Golfers shine like a beacon for Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics,respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors.

Sportsmanship typically is regarded as a component of morality in sport, composed of three related and perhaps overlapping concepts: fair play, sportsmanship, and character. Fair play refers to all participants having an equitable chance to pursue victory and behaving towards others in an honest, straightforward, and firm and dignified manner even when others do not play fairly. It includes respect for others, including team members, opponents, and officials. Character refers to dispositions, values, and habits that determine the way that person normally responds to desires, fears, challenges, opportunities, failures, and successes, and is typically seen in polite behaviours toward others, such as helping an opponent up or he or she is believed to possess “good character” when those dispositions and habits reflect core ethical values.

The issue of sportsmanship is in greater focus now across all sports than ever before, with several high-profile incidents of unsportsmanlike behaviour, cheating and lack of respect for fellow competitors happening recently. It hasn't been a sudden spike in disrespectful and dishonest play, this has been a gradual evolution, specifically in Football. Football is the world's biggest sport by any measure, it is the most played sport by far and receives hundreds of hours of television coverage each week across the world. Because of this footballers are among the leading role models for children and the sport of football reflects and in many cases dictates society.

Football has a reach unlike any other sport and because of that the way each footballer treats his fellow professional and officials can transmit to the general public much more quickly than other sports. Incidents of cheating are highlighted and hyped, but in most team sports you will see, from time to time, significant incidents of cheating; whether it be a hand ball goal in football or match-fixing in Cricket. But the thing that disturbs me the most when relating to football is the complete lack of respect for firstly officials, secondly the rules and thirdly the fellow professional.

For the purposes of my blog I am going to identify key incidents relating to he complete lack of respect for firstly officials, secondly the rules and thirdly the fellow professional in football; I am sure you will be reading this and by now you are thinking, well this is a golf blog and why is he talking about football? Well I will be showing how golf and golfers separate themselves from every other sport in the way each professional treats each other and how every golfer plays by the rules at all times, even in the most high-pressure moments. To show how this is the case I have to illustrate sportsmanship or the lack of it in the other major sports, and I won't just be discussing examples in football.

The job of referee in golf compared to football is vastly different, when a decision is needed to be made by a referee in golf he doesn't have the global television spotlight and he doesn't have 40,000 partizan fans giving an opinion. Because of these factors refereeing a football match is one of the hardest jobs in world sport, and it certainly does not help when the competitors on the field of play are acting like the fans on the terraces. Week-in-week-out, game after game you see footballers disputing the decisions by the referee no matter whether it is for a free-kick in the centre of the pitch or a foul in the penalty box.

Players are occasionally cautioned for dissent towards the officials, but it is a rare occurrence and despite a major campaign by the governing bodies to show respect for the officials (and each other) there are no signs of behaviour towards officials improving and if anything it is getting worse. The worst example of this flagrant disrespect towards the referee can be seen when you look at the Premier League match at Old Trafford in January 2000 between Manchester United and Middlesbrough. Referee Andy D'Urso gave Middlesbrough a penalty kick for a foul by Jaap Stam on Juninho, the decision sparked a reaction that was condemned by most fair-thinking fans and people in the media.

A crowd of six Manchester United players chased after D'Urso led by captain Roy Keane, and confronted him in an aggressive and disrespectful manner, it was an appalling reaction to a decision made with honesty and integrity.

Since the game highlighted incidents of abusing the officials have undoubtedly been more highlighted, maybe not in this manner, but it is a thing of regularity to see players questioning the decisions made with aggression and in many cases using foul and abusive language. This lack of respect for football officials firstly makes an already difficult job even more daunting for referees and secondly sets a terrible example to children in the stadium and watching on television.

The referees job is to enforce the rules and another thing that has become increasingly prevalent in football is a complete lack of respect for the rules of the sport, with players bending the rules whenever they can and this has become part of the culture of football, which should be condemned but is in many cases accepted by those in the media and within the game. Sometimes this culture of bending the rules goes beyond that and goes into the realms of cheating and breaking the rules. There are many examples, unfortunately, of this in football and in Cricket and Rugby.

