Losing a game on a technicality is tough for players and fans to accept; but the technicality doesn’t and shouldn’t negate the loss.
The underlying principle of sports is that one team wins and the other loses. Without that acceptance we would have not sports, no American pastimes like the NFL, NBA, or the College Football Bowl season, or for that matter the Olympics, or even little league. How would our society function if each team proclaimed itself the winner no matter what the score?
It is under this proven premise that Former President Donald Trump is peddling in the dangerous “Big Lie.” No US judge or any election official supports his lies. He lost. His behavior runs a foul of our basic principles of sports events; rules that that no doubt many of red American support when they enjoy sports. Why should the underlying premise of winners and losers change just because it is political sport instead of athletic sport? The answer is, it shouldn’t. Encouraging fellow Americans to support lies told by politicians in the face of defeat is counter to how we all play the game.
So, it is disturbing to see how one increasingly pervasive political poor sportsmanship is bleeding into actual poor sportsmanship. Dallas Cowboys Quarterback, Dak Prescott applauded fans who threw trash at referees after a controversial call ended the team s playoff hopes Sunday night. This act of poor sportsmanship – encouraging fans to literally trash the refs – because one doesn’t like the call is dangerous. Healthy athletic competition and the ability to accept a win or a loss graciously is one of the building blocks of sports. Without it, our entire sports paradigm will collapse.
We need to call wins and losses for what they are. Sometimes heartbreaking, yes, but part of life. Too bad some of our former and current political leaders either didn’t learn those lessons on the sports field; or they were losers then as they are now.
Let’s hold politicians to the same standards we hold our athletes. Let’s play all four quarters and may the best win and the loser accept loss with dignity. And in case no one has said it, please don’t throw trash at the refs because you lost the game.
