Yates vs. Lee...Unsportsmanlike Conduct?

So I was driving to work this morning and I was listening to the radio. I heard that Yates beat Lee in basketball 170-35, a Texas record. While that was cool, I didn't really think much of it until the question was raised about whether or not Yates had unsportsmanlike conduct for beating Lee by so many points. This got me thinking...was it really unsportsman conduct? You know what, no, it wasn't. Sportsmanship is shaking the opposing team's hand after the game, whether you win or lose. Sportsmanship is not acting like it's the end of the world because you lost one game. We all fail at some point in life. That's just how it is.


The coach at Yates even put in his third string players during the game. Those kids had every right to play as hard as they could. They want to move off the third string and become starterss and one of the best ways to do that is to show the coach your skills. You can't do that by slacking off. Are we really going to fault the kids for playing their best?


We have become a society where losing is unheard of...where everyone wins something...a participation ribbon...a certificate...something teaching that mediocracy is okay. We teach our kids that as long as you try you're a winner. Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but life doesn't work that way and we are doing future generations a serious disservice by letting them think otherwise. Bun B said it best...in life there are people that win small and win big...there are also people that lose small and lose big. Lee just happened to be one of the ones that lost big. Let's not forget that it is just a game. This is not going to ruin their lives...there will be other games to play...over chances to "win" in life. If the players from Lee high school feel disrespected, hurt, or embarrased then they should take that all those negative emotions and channel them into getting better...into improving themselves. That's the real lesson that we should be teaching kids...sometimes life knocks you down, hard, the best thing you can do is learn from that and become better.