Bowling 101

When I was a young girl, there was one Mom on the block (shout out to Mrs. Booker) who would take a couple kids to the bowling alley. We could do anything we wanted with one exception: when you went to the line, you had to be respectful of the person on the next lane. I remembered that rule for many years. As an soldier stationed in Germany during the early 1990s, I could bowl on the Kaserne for $1.50/game. I bowled during lunch, after work, and even on the weekends. There weren't any kiddie bumpers on any of the lanes, smoking and drinking were encouraged and because of the competitive nature of most soldiers, the victories were swift.

Now, I live in Upstate, NY and the games cost a small fortune. There are screaming kids everywhere. But worse of all, when I go to the line I find myself waiting an eternity for the person in the next lane. The person inches to the left, then to the right, they raise their head slightly...I feel like they are going to pull out rosary beads. I take my turn. Still, I must admit I am torn between what's good sports etiquette and what's good sportsmanship. According to Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home by Emily Post, "apart from the technique of each sport, or the rules of each game, the etiquette or more correctly, the basic principles of good sportsmanship, are the same." She goes on to say, "And to be a good sportsman, one must be a stoic and never show rancor in defeat, or triumph in victory, or irritation, no matter what annoyance is encountered." I don't need to conduct a bunch of research and play devils advocate. I know right from wrong. Etiquette is a sub-category of sportsmanship. That makes both essential to bowling. Would you agree?

I don't have patience like Mrs. Booker so I'm sticking to the Wii!

Damn Danes

Caroline Wozniacki is guilty of being born into an athletic family. Her mother played on a women's national volleyball team. Her father (and coach) played football professionally overseas. Her older brother Patrik is a professional football player. Although she is the only Danish woman currently in the Top 300 on the Women's Tennis Association, she still finds time to enjoy handball, soccer, and swimming. Did I mention her Polish born parents speak to her in their native language? Keep all these things in mind as I maneuver to a match last Wednesday at the Luxembourg Open with the hometown's very own Anne Kremer. The lead had been held by Wozniacki. However, she had been suffering from a hamstring injury and would not have been able to play the next opponent if she advanced. Her father, speaking in his native tongue, suggested she retire from the competition. Sounds like a sportsmanlike gesture? Not so fast...the comments were picked up over the microphones and suspicions rose.

Long story short, no wrongdoing was found. Just an athlete doing what she would have wanted done for her. Do you think the investigation was justified? Or, do you think there might have been a little paranoia based on the language differences?

Terrell, meatloaf, and me

Have you ever watched the T.O. show on VH1? I can't speak for other people who visit this blog, but I promise I won't laugh if you have contributed to the ratings. In fact, I have been known to change to his show and put the tv on mute while I watched him swim across the pool. I imagine he's saying, "Yolanda, you make the best meatloaf...Yolanda, your smarter than Condolezza Rice..."

Unfortunately, my dreams aren't his reality. Let's put that on a grander scale. As much as we (the fans) fantasize all athletes are nice people, some aren't. Yet, being unpleasant or annoying doesn't mean they lack sportsmanship. If you watch ESPN and read the billion sports blogs in cyberstadium, Terrell Owens has been getting a bad rep for several years. Some of that was based on injuries. The majority were people jumping on the bandwagon saying things ranging from, "he's arrogant" to "he's a bad example of sportsmanship." One writer called him the "C" word---a cancer. Until recently, I believed the hype. Then I looked at his record. If you ignore the last couple of months or so, he has performed at a high level. I heard about all that hype with Garcia and I still believe Owen's, um let's call it, "unpolished interview skills" may have gotten him into more trouble than his intent. Besides, remember when Kobe was accused of sexual assault and Shaq started singing like a canary? Basically he said Kobe was an unfaithful freak way before this incident. Teammates run their mouths. That's immaturity or inappropriateness at it's worse. I still don't see the poor sportsmanship. Oh yeah, he spikes the football and puts on a little touchdown show. Not cool and he's paid the fine, or should I say fineS. I really think that whole thing is the equivalent to a NBA player dismissing the easy layup for a grand slam dunk. It's embarrassing to the defensive player but somehow it breaks the monotony of up and down the court. And the crowd wants it as much as the peacock displaying his (or her) spectacular skills. Am I so overwhelmed by those Hershey biceps that I'm missing the big picture? Can't wait for an answer. My radar has detected a missed handshake between Belichick and McDaniels that takes priority!

