 |
| courtesy of Pixabay CC0 Public Domain |
These days it appears good sportsmanship is in short supply
among professional athletes. Several members of the French National Football
Team demonstrated this in reprehensible fashion at the medals presentation
following their loss to Portugal in the Euro Cup final. According to the story
in Sporting News, “…it was appalling
to see several of the French players refusing to allow tournament officials to
drape silver medals around their necks during the championship ceremony…”[i]
Another of the players “…pulled his off immediately after it was placed, as if
he’d somehow been faked out into accepting it in the first place.”[ii]
Had there been some question about the legitimacy of Portugal’s
1-0 victory in the final game of the Euro Cup tournament there might have been
some, however flimsy, justification for the players to behave in so despicable
a manner. The fact is, both casual fans of the game of football like myself,
and expert commentators who include former world class players, agree that
Portugal’s victory was well and fairly earned.
If either team had a right to call foul in the game, it was more
Portugal than France, considering the injury to Cristiano Renaldo caused by
Dimitri Payet in a challenge that probably should have been called a foul but
wasn’t.[iii]
As we say here in the States, it was a hometown call, or no-call, by the
officials.
Most of the French players did accept their silver medals with
dignity, if with tears of regret over the loss. Cynics and those with a
winning-isn’t-everything-it’s-the-only-thing mentality will say that the silver
medal means that you are the first among losers. This is a very poor lesson to
teach our children. In the Euro Cup this year, only 24 out of 54 national teams
that vied for a place in the tournament made it in. Of those 24, only one could
be crowned Champion and take home the gold. In earning the silver, France
outdid 52 other teams. While not the result they hoped for, and while it is
understandable they aren’t in a celebratory mood, they can still hold their
heads high.
I hope the example of the French players who accepted their
silver medals with dignity and honor is the example that will be followed by
the young fans of the game when their turn comes if they should find themselves
recipients of the silver instead of the gold medal.
When the athletes take to
the podium at this summer’s Olympic Games, may they celebrate their victories
with dignity and class, and may the silver and bronze medalists accept their
awards with grace; all of them keeping in mind how the world, including our
children, is watching them and, whether the athletes want to be or not, how
they are role models who set the example of what good sportsmanship is and how
it is practiced.
As always, I remain,
The Exhausted Educator
[i] http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/uefa-euro-2016/french-players-behavior-in-defeat-was-worse-than-effort-in-final/ar-BBua9ZG?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
[ii]
ibid
[iii]
ibid
No comments:
Post a Comment