Sportsmanship is conformance to the rules, spirit, and etiquette of sport. More grandly, it may be considered the ethos of sport. It is interesting that the motivation for sport is often an elusive element. Sportsmanship expresses an aspiration or ethos that the activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. Being a "good sport" involves being a "good winner" as well as being a "good loser".^[1]

Often the pressures of competition, individual achievement, or introduction of technology can seem to work against enjoyment by participants. As a result, sportsmanship may be contrasted with gamesmanship.

Sportsmanship typically is regarded as a component of morality in sport, composed of three related and perhaps overlapping concepts: fair play, sportsmanship, and character.^[2] Fair play refers to all participants having an equitable chance to pursue victory^[3] and acting toward others in an honest, straightforward, and a firm and dignified manner even when others do not play fairly. It includes respect for others including team members, opponents, and officials.^[4] Character refers to dispositions, values and habits that determine the way that person normally responds to desires, fears, challenges, opportunities, failures and successes and is typically seen in polite behaviors toward others such as helping an opponent up or shaking hands after a match. An individual is believed to have a “good character” when those dispositions and habits reflect core ethical values.

Sportsmanship can be conceptualized as an enduring and relatively stable characteristic or disposition such that individuals differ in the way they are generally expected to behave in sport situations. In general, sportsmanship refers to virtues such as fairness, self-control, courage and persistence^[2] and has been associated with interpersonal concepts of treating others and being treated fairly, maintaining self-control in dealing with others, and respect for both authority and opponents.

[edit] Poor sportsmanship

Poor sportsmanship may be exhibited by the winners "rubbing pudding in the noses" of the losers, or the losers expressing frustration at not winning, perhaps to the point of holding a grudge, booing the winner's national anthem (at an event such as the Olympics) or failing to congratulate the winners. On certain levels of sport, poor sportsmanship is punished. For example, in American football, a team can receive a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.^[5]

A competitor who exhibits poor sportsmanship after losing a game or contest is often called a "sore loser" (those who show poor sportsmanship after winning are typically called "bad winners"). Behavior includes blaming others, not taking responsibility for personal actions, reacting immaturely or improperly, making excuses for their loss, referring to unfavorable conditions or other petty issues. ^[6][7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

This article's external links may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

• AL Notebook, Torre: Rodriguez Was Wrong to Distract Fielder. The Washington Post, June 2, 2007, Page E06.
• ESPN.com [2]