Rosenberry Proves Sportsmanship Is Not Dead
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
And we all remember just last winter, just down the road, of a fight breaking out between two high school basketball teams.
In an age where stories of such incidents tend to get a lot of attention, and rightfully so, it’s easy to wonder if sportsmanship is going the way of the riverboat.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of the death of sportsmanship have been greatly exaggerated.
While covering the Wawasee/Whitko girls soccer match in Syracuse last week, I was a witness to one of the best acts of sportsmanship I’ve ever seen. Lady Warrior Darrian Rosenberry was in a collision with a Whitko player. The moment came and went in a matter of seconds, and those not paying attention may have missed it.
“She was coming down with the ball, and I went over that side to go and (cover) her, and when we collided, my shoulder rammed right into her rib area, and she got the wind knocked out of her,” Rosenberry said.
After the collision, Rosenberry got up, went to the Lady Wildcat, and rendered aid.
“When I realized what was happening, because I’ve been there before, I told her to put her hands above her head, because that helps to be able to breathe better,” she said. “I had her rest her hands on my shoulders, so she could get some air back in her.
“I knew what was going on because when you get the wind knocked out of you, you make these funny noises trying to get air. I’ve seen cross country runners do it; once they finish the race they rest their hands on the shoulders on one of their teammates to help them breathe better.”
Anyone who knows Rosenberry isn’t surprised she’d step up in that situation; the consensus is that’s who she is; it’s a huge part of her character. She sees a bigger picture.
“Well, in a way we’re all teammates. We all play the same sport,” she said. “And she was scared; obviously you always get scared when you can’t breathe. So I wanted to be there to help her out. We’re different teams from different schools, but we’re all sisters at heart. We all enjoy the sport and love the sport.”
If anyone happened to take a video of that game, I’d really like to share it with the rest of the world. In fact, if anyone ever gets moments like that on video in any school, send it my way. I won’t commit to using each one in print, but moments like that help me remember there’s a lot more right in the sports world than wrong.
Other things I wonder about in the sports world: Eli Manning is taking a lot of heat for throwing the football away in the final two minutes of the New York Giants’ game with Dallas Sunday night.
But his action was based on instinct. Ever since he’s been coached to throw a football, he’s likely heard “throw the ball away; don’t take the sack.” And if there’s even 40 seconds more on the clock, then throwing the ball away is the right call.
I then got to thinking about other moments in sports where instincts failed people. We’re coming up on the 12th anniversary of Steve Bartman becoming unintentionally famous. Unless someone makes a conscious decision beforehand, who doesn’t go after a foul ball in the stands?
Chris Webber calling a timeout Michigan didn’t have in the 1993 NCAA national championship basketball game. The television special on that Michigan team is interesting, but not conclusive as to what exactly happened.
The list of epic moments goes on and on, and have been discussed at length at church picnics and on barstools forever.
If nothing else, it certainly makes life interesting.[[In-content Ad]]
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And we all remember just last winter, just down the road, of a fight breaking out between two high school basketball teams.
In an age where stories of such incidents tend to get a lot of attention, and rightfully so, it’s easy to wonder if sportsmanship is going the way of the riverboat.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of the death of sportsmanship have been greatly exaggerated.
While covering the Wawasee/Whitko girls soccer match in Syracuse last week, I was a witness to one of the best acts of sportsmanship I’ve ever seen. Lady Warrior Darrian Rosenberry was in a collision with a Whitko player. The moment came and went in a matter of seconds, and those not paying attention may have missed it.
“She was coming down with the ball, and I went over that side to go and (cover) her, and when we collided, my shoulder rammed right into her rib area, and she got the wind knocked out of her,” Rosenberry said.
After the collision, Rosenberry got up, went to the Lady Wildcat, and rendered aid.
“When I realized what was happening, because I’ve been there before, I told her to put her hands above her head, because that helps to be able to breathe better,” she said. “I had her rest her hands on my shoulders, so she could get some air back in her.
“I knew what was going on because when you get the wind knocked out of you, you make these funny noises trying to get air. I’ve seen cross country runners do it; once they finish the race they rest their hands on the shoulders on one of their teammates to help them breathe better.”
Anyone who knows Rosenberry isn’t surprised she’d step up in that situation; the consensus is that’s who she is; it’s a huge part of her character. She sees a bigger picture.
“Well, in a way we’re all teammates. We all play the same sport,” she said. “And she was scared; obviously you always get scared when you can’t breathe. So I wanted to be there to help her out. We’re different teams from different schools, but we’re all sisters at heart. We all enjoy the sport and love the sport.”
If anyone happened to take a video of that game, I’d really like to share it with the rest of the world. In fact, if anyone ever gets moments like that on video in any school, send it my way. I won’t commit to using each one in print, but moments like that help me remember there’s a lot more right in the sports world than wrong.
Other things I wonder about in the sports world: Eli Manning is taking a lot of heat for throwing the football away in the final two minutes of the New York Giants’ game with Dallas Sunday night.
But his action was based on instinct. Ever since he’s been coached to throw a football, he’s likely heard “throw the ball away; don’t take the sack.” And if there’s even 40 seconds more on the clock, then throwing the ball away is the right call.
I then got to thinking about other moments in sports where instincts failed people. We’re coming up on the 12th anniversary of Steve Bartman becoming unintentionally famous. Unless someone makes a conscious decision beforehand, who doesn’t go after a foul ball in the stands?
Chris Webber calling a timeout Michigan didn’t have in the 1993 NCAA national championship basketball game. The television special on that Michigan team is interesting, but not conclusive as to what exactly happened.
The list of epic moments goes on and on, and have been discussed at length at church picnics and on barstools forever.
If nothing else, it certainly makes life interesting.[[In-content Ad]]
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