Putting the Sportsmanship Back into Sports

The worst exhibit of bad sportsmanship I ever witnessed at a professional event was Yankees fans — at a World Series game at Shea Stadium — pouring beer on a mother and daughter sitting in a lower level, for the “crime” of rooting for their home team. The offenders were ejected, but there were people present who cheered for them. In a perfect world, enough security would have been present to forcibly send them all home.

During my son’s recent season of fall baseball, his team won a game when the umpire felt menaced by parents on the opposing team and forfeited them. This was in response to an incident of misplaced exuberance by a 10-year-old player attempting to moonwalk to home base after hitting a home run.

I shouted at the kid (on our team) to stop what he was doing, but it was too late. The other team’s coach, as well as several other parents, went ballistic. Their group surrounded the umpire, although it was unclear what outcome they hoped to achieve. Did they want the player disciplined or removed from the game? Our coaching staff coalesced near the dugout, cautioning a group of 10- and 11-year-olds who were both confused and scared by this immature reaction to a, well, immature act of adolescence.

It was the second time in three games that adults jeopardized their children’s enjoyment of youth sports. A few weeks…