...Yolanda don't leave me alone with all this money
...You're the only one who understands me

the greatest

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
That's universally known as words from boxing great, Muhammad Ali.

Here's another:
"If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize."

What do either have to do with the sport of boxing? Not a damn thing. But, they were catchy words that got your attention. Attention slowly turns to loyalty along the way. Some called it poetry, the dozens, or trash talking. Did it really matter his words were labeled? The intent was to loudly communicate he was going to fight with all of his heart and win. Now check this out (read with a less than intelligible high voice)...

"I felt Holyfield was using his head illegally. I told the referee I wasn't getting any help, so I went back to the streets to smoke him. I cannot defend it, but it happened." Those words came from former heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson. His words seem more like fingernails against the chalk board.

Besides women becoming more involved, the sport of boxing has not changed much in my view. However, its ambassadors have moved in directions that make the fans longing for the good ole days. The days before Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield's ear. But those days included incidents like Duk Koo Kim. Things are not black and white in the world of boxing. I personally don't enjoy boxing. I do admire and respect anyone passionate about what they do; and that's what Ali's mouthy campaign boiled down to. Do you think Ali's words (sometimes accompanied by a mini-comedy show) was an example of good or poor sportsmanship? Keep in mind he retired with a record of 56 Wins, 5 Loss, 37 KOs. I want to close this out with one of my favorite quotes where he says,"I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world."

Do you think Presidents make good sports?

It's Thursday. Someone in the world is giving birth. Someone is dying. Someone might be winning at the crap table. But for me, it's laundry day. I work my way through a teenager's smelly soccer socks. I can't understand why my middle son has those "daisy duke" track shorts and three expensive Under Armour outfits in the basket when he has been sick all week . To top it off, the baby has a stain on his tee that has me dry heaving. I wonder if Mama Lincoln or Mama Taft went through this. No, they couldn't have. My curiosity got the best of me and I goggled, "athletic presidents." The result was presidents of local and national athletic groups. After a couple more attempts, I found Richie Whitt with a Dallas blog. He must have an uneventful life like me because he created a list last year that included:

10. George W. Bush His first-pitch strike – in a bullet-proof vest -- before Game 1 of ’01 World Series at Yankee Stadium is best sports moment ever for a U.S. President
9. Woodrow Wilson Played center field for Davidson College
8. Richard Nixon Scrappy linebacker at tiny Whittier College
7. Jimmy Carter Played baseball and ran cross country in the Navy
6. Teddy Roosevelt Boxed at Harvard and played tennis on the White House front lawn
5. Ronald Reagan Played football at Eureka College and portrayed “The Gipper” in Knute Rockne
4. George H. Bush Left-handed first baseman led Yale to baseball’s College World Series in ‘48
3. Dwight Eisenhower A linebacker/running back at Army, the “Kansas Cyclone” hurt a knee tackling Jim Thorpe in 1912
2. Barack Obama Lanky lefty led Occidental College’s basketball team in scoring in ‘79
1. Gerald Ford All-American center led Michigan’s football team to National Championship in ’33

I personally would not have included Nixon. He creeps me out. I would have thrown in JFK for general purposes. He was in lots of pictures sailing or playing football with his brothers. I would have squeezed Clinton in there. He did some Rugby back in the day. Plus, he's such a charismatic person, I think he could con the other team into forfeiting...which brings me to my point. Some people might think politics and sports make horrible partners. I think there might be some sort of drive (I'm not going down the hunter-gather road) that makes a person a favorable competitor in both arenas. Do you think President Obama, an avid basketball player, would throw an elbow under the boards? Is it possible Eisenhower grabbed a face mask on the downlow? Share some of your thoughts about Commander-in-Chief sportmanship.