Three of the highest profile and most blatant examples of cheating in football have come in matches at the very highest level of all – the FIFA World Cup. Possibly the most famous came in Mexico in 1986 in the World Cup Quarter-Final between England and Argentina. Six minutes into the second half, Maradona cut inside from the left and played a diagonal low pass to the edge of the area to team-mate Jorge Valdano and continued his run in the hope of a one-two movement. Maradona's pass, however, was played slightly behind Valdano and reached England's Steve Hodge, the left midfielder who had dropped back to defend.

Hodge tried to hook the ball clear but miscued it. The ball screwed off his foot and into the penalty area, toward Maradona, who had continued his run. England goalkeeper Peter Shilton came out of his goal to punch the ball clear. However, Maradona, despite being six inches (20cm) shorter than the 6-foot-1 Shilton, reached it first with his outside left hand. The ball went into the goal. Referee Ali Bin Nasser of Tunisia did not see the infringement and allowed the goal, much to the chagrin of the English players and management. Maradona later said, "I was waiting for my team-mates to embrace me, and no one came... I told them, 'Come hug me, or the referee isn't going to allow it.”

This was a blatant example of cheating and a clear attempt to deceive the officials.

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and a play-off match between France and the Republic of Ireland at the Stade de France Thierry Henry used his hand to assist William Gallas' last minute goal which eliminated the Irish from the World Cup. It was an isolated incident from Henry in an otherwise impeccable career, but it just emphasized that in football when the stakes are really high than anyone will attempt to break the rules if it means their team succeeds.

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup Quarter-Finals Luis Suarez of Uruguay used his hand to stop a certain goal for Ghana, he was sent-off but Ghana missed the penalty which was awarded. Following this the Uruguayan was seen celebrating as if he had scored a goal on the sidelines, it was a show of total disrespect for the rules and the opposition. A win at all costs attitude has swept through the game and it is in the opinion of many ruining the sport.

But examples of cheating are not confined to football and two of the biggest examples in recent years are the match-fixing involving Pakistani cricketers in a test match with England in 2010 and the blood-gate scandal involving Harlequins Rugby Union team in a 2009 Heineken Cup match against Leinster. Both of these incidents were pre-meditated attempts to cheat the opposition and win by unfair means, showing a lack of respect for the officials, the rules and their fellow professionals.

Diving and attempting to get fellow professionals sent off has become endemic in football and shows a real lack of respect for a fellow professional. The video below cites a few examples but it is something which now takes place in every game across the world, with players trying to get that vital edge for their team.

Excuses used for this behaviour are general citing what is at stake for the competing teams or individuals, such as securing a place in the top division or competing for the league title or world cup. It should be said though that golfers play for millions of dollars every week, each shot counts towards weekly earnings and players who do not earn enough money to meet the requirements loses their place on the tour, so it can be argued that the stakes are even higher in golf than any other sport where you are virtually guaranteed to have a living whatever the team achieves. 

A respect for the fellow competitor, the rules and the officials runs through the entire sport of golf, from the very top to the very bottom. This is passed down to every generation of golfer at every golf club and the etiquette of golf is at the very heart of the game. Golf is played, for the most part, without the supervision of a referee or umpire. The game relies on the integrity of the individual to show consideration for other players, care for the course and to abide by the Rules. All players should conduct themselves in a disciplined manner, demonstrating courtesy and sportsmanship at all times, irrespective of how competitive they may be. Etiquette is an integral and inextricable part of the game, which has come to define golf's values worldwide. 

Put simply, it is a series of guidelines that exist to show other players, whether through divot repair or awareness of your shadow, a degree of fairness which you would expect to receive in return. In terms of golf's environment, etiquette is about showing respect for the course on which you are playing and the work that has been put in to create it. It’s about making sure that the game is played safely and that others on the course are able to enjoy the round as much as you.

In short: it’s about showing consideration to all others on the course at all times.

