December 2, 2009
Definition Essay
What exactly is sportsmanship? Well it can range into different things such as fair play, not getting mad because you lost the game, or just having a good spirit about the game in general. To me sportsmanship is not just one of these by itself, but is all of them; it is the way u conduct yourself during a game and afterwards. Good sportsmanship is sometimes hard to come by, just because of the fact u will more than likely have those few people on your team that will always be quick to get an attitude about losing the game or just didn’t come into the game expecting to win, so he/she brought the spirit of the team down. Yet there is always a few people on the team with good sportsmanship qualities and depending on their respect level from his/her teammates they might be able to bring the spirit back up and just encourage the team as they were going through the game, even if they were behind in the game. The famous coach Ara Parashegian once said “A good coach will …show more content…
make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.” Michael Jordan also said “I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Good sportsmanship shouldn’t just happen through the players, but should also be between the cheerleaders, fans, coaches, and parents.
I say this because sportsmanship is an attitude, and it can have a positive influence on everyone around you. Taunting, trash-talking, gloating, and cheap shots have become all too common in sports, but the players aren’t the only ones doing this. The fans are now getting in with the action also. There have plenty of fights in the stands between different team fans because what the home team fan said about the away team. Some people should practice good sportsmanship. How can you do that? Well you can practice good sportsmanship by acting in a nice manor towards everyone before, during, and after the game. You can also practice good sportsmanship by avoiding disputes with violence, acknowledge ALL good plays by applauding them, and just by being graceful at the calls the officials call, even the bad
ones. When you have good sportsmanship, you will be able to tell because it will be with you not only on the field, but off the field also. At school, for example, you're able to appreciate the different decisions made by classmates and know how to work as part of a team to complete a project. You may also endure more success at work as well, because a big part of learning good sportsmanship is learning to be respectful to everyone, including customers and coworkers. So we can all say that sportsmanship can really impact your life when you really know what it is and use it in the way that it is suppose to be used.