Sportsmanship. Don’t you love it? After watching most of the football games this weekend, I got to thinking about the meaning of sportsmanship in sports. Thinking about being a great opponent regardless of the score and congratulating your foe, being a great teammate regardless of yours or other’s mistakes, and being truly appreciative of the competitive spirit on the field.

Sportsmanship is great in all areas of life and the great thing about sports is the captive audience where society lives and exercises its values. Sport is entertainment. Sport is life. And sport is how many of us first learn about sportsmanship.

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of sportsmanship is:

“fair play, respect for opponents, and polite behavior by someone who is competing in a sport or other competition.”

This is what I saw in many of the games I saw this past Thanksgiving weekend – fair play, respect for opponents and polite behavior. No, not happy or excited behavior on the side of those who lost, but certainly not fighting (although we did see some of that today unfortunately…). What do you think about sportsmanship? Leave your thoughts below in the comments.

Go Forth!