Golf's etiquette has been handed down from generation to generation through golfers at every golf club across the world, the rules of the game and how to treat the golf course and fellow golfers is emphasized to every person wanting to join a golf club. Juniors are taught at a very young age to compete within the rules, show consideration for other players by marking the golf ball when it is in the way of another player's line, helping fellow competitors look for lost balls and help fellow competitors reach a decision over a ruling if a referee is not available. The game teaches young people self-discipline in golf and in life and helps foster friendship between competing golfers. 

This spirit of play goes well beyond just the friendly fourball at a local golf club, it transcends all levels of the game from the club medal to the Major Championship, and it is this symmetry between the amateur and the professional game that makes golf and its sportsmanship unique in top level sport.

Examples of this spirit of sportsmanship can be cited every week on the major tours of the world, from reminding a player to replace his marker he moved to allow a him to putt on his intended line to helping a fellow competitor to find his ball in the trees. Occasionally though there are incidents that show how golf is above every other sport in regard to sportsmanship and respect for the rules and the etiquette of the game. There have been incidents where players have accidentally touched the ball in a bunker or on the green, which would have seen a penalty enforced at the time, finishing their rounds and then during the evening asking the officials to look at it on video and in several cases have disqualified themselves from the tournament. This level of honesty occurs throughout the tournament and the higher the stakes are it seems that the honesty does not diminish.

The most high profile example of this honesty happened at the Harbour Town Golf Links on the final hole of the final round in the 2010 Heritage Golf Classic on the PGA Tour, Brian Davis had birdied the 72^nd hole to get into a play-off with Jim Furyk and the two went head-to-head over the same hole for the title, Davis was looking for his first PGA Tour win. Following a fine drive into the fairway Davis pulled his approach into the hazard to the side of the green, the hazard is the Calibogue Sound and the ball found a sandy area above the water's edge and having considered his options Davis decided to play the shot. 

 

Davis' shot reached the green but immediately he called for 'Slugger' White, the referee on hand for advice. On his back-swing Davis noticed that he may have touched a piece of grass and he wanted to identify whether or not he had touched the small piece of grass within the hazard. Television replays showed that he did indeed touch it and a two-shot penalty was added to the Englishman's score, meaning Furyk could afford to take two putts from five feet to win the tournament. He had sunk his own hopes of winning a first PGA Tour title with his honesty and sense of fair-play in a high-pressure situation. It was viewed as a remarkable act of sportsmanship within the game but also across sport, however there are some from other sports who said it wasn't something they would have done because they would have wanted to win so badly. But in golf a golfer wants to win fairly because he is the best, not because he has benefited from an unfair act which nobody else has seen.

CBS' Sir Nick Faldo and Jim Nantz gave their reaction to the climax of the tournament on-air.

This is the big reason why the sport shines like a beacon for sportsmanship, it is separate from any other game. Honesty and integrity in competition and winning through fair means. 

This cannot be said for other sports, and football in particular. An example of just purely scoring a goal through dishonesty is the goal scored by Chelsea against Arsenal in January 2013 by the Spaniard Juan Mata. In the build up to the goal the Brazilian Ramires made a foul on Arsenal's French midfielder Francis Coquelin and the ball went to another Chelsea player and they went on to score when Arsenal should have had a free kick. The referee made an honest mistake and didn't see the foul, but the Chelsea player admitted in an interview after the game that he had made the foul. Had he done this at the time of the incident the game would have stopped and Arsenal would have received the free kick that they deserved. The match would have been decided by fair means, Chelsea may well have still won the game or they may not have. But had honesty prevailed it would have made football much better in my eyes.

Golf has set the example for other sports, whether or not the other sports follow is up to them.

Be sure to catch up with my next blog on Wednesday 30 January when I will be previewing the final leg of the Middle East Swing (the Dubai Desert Classic) and the world's best attended golf tournament (the Phoenix Open) as the world's eyes turn towards the United States and the upcoming World Golf Championships and Florida Swing.