In Sports, as in Life

During the Espys last night, High School football coach Ed Thomas' family was honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. During the video presentation, a quote by Ed Thomas was shown.

"If all I have taught you was to block and tackle, then I have failed you as a coach."

Despite the fact an ex-player was convicted of murdering the coach, those words are something I wish more high school coaches believed in. Something more college coaches thought was important. Something even professional organizations prized more than championships and money. Lately, we hear continuous talk of the various shenanigans professional athletes get into, some of which turn into acts more sinister and illegal. The sense of entitlement which comes with being a professional athlete today is overpowering the common sense, and perhaps the lessons they were taught from the time they learned to play the game. Honestly, if more players were to go back to their roots; to the place where they first learned to love the game, we might not have hour long ESPN specials to tell us where Lebron James was going to play basketball next year. We might not have Pacman Jones making it rain in a Las Vegas strip club. Rae Carruth's girlfriend might still be alive. Obviously, there are going to be bad apples in every bunch of fruit, whether it's football players, basketball players, hockey players, or whether it's Joe Schmoe down the street. Everyday there are cases of the average Joe getting in trouble with the law. What makes it worse as an athlete, is the attention given before, during, and after something bad happens. These players aren't always being punished the same way the average citizen would be punished for the same crime. We, as a society, elevate these men and women to a position above ourselves, because of their abilities. Unfortunately, some of these people don't believe the rules we all are bidden to follow apply to them. If more players absorbed not just the lessons of the game, but the life lessons as well, and applied the discipline they use to be elite at their sport to their entire lives, we might not have the Ben Roethlisberger spectacle. Kobe might not have been in the hotel room. I don't mean to get up on the soap box against the evils of professional sports. I guess my point is this: in sports, as in life, we are all held to a standard. Sports do not supersede our responsibilities as humans. Ed Thomas tried to impart something a little more important than how to block and tackle to his players. He asked that you choose to live right and be your best everyday, both on the field and off the field. Every player of every sport should heed his legacy.