The Sportsmanship Dilemma

The sports world is in a tizzy today, as only it can be, thanks to the antics of one Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees.

Last night, during a game against their division rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays, Jeter feigned being hit by a pitch that had run up inside on his hands.  He had managed to turn away just in time from the pitch but the ball struck the nub of the bat.  As he turned away and let his arm go limp, the umpire, who apparently had not gotten a good look at the play, awarded Jeter first base.

Jeter milked the incident for a while to ensure that he wasn’t making the umpire look like a chump right away, but admitted after the contest that the ball was nowhere near his arm or hand and that he had clearly gotten away with one.

Upon hearing of the incident, I immediately thought of a good friend of mine who loves baseball and has an encyclopaedic mind for stats and figures at it relates to “America’s Pastime”.  I thought of him for a couple of reasons. 

1)      His hatred of Derek Jeter.  Hatred may be a strong word, however I can absolutely state that he believes Jeter to be the single most over-rated player in the game today.  And he has the stats to back up his argument.

2)      His love of Wrestling. 

Now the second factor that brings him to mind is a little more abstract, but I will try to bring it all together.

 First of all, Wrestling is all about “selling”.  95 per cent of everything a wrestler does in the ring LOOKS like it would cause irreparable damage to a human body, even though the LAST thing a wrestler wants to do to his opponent, is hurt him/her.   So they complete these moves, and the person on the receiving end’s job is to make these intricate manoeuvres look painful.  The better the sell, the more the audience enjoys the display. (Some things don’t take much acting to sell as painful.  People that call wrestling “fake” clearly don’t know what it is like to be hit in the head with a steel chair.  But I digress)

My friend also loved to remind me of what could be one of my favourite quotes made by a “heel” (bad guy) wrestler back in the 80’s.  Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, wrestled in the WWF back in the day as Jesse “The Body” Ventura.  He was a very flamboyant character who did a marvellous job of getting the crowd to hate him.  One of his favourite slogans during his time in front of the camera was “WIN IF YOU CAN, LOSE IF YOU MUST, BUT ALWAYS CHEAT!”

How apropos that this quote from a “villain” in the wrestling world would relate directly to a man that my friend hates.

But the question is... Did Jeter “cheat”?

What happened last night during the ballgame is not like a wrestler who might use a foreign object to knock out an opponent for the victory.  It was more like the equivalent of giving an opponent a thumb in the eye when the ref isn’t looking.   It didn’t win the ball game, but it certainly wasn’t very sportsmanlike either.

We see this all the time in sports, whether it is a wide receiver falling at the end of a route to try and draw a pass interference call on the defensive back, or it’s a striker falling just as he is challenged by a defender as he tries to score in the 18 yard box in football (I call it football... DEAL WITH IT).  Players are always looking for a little advantage to win the game.  The public and sports media have come to accept this behaviour.  In fact, for most it is almost EXCPECTED. The manager of the Tampa Bay Rays said he would have applauded his own players to attempt such shenanigans and had absolutely no trouble with Jeter’s display.  I’ve heard one quote which said “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’” (Leave it to sports media/athletes to murder the English language like this)

I,however, am disappointed.

I don’t like the trend of sportsmanship, being replaced by gamesmanship.  The “anything to win” attitude we see nowadays bothers me.  Isn’t this act of “cheating” an admission that you as a player just aren’t good enough to get the job done on your talent alone?  Sure Jeter got to take first base on the HBP (Hit by Pitch), but wouldn’t it have been better for the Yankees had he just taken the foul ball, stood in for the next pitch, and “gone yard” for the home run?  Isn’t that a greater display of your prowess as a ball player, then meekly walking to first base on a play that the WHOLE WORLD knows you didn’t deserve thanks to instant replay?

I just think that it is a sad statement of character when players trade in their integrity, for even the slightest of advantages in an effort to win.

I guess that is why I was always a bigger fan of the “babyface” (good guy) in wrestling.