The Frustration of Sport
I just caught a few minutes of the hockey game last night between Detroit and Dallas and at the end of the game, Mike Ribeiro of Dallas took a swing with his stick and hit the goalie. There must be a suspension in my opinion as there is no room in sport for this type of action. These players are paid millions of dollars and I know they are passionate about winning but these types of actions should not go unpunished. I would suspend him for the rest of the season. What kind of message is that sending to our children? We must learn to deal with our emotions.
Likewise in the golf tournament, Charlie Hoffman in frustration threw his putter into the water. Again, I believe that this type of behaviour must be punished as many young players watch these pros and emulated them. What kind of message are we sending them?
I have played competitive sport all my life and I can appreciate the stress and pressure that it brings. The emotions are high and I would admit that I have let them shown on occasion, but we must learn to control these and let them pass without doing something to react to them. It was interesting to hear Anthony Kim, who won just recently on the PGA tour, talk about how he had matured in the past couple of months. He was known as a cocky, arrogant young player and he had not won although many thought he had the talent. Once he realized and in his words learned many lessons did he finally win. There are countless examples of players that once got their emotions somewhat in check that they performed their best. This is a hard trait to teach. Hopefully all the young players will realize this sooner than later.
