Where have all the champions gone?

By Tina Ray
Paraglide



May 12, 2011

I may be dating myself here, but I’m a child of the 70s. Those were the days when televisions only had three networks — CBS, NBC and ABC. There was no TruTV, CNN, HLN, OWN or any other acronyms.

Back then, programming stopped at midnight. The national anthem would blast across the screen and then it would fade to a scriggly gray. So, even if I woke up in the middle of the night, all I could pretty much do was go back to sleep and wait to watch the next day’s programming over a bowl of Corn Flakes.

Not today.

Just this morning, I turned on the TV after awaking from a dream about snakes at about 3 a.m. I blame it on having seen the ABC news story about the danger of water snakes with the Mississippi River flooding. Thanks Diane Sawyer.

Anyway, there were a couple of basketball games on last night, as well.

I chose not to watch them. Instead, I allowed my brother who is visiting from out of town to update me. He told me that Oklahoma City and the Memphis Grizzlies game went into triple overtime, and that Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics.

While Oklahoma City won their game 133-123 and Miami coasted to a 98-90 victory over the Celtics, I had had my fill of basketball Sunday.

I watched the Los Angeles Lakers get swept by the Dallas Mavericks in four games, losing the Western Conference semifinals 122-86.

I could stomach the loss just fine because no team wins every game.

What I couldn’t stomach was the poor sportsmanship that was on display during the game.
Two Lakers players were ejected from the game in the fourth quarter for flagrant fouls.
In case anyone is curious about what a flagrant foul is, it very simply is something that should not happen.

It is a foul that involves unneccesary or excessive contact. In layman’s terms, a flagrant foul could look like a punch that should be thrown during a boxing match or a tackle that should take place during a football game. It looks as out of place on a basketball court as the return of players short shorts worn in the 70s. Flagrant fouls are so serious that the NBA penalizes players for throwing them.

Lakers forward Lamar Odom was called for a flagrant for blindsiding Mavericks player, Dirk Nowitzki. As if that wasn’t foul enough, all pun intended, Odom’s teammate, Andrew Bynum was also called for a flagrant foul for elbowing J. J. Barea in the ribs as he was driving the lane.
Both Odom and Barea were ejected from the game.

The Lakers did not lose with grace.

DeShawn Stevenson, the Mavericks shooting guard, said in an interview with ESPN Los Angeles, “They were disrespectful fouls, but it just showed their character.”

I watched the game with my sons and other Family members. I was hardpressed to explain to my boys that there is no place in sports for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Like parents often do, I harkened back to the days of my youth. I reminded them that when I was growing up, I watched guys like Dr. J., Pistol Pete Maravich and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar own the baskeball court. I watched guys like Mean Joe Greene, Lynn Swann, and Terry Bradshaw tear up the field in football. They all won and lost like champions.

By the 80s, I had seen players like Joe Montana, Magic Johnson, Walter Peyton, John Stockton, Jerry Rice and of course, Michael Jordan come along. They played the game like champions. They won and lost with dignity.

It’s hard to know when conduct unbecoming made its way into sports, but the sooner it makes an early exit, the better the game will be and the better for the viewing public.

Sooner or later, the pros will begin paying, not just with their wallets, but also with lost viewers who are turned off by their despicable conduct and who turn the channel to other programming, preferring instead to get highlights from relatives, to read the local sports section or to watch Sports Center.

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