Scott Tepper: Sportswomanship

This past week, at my non-gaming job, I was on the phone with one of our vendors, when in the middle of the call, she stopped our work-related discussion and apologized.  “I’m sorry”, she said excitedly, “but I just received an email from a friend, and it’s affected me so much that I have to share it with you.” She then asked if I had seen the video that was going around about the womens college softball teams.  I replied that I had no idea what she was talking about.  She happily recounted the details, exclaiming that we don’t hear enough stories about sportsmanship and probably wouldn’t have heard this one if it revolved around two men’s sports teams.

The story centers around a game between the Western Oregon and Central Washington women’s softball teams.  After hitting her first ever home run and rounding the bases, Sara Tucholsky, from Western Oregon, wrenched her knee.  Unable to walk, she collapsed from the pain and crawled back to first base.  Pam Knox, the captain of the Western Oregon team, yelled to her team NOT to touch Tucholsky, knowing that, according to the rules, to do so would invalidate the home run.  They could designate a replacement runner, but that would result in converting the home run into a single and robbing Tucholsky of her achievement.

It was at this point that the story became newsworthy.  While Sara’s team was trying to figure out what to do, the pitcher from the Central Washington team, Mallory Holtman, approached the referee and asked if any rules existed that would prevent the opposing team from helping Tucholsky.  The ref said that there were no such restrictions.  So Holtman and Central Washington first baseman, Liz Wallace, carried their injured opponent around the diamond allowing her to gently touch each base as they passed.  The home run thus became valid, allowing Western Oregon to win the game.

The incident was deemed of sufficent interest to be covered by ESPN, as evidenced by the video on YouTube.

But why is that?  Why has this story become “news”? 

One of the reasons parents sign their children up for little league, soccer, and baseball, I am told, is to teach them socialization, respect for the rules of fair play, regard for others, and graciousness in losing.  So what happened along the way that we, when encountering true sportsmanship, are all surprised and stunned?

Maybe it starts with the notion that, as a culture, we’re taught conformity and orderliness are mandatory.  A society can’t function with disorder.  Stay in your seat.  Cross with the light.  Follow the rules.  Contradictorily, though, society actually rewards those that think outside the box, those who bend the rules, those who set themselves apart from the pack, those that win. 

Is it really a surprise then, that general sentiment believes people who follow rules, subscribe to good manners, believe in sportsmanship are automatons, fussbudgets, and losers?

While it’s common for most kids to have played on some sort of team during their childhoods, most adults don’t have the opportunity, time, or inclination to play a team sport.  As we age, the lessons and importance of sportsmanship become less relevant, or have less opportunity to be displayed.  In the business world, is it more common to hear stories about businesses dealing ethically with each other, or trying to manipulate situations to their own benefit?

Most boardgames don’t really promote good sportsmanship.  Rather, they automatically assume that the players understand and will follow the tenets of sportsmanship.  Rulesets don’t usually explicitly tell the players that they can’t cheat, or steal from their opponents, or lose their temper when something doesn’t go their way.  It’s understood that by the time you become an adult that you will play games in a sportsmanlike manner.

But you and I both know that that’s not the reality.  I’ll bet you can name at least one incident where you saw an adult playing a game and they acted in a way that was less than sportsmanlike.  Unfortunately, we don’t have many mechanisms that will teach adults better game manners.  Sure, it is possible to shun someone who you don’t want to play with, but unless you confront them, they probably won’t put 1 and 1 together to realize that they are a poor sport and need to improve their social skills.

Interestingly, only a handful of games over the last decade, such as Lord of the Rings, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Shadows Over Camelot, and Pandemic, are designed to make players work as a team toward a common goal.  All have been very successful; the latter game so much so that it immediately sold out.  Maybe boardgamers actually crave the opportunity to work together instead of constantly as adversaries.

And maybe one day, a tale of sportsmanship won’t be newsworthy.

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