has
gone the way of most other virtuous practices; either being
sloughed off as hopelessly out of date, or worse, underhandedly
used to promote ulterior motives.
So, as you encourage young Johnnie to dutifully give a
hearty three cheers and a warm handshake to his worthy opponent
after a game, you can also train him to become a “Peace Broker”
where he will take courses that will focus on “poverty, nuclear
proliferation and the environment.” The Marquess of Queensbury
would be proud.
Does true sportsmanship still have a place in America? Of
course it does; just don’t expect to see too much of it at the
professional level. But that’s not surprising since kids today
don’t have too many role models of fair play anywhere at the
national level. When their parents turn on the news at night, boys
and girls are bombarded by stories of folks elbowing their way to
the top and politicians who, when they don’t like the rules, pick
up their bat and ball and go home; or to Illinois.
And with a few exceptions, gone too are the days when the
Olympic Games were bastions of amateurism, sportsmanship, and fair
play. Take, for example, the Olympic Oath as sworn in 1920: “We
swear that we will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of
chivalry, for the honor of our country and for the glory of sport.”
Today’s
oath?
In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take
part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules
which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping
and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the
glory of sport and the honour of our teams.
As is true of most important things in modern life the
past few decades, we find that a notion like honoring one’s country
is considered hopelessly outdated, while a Christian ideal like
chivalry is, as they say, dead. And the deposit of these virtues
seems to find expression only in fantasy-type children’s movies
where, readily on display by lions and blue aliens, they are merely
to be ooh-ed and aah-ed at; not actually lived or
imitated.
By happy coincidence, the very week I chanced on
Sportsmanship Day, I happened to watch a movie wherein a true story
of the real thing was wonderfully on display. The folks over at IIS
could take a lesson from watching the splendid Oscar-winner,
Chariots of Fire; a mostly fact-based story of two
participants in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, and a banquet for
those who love inspiring films.
The film chronicles the preparation of two 100 metre
runners; one, Harold Abrahams, a hard-driven English Jew at
Cambridge and the other, Eric Liddell, a Scottish Christian
missionary. The film devotes much time to the anti-Semitism faced
by the former and the temptations of fame by the latter, which
culminates in a non-climax as the long awaited match-up of the two
never materializes, as Liddell refuses to run a qualifying race on
a Sunday.
Yet to me, its greatest attribute is in depicting the
genuine profundity of the characters; whether it be Abrahams’
classmates or the members of Liddell’s congregation. They lived in
a time when faith, patriotism and even love of sport were all lived
out in the day-to-day demonstration of their devotion. One wonders
where in the realm of modern high-level sports competition, might
be found a champion who would utter, as does the Liddell character:
“I believe God made me for a purpose…for China. But he also made
me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”
Today’s youths are so confused by mixed media messages and
modern watered-down notions of faith, patriotism, honor and fair
play, they would probably be confused by Liddell’s refusal to run
on the Sabbath, but would most certainly understand an oath
decrying doping and drugs. Maybe next year on Sportsmanship Day,
instead of holding peace marches, moms and dads might just rent a
copy of Chariots of Fire for the kiddies.
