Living Outside The Lines: “Sportsmanship in the Stands”

By, Becky J Miller

Are you ready for some football???? The cries of football fans across the state echo a resounding “YES!!!” while non-football fans offer their collective groans of dismay. For those rare Texans who dislike football, hibernation for the next four months is probably looking like a very good idea. Otherwise, there really is no escaping the hoopla that accompanies the sport. 

My love of football can be traced back to Superbowl XIII in 1979 when the Dallas Cowboys faced the Pittsburgh Steelers. All the cute boys in my 7^th grade class were talking about the upcoming game and how they wanted Pittsburgh to win. It just struck me as completely unfair that no one wanted the Cowboys to win. As would become typical behavior for me, I chose to go against the norm, and cheer for the underdog. The Cowboys lost, but a true fan was born, one that remains to this very day.

Somewhere along the way, I learned enough about the game, to be considered reasonably knowledgeable of terms such as penalty, touchdown, field goal, and point after attempt, conversion, false start, position names, unnecessary roughness, safety, first down, and so on. Once my own child(ren) began playing sports phrases like good sportsmanship took on a whole new meaning.

Football is a rough game. If it weren’t, there would be no need for players to wear pads, helmets, and know the rules for proper tackling. Football is intense. Football is often played by under-developed, and yet to mature boys. Even the fully developed, grown up men, sometimes struggle with unacceptable displays of emotion. It is to be expected, a part of the game as it were; a part that results in loss of yards via penalties, but anticipated nonetheless. 

Crowd response to certain calls may be unexpectedly loud and negative. While player behavior can cause team penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct; what some fans don’t realize is that supporter responses to calls on the field may also cause a team to suffer. Unsportsmanlike conduct from certain people groups can be particularly difficult to comprehend.

My son plays football at Hardin-Simmons University, a private Baptist college. The teams they play are different denominations, but still private Christian type schools. Having grown up in this world, it is not unreasonable to expect a particular type of decorum amongst the friends and family of the boys on the field. It’s okay to disagree with a referee call, what’s not okay is to verbally attack said referee. 

During a recent game between Hardin-Simmons and Southwest, I was absolutely appalled at the behavior of folks in the stands. One particularly vocal dad yelled,”You can go to hell for cheating, just the same as you can for murder.” Scripturally that’s not a true statement. Murder, while morally wrong, and a violation of the law, will not forever doom your soul to hell, nor will poor refereeing. 

No doubt, some die-hard football fans will be appalled at this next statement, but at the end of the day, football is just a game. Football is fun. Football is entertaining, but football has no long-term value. Football is not going to cure cancer, win anyone a Nobel Prize, or change the political climate. So, why do we get so worked up about it? Win or lose, your life is not likely to be harshly impacted. 

So, to all the football fans, especially those in the stands watching live, verbal assaults on players, coaches and referees really have no place in the game. Good sportsmanship on the field and in the stands denotes good character, and good characters makes you a better person, and ultimately…the world a better place!

Until Next Time,

Becky J Miller

“Warrior Princess”