Politics of the Week: The Politics of Fair Play

Sportsmanship. Civility. Both seem to be topics of the week involving this concept of 'fair'; whatever that is? Two incidents caught my eye this week and it illustrates how things have gotten out of control.

1. Taylor Swift accepts award and Kayne west Interrupts.

2. Chaminade-Madonna defeats Pampano Beach 83-0 in High School Football down in Florida.

Now I am taking a different take on both.

In the West-Swift incident everyone has been talking about how uncivil it was for West to steal Swifts moment by interrupting and interjecting that he thought some other video should have won. West thought it was Unfair. The reason he was uncivil is not that he was a jerk necessarily but that he has been indoctrinated with this false notion of 'fair'. it was not fair that Taylor won and his candidate did not.

In the second, it is apparently OK to win but not be too much. It is not fair when a team beats a team by too much, but what is too much? Talk about nebulous.

What gets me here is the hypocrisy. On the one hand, in entertainment if a loser or their fans cries foul it is uncivil. If the loser of a sports contest cries foul, it is OK. See the problem.

Sorry, both Taylor and the C-M football team work hard, set goals for themselves and went out to achieve them. Both succeeded I great ways and both should be applauded. The fact is it is the nebulous concept of 'fair' that everyone has that seems to be to blame.

What is a coach supposed to do? 'Now guys if we get up by 40 or more were just going to knee the ball and give it to the other team.' Come on. You coach kids in football to play well so that you can win. Some of those Backups who played late for C-M got not only a chance to play but score and their thunder should not be stolen from them for some stupid concept of fair. In the case of C-M football they did all things well -- offense, defense and special teams. There should be line out the coach's door to ask him -- "how do you do it coach so we can be a better team?" Instead, the man is defending himself for being TOO SUCCESSFUL. As I read Dallas Jacksons story and the coach defended his action I said a hearty 'Amen' after every line he said.

A note to the media -- quit whining. Dallas Jackson get a life, this story shouldn't be about how unfair things were it should have been about how great a program C-M is. It is also unsportsmanlike to whine as a loser too. Quit whining for them.

For the story go here: http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=989089

If I was Kayne or Pampano Beach I would not whine. It is not the time for whining; it is the time for introspection. What can we do to be better?

I know Kayne West was whining about Beyonce but that isn't his job. He should have been asking himself what he could have done to help Beyonce be better next time so she can win, not stealing Taylor's thunder.

For Pampano Beach, I would ask this of myself -- what can we do better so that this never happens again. Take it as an opportunity to change yourself. Remember: TO WHINE ABOUT A LOSS IS UNSPORTSMANLIKE!

Like it or not competition makes us better -- win or lose. No matter what the score was.