It's OK To Say Sorry ... Even In Sports
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Roger Grossman, Lake City Radio-
One of those is telling the truth.
Most parents tell their kids (and some actually mean it) that if they make a mistake and tell the truth about it, the punishment will be lessened or will disappear.
It's sort of like pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
Sports mirrors society in many ways, and we have lost the skill of saying “I'm sorry.” Well, maybe we just dropped it or we buried it in the back yard, but we don't do it anymore. And when we do, we don't do it well.
Sports, being a competition and all, means doing everything you can to beat your opponent. Sometimes that means you cross the line of fairness in the spirit of winning.
It’s wrong, but it happens.
When it does, the response should be very simple ... say you’re sorry. Let's look back on history and see how this has played out in a few cases:
• Former Yankee Andy Pettitte, who got lumped into the steroids saga because of his friendship with teammate Roger Clemens, admitted in 2007 that he used HGH to recover from an elbow problem in 2002. Fan reaction was very favorable and Pettitte retired as a beloved Yankee. Clemens still holds firm that he did nothing wrong, and has disappeared off the public landscape.
• Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hit leader, spent 30 years denying that he bet on baseball while managing the Reds and therefore should be allowed into the Hall of Fame. Only while pitching a book about his life and career did he admit that he bet on baseball. Now, many believe, he will only be allowed to be voted into the Hall after his death. If he would have come clean sooner, don't you think baseball would have softened the blow and let its hit king in?
• SMU had a really good football team back in the early 80's – that was until it was revealed that a bunch of their players were getting paid for going there. The NCAA shut them down completely.
• And we have the very recent juxtaposition of Notre Dame and Florida State, who Saturday night played an instant classic in Tallahassee. Notre Dame had five players who were halted from playing or even practicing football because of alleged academic fraud. They missed two months of time with the team before their hearings even took place. Jameis Winston, who won the Heisman Trophy at FSU last year, has missed one game in two-plus years there despite sexual assault allegations, being caught on camera stealing crab legs from a store, jumping on a table in a public area and screaming a profane phrase, and for signing thousands of autographs that will no doubt go up for sale or auction with part of the proceeds going to the Jameis Winston make it rain fund. (NOTE: Georgia's star running back is out for allegedly signing autographs in-bulk for cash in a school-sanctioned suspension. Head Coach Mark Richt does things the right way)
We all get that sports, by its nature, means doing what you can to gain an advantage. I played sports (hard to believe looking at me now but I wasn't bad in the four sports I played in at the high school level), and I did everything I could to help my teams win.
But there was a line I would not cross.
Understand, I also am not asking anyone to walk to the line of scrimmage and tell the defense what play they are planning to run. I just am looking for integrity.
I am looking for someone to step forward and admit “yep, I threw that pitch as hard as I could at that guy's head because I saw what their pitcher did to my guy.”
I want to hear, “I am really sorry that I grabbed that running back's leg and twisted it so that he couldn't play this week” (that really happened in the NFL last week – twice, by the same guy). And wouldn't it be refreshing to hear a coach of a team say “you know, we're just going to sit this player out because it's the right thing to do.”
We would be stunned, but wouldn't it be cool?
The frumpy me says we've gone past the checkpoint of being able to turn around on that.
The hopeful side of me says good is still out there.
I wish it would just come out without us having to dig to find it.[[In-content Ad]]
E-Editions
One of those is telling the truth.
Most parents tell their kids (and some actually mean it) that if they make a mistake and tell the truth about it, the punishment will be lessened or will disappear.
It's sort of like pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
Sports mirrors society in many ways, and we have lost the skill of saying “I'm sorry.” Well, maybe we just dropped it or we buried it in the back yard, but we don't do it anymore. And when we do, we don't do it well.
Sports, being a competition and all, means doing everything you can to beat your opponent. Sometimes that means you cross the line of fairness in the spirit of winning.
It’s wrong, but it happens.
When it does, the response should be very simple ... say you’re sorry. Let's look back on history and see how this has played out in a few cases:
• Former Yankee Andy Pettitte, who got lumped into the steroids saga because of his friendship with teammate Roger Clemens, admitted in 2007 that he used HGH to recover from an elbow problem in 2002. Fan reaction was very favorable and Pettitte retired as a beloved Yankee. Clemens still holds firm that he did nothing wrong, and has disappeared off the public landscape.
• Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hit leader, spent 30 years denying that he bet on baseball while managing the Reds and therefore should be allowed into the Hall of Fame. Only while pitching a book about his life and career did he admit that he bet on baseball. Now, many believe, he will only be allowed to be voted into the Hall after his death. If he would have come clean sooner, don't you think baseball would have softened the blow and let its hit king in?
• SMU had a really good football team back in the early 80's – that was until it was revealed that a bunch of their players were getting paid for going there. The NCAA shut them down completely.
• And we have the very recent juxtaposition of Notre Dame and Florida State, who Saturday night played an instant classic in Tallahassee. Notre Dame had five players who were halted from playing or even practicing football because of alleged academic fraud. They missed two months of time with the team before their hearings even took place. Jameis Winston, who won the Heisman Trophy at FSU last year, has missed one game in two-plus years there despite sexual assault allegations, being caught on camera stealing crab legs from a store, jumping on a table in a public area and screaming a profane phrase, and for signing thousands of autographs that will no doubt go up for sale or auction with part of the proceeds going to the Jameis Winston make it rain fund. (NOTE: Georgia's star running back is out for allegedly signing autographs in-bulk for cash in a school-sanctioned suspension. Head Coach Mark Richt does things the right way)
We all get that sports, by its nature, means doing what you can to gain an advantage. I played sports (hard to believe looking at me now but I wasn't bad in the four sports I played in at the high school level), and I did everything I could to help my teams win.
But there was a line I would not cross.
Understand, I also am not asking anyone to walk to the line of scrimmage and tell the defense what play they are planning to run. I just am looking for integrity.
I am looking for someone to step forward and admit “yep, I threw that pitch as hard as I could at that guy's head because I saw what their pitcher did to my guy.”
I want to hear, “I am really sorry that I grabbed that running back's leg and twisted it so that he couldn't play this week” (that really happened in the NFL last week – twice, by the same guy). And wouldn't it be refreshing to hear a coach of a team say “you know, we're just going to sit this player out because it's the right thing to do.”
We would be stunned, but wouldn't it be cool?
The frumpy me says we've gone past the checkpoint of being able to turn around on that.
The hopeful side of me says good is still out there.
I wish it would just come out without us having to dig to find it.[[In-content Ad]]
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