Whatever Happened To Sportsmanship?

"It's just a game, go out there, do your best and have fun." 

Words like that used to come from coaches from peewee football and Little League baseball to soccer fields and BMX racing. We were all taught to respect our opposition and the sport as a whole regardless of what you were participating in. It was, after all, just a game.

Lately, no matter what the sport, it seems athletes are getting more and more negative attention for their antics during or, in some cases, after an event.  Just last week, there were videos all over the Internet of a female soccer player from the University of New Mexico brutalizing opposing players. 

At the beginning of the college football season we witnessed Oregon's LeGarrette Blount punch a player from Boise State during an altercation on the field.  Blount was suspended for what was supposed to be the entire season but has since been reinstated. 

We've heard stories of cooked-up birth certificates so a 15-year-old can play Little League with 12-year-olds.  Not to mention soccer moms slugging it out in the stands.  The sad part of it all is, I have yet to mention any professional sports. I'm talking about amateur sports here.

So what do these incidents have to do with MMA?  The answer to that question is in the words "martial arts."  The fundamental study of martial arts is to teach the student(s) respect.  Respect for yourself, respect for the martial arts, respect for the teacher, and respect for your opponent.  

These ideals seem to have gone by the wayside as of late. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good sports out there and one incident can taint an entire sport.  However, it seems sportsmanship has been put on the back burner in the realm of athletics, professional or amateur.

We see trash-talking and hyping fights all the time. Both fighters want to sell their "product." That is just part of any televised sporting event.  The athletes are hyped up and the fans are there to see a show.  But at the end of the day, in a perfect world, even in the event of total annihilation of one party by another, both parties are supposed to shake hands and move on. 

BJ Penn and GSP had their training camps taped for a reality based show on Spike TV before their last encounter.  There was a lot of banter going back and forth that just fueled the flames for both guys going into the fight.  With that said, on a scale of one to 10, BJ got an 11 on the whooping scale and we heard every excuse under the sun as to why he lost.  GSP was greased, GSP is on roids, GSP sold his soul to the devil himself and afflicted BJ with some bad mojo. 

We recently came off UFC 106, where Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin locked up again.  I knew there would be trash-talking before, during and after the fight on both sides, but just the overall lack of respect for the sport is so evident in Tito, it is unbelievable.  Tito can argue it was being rusty, or he broke his eye socket, but to whine and cry about it during a post-fight press conference is not going to win Tito the fight back. 

You lost.  It's part of the sport.  If you don't like the judges' decision, then you should leave it out of the judges' hands. 

On the flip side, we recently witnessed poor judging in the Machida/Shogun fight.  Yes there was squabbling on both sides but for the most part it was the fans voicing their disapproval. 

Then there is Josh Koschek.  After winning his fight over Anthony Johnson, Koschek punked out a  sparring partner and Dan Hardy when he said he deserves a shot at being knocked out by GSP first.  While I do agree that Hardy's shot is premature, it is not Koschek's place to throw his little tirade. A word to the wise: be careful of what you wish for, you might just get it. 

These are just a couple of incidents that have recently caught the eye of many MMA fans.  There was also Brock Lesnar's WWE-style promo at the expense of Dana White at UFC 100 and Forrest Griffin's running out of the cage not once but twice after a losing effort. 

I realize there is a ton of money and pride on the line, especially in Mixed Martial Arts.  But odds are, at some point, things will not go your way—just like anything in life. 

The mark of a true professional is how he conducts himself after he falls.  Does he get back up and keep pushing forward or does he point fingers and whine and moan about how unfair it is? Coming up short is part of any sport, but there is no excuse for lack of professionalism and respect from either the winning side or the losing side.