Monday, May 27, 2013

Tunneyside of Sports


 

Tunney Side of Sports
 
 
 
 Up Next..."While you were sleeping..."
May 27, 2013 #438
 
 
On the TUNNEYSIDE of SPORTS May 27, 2013 #438 Up next..."While you were sleeping..."
After further review... Thomas L. Friedman, a three-time Pulitzer prize winner and New York Times columnist, wrote in his best-selling book "The World Is Flat, 3.0" that America essentially was "sleeping" when it failed to understand the impact of emerging globalization. In essence Friedman was asserting that we Americans thought we "had it all" and thus became complacent with our status quo.
A similar scenario is happening in the world of sports. A recent episode on HBO's award-winning "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" highlighted violent attacks that have been occurring against sports officials in a number of settings. We officials have foreseen such events for decades, while the public in general has been dozing on the issue. "Unsportsmanlike Conduct" focused on the death of 46-year old Ricardo Portillo, a soccer referee. Portillo yellow-carded a 17-year-old player who then, in a fit of anger, punched the referee in the head. Portillo fell to the ground unconscious, later lapsed into a coma, and died.
Violence against authority has been escalating for decades, yet we as a society have consistently ignored it. "Kill the umpire!" is an old time ball park refrain, originally intended to get the message across but would stop short of the actual crime. It was a common expression that caused more chuckles than missed heartbeats. Nor any more! In fact, from this point of view, it never was funny. Disregard for authority seems to have mushroomed as the "me-first" attitude has dug into our culture. But while we all want maximum freedom, we must also accept the responsibility that accompanies it. Violence is often born in the disconnection between these two principles. Should teachers fear repercussions for insisting on "law and order" in the classroom and school grounds? Can students overcome the atmosphere of homes with poor character guidance?
In the "Real Sports" story National Association of Sports Officials (www.naso.com) president Barry Mano stated "Sports is life with the volume turned up". It seems here that the proper place to begin turning this phenomenon around is in everyday life--our individual corners of the world. We cannot expect our young athletes to display proper behavior when their sports idols do not show exemplary behavior, or when they see supposedly responsible adults challenging authority at every whim.
Will you as a parent, teacher or coach set a proper behavior pattern for our young to follow?
To contact Jim go to www.jimtunney.com or email him at jim@jimtunney.com.
 
 

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