Lessons in sportsmanship

[BobInMadison]

I doubt I am the only one who watched, with disgust, the antics during the AFC playoff game Pitt at Cincy. Truly bad sportsmanship by players on both sides, Pitt coaches and the Cincy fans. At one point in the game I wondered if the refs were going to call the game a forfeit due to stuff being thrown on the field.

What we can do as parents (and for those of you who are coaches, as coaches) is to use this game as an example as to why good sportsmanship is important. Bad sportsmanship by the Steelers led to enough penalties to keep the game within reach. Bad sportsmanship by the fans could've led to a forfeit. Bad sportsmanship by the Bengals gave the game back to the Steelers. I had no dog in this fight. I wanted to see a good game, and I did see one of the greatest TD catches of all time. Which may be forgotten in the mess.

Today I will have talks with my kids who still play sports about sportsmanship. I will remind them of times when I was proud of their sportsmanship and use the NFL game as a teaching moment.

 

[quincy]

IDK

I think this comes from the parents more than the coaches, other players or watching games. DD will follow DW and my lead.

 

[BobInMadison]

I remember something I said to DS a few years back that really made an impression. Your opponent is someone who would be your teammate if you lived someplace else.

 

[quincy]

Same with football is DD has some history with some of the players that she plays against both on and off the field. If she wants to totally ignore them I am fine with that as long as it is the exception and not the rule. I don’t even need to hear the story.

 

[grcsftbll]

IDK

I think this comes from the parents more than the coaches, other players or watching games. DD will follow DW and my lead.

I think this depends on personality and age a lot of the time.

 

[Momo'sDad]

"You can win with 1 thug on your defense, but you cannot win with 2."

Poor game management aside, Cincy still has a very real chance to advance if they just continue playing straight up. The penalty for headhunting came as a result of playing dirty, not hard. And even then, you've still got a shot. Yes, Chris Boswell was 2-for-2 from 50+ on the season, but the playoffs bring an added pressure that cannot be duplicated in Week 6. But no, Adam Pacman Jones feels "dissed" and decides he's going to go all "thug life" and show them who's boss. He seemed to have forgotten that he's receiving the paychecks, not *writing* them.

Check your selfish fool attitude at the door, Mr. Jones. I don't care if you feel a certain mentality helped save your life when you were a teenager on the mean streets of Atlanta. You're now working in a professional environment and the workplace is where you earn your living. And when you put on that uniform, you're expected to conduct yourself as a professional. You're LUCKY to have a job in the NFL as it is. When you got cut by the Cowboys, the only teams interested in you were in Canada. By grace and grace alone, Marv Lewis gave you a shot to come in and earn a job - which you did - so long as you kept your nose clean which, for the most part, you've done since arriving there. But by defaulting back to the Atlanta-Vegas "Pacman", you end up making your coach look like the fool for ever having trusted you in the first place.

Maybe I'm going a bit far, but damnit, that's just how I feel. You DO owe someone something when they've gone so far out on a limb to give you an opportunity that so few others even had. Coach Lewis was definitely more of a father to you than anyone else you had in your life. You're 32 years old now. I don't know if you've ever looked around, but there aren't very many 32-year-old DBs in the NFL. And those who do last that long are typically smart football guys. It's time for you to become a man and you're probably going to have to prove to someone that you are if you ever want to play in a Bengals uniform ever again.

 

[BobInMadison]

I remember one time I read a thread on DFP about how college coaches look at the way players conduct themselves. I had a heart to heart talk with DD 3 after that. Not a rough one, since not long before two TB teams were practicing together, and the coaches for the other team had coached her thrice in rec ball. One of the coaches stopped practice to point DD 3 out as an example as to how to conduct oneself during practice. During the heart to heart talk, DD 3 realized she often forgot to thank her coaches after practice. Since then she is much better.

I think the lesson is, we can always do better, and when we see this sort of behavior from professionals, we need to make sure we let the kids know this is NOT okay.

 

[MTR]

I think the lesson is, we can always do better, and when we see this sort of behavior from professionals, we need to make sure we let the kids know this is NOT okay.

Couldn't agree more. Problem is at the professional level of any sport, the officials ARE NOT supported by the management to take care of this business on the field as it should be. Nor does management have the courage to do anything that will be an issue with the union or the financial penalties a forfeit may cause. They will never rule against their investment.

Want to stop this at the pro and college level, forfeit a game due to unsportsmanlike conduct and watch everything hit the fan

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

"You can win with 1 thug on your defense, but you cannot win with 2."

Poor game management aside, Cincy still has a very real chance to advance if they just continue playing straight up. The penalty for headhunting came as a result of playing dirty, not hard. And even then, you've still got a shot. Yes, Chris Boswell was 2-for-2 from 50+ on the season, but the playoffs bring an added pressure that cannot be duplicated in Week 6. But no, Adam Pacman Jones feels "dissed" and decides he's going to go all "thug life" and show them who's boss. He seemed to have forgotten that he's receiving the paychecks, not *writing* them.

Check your selfish fool attitude at the door, Mr. Jones. I don't care if you feel a certain mentality helped save your life when you were a teenager on the mean streets of Atlanta. You're now working in a professional environment and the workplace is where you earn your living. And when you put on that uniform, you're expected to conduct yourself as a professional. You're LUCKY to have a job in the NFL as it is. When you got cut by the Cowboys, the only teams interested in you were in Canada. By grace and grace alone, Marv Lewis gave you a shot to come in and earn a job - which you did - so long as you kept your nose clean which, for the most part, you've done since arriving there. But by defaulting back to the Atlanta-Vegas "Pacman", you end up making your coach look like the fool for ever having trusted you in the first place.

Maybe I'm going a bit far, but damnit, that's just how I feel. You DO owe someone something when they've gone so far out on a limb to give you an opportunity that so few others even had. Coach Lewis was definitely more of a father to you than anyone else you had in your life. You're 32 years old now. I don't know if you've ever looked around, but there aren't very many 32-year-old DBs in the NFL. And those who do last that long are typically smart football guys. It's time for you to become a man and you're probably going to have to prove to someone that you are if you ever want to play in a Bengals uniform ever again.

It was Burfict with the hit on Brown, not Jones. Jones was flagged because the Steeler coach was illegally on the field talking trash after the Burfict hit, and Jones reacted (and I'm still not sure exactly what he did; some said he pushed the coach or touched a ref, but I haven't seen video of either of those things). Both teams should have been flagged for that one.

Just want to make sure your ire is directed at the correct felon...

 

[Momo'sDad]

Just want to make sure your ire is directed at the correct felon...

Oh, I wasn't mistaken. At age 25, Burfict still gets the "idiot kid" pass. His selfish style of play on that final drive hurt his team, but it was Jones' behavior during the ensuing on-field gathering that was the kill shot. In the case of Vontaze Burfict, he's got a long-standing reputation for hitting HARD, and he's definitely been guilty of dirty play during his career, but he doesn't have nearly the volume of off-field baggage that Jones does, baggage that more than justifies the amount of scrutiny he receives.

Jones feels that he was justified in going after the Steeler coach, Joey Porter, because Porter "should not have been out there". Well, it's Jones' job to self-regulate, but he does not get paid to officiate the game. If he stays in his lane and gets himself (and Burfict, perhaps) away from the officials so that they can discuss whatever they need to, Pittsburgh is forced to make a 50-yarder instead of that virtual chip shot.