2008 Woodie Awards
Where in sports to find purity
David Zugnoni
Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: Still Standing Tall
When I was a kid, my father brought me to plenty of high school basketball games at the Oakland Arena, now called Oracle Arena, and ARCO Arena in Sacramento.
Most ventures were filled with fundamental basketball and devoid of the overzealous celebrations, taunts and working of the crowd common in modern American sports.
The high school players almost always conducted themselves with a great deal of discipline and respect for the game.
They came jogging out of the locker room in perfect lines and went through their warm-ups with soldier-like uniformity.
The starters would always shake hands with the opposing coach, an opposing player and the referees before the game.
Appreciating this type of purity was typical of my upbringing.
One year, Brandon Payton of De La Salle High School in Concord, brother of former NBA star Gary Payton, after winning the Division I Northern California championship, hung on the basket until the rim bent.
My father and I didn't think highly of that.
Today I prefer a different type of purity.
The outcomes of sporting events mean nothing 99 percent of the time. Sports are just for fun.
Some work as the gateway to better economic conditions than many good people could otherwise hope for, and they are beneficial to millions of people who play sports or watch sports, but sports should not hold authority over acceptable behavior.
Athletes who participated in the 1968 Summer Olympics were told the same thing as athletes who were part of the 2008 Summer Olympics: No political or social messages of any kind.
The Olympic committees made these demands to avoid bringing in outside elements to what is meant to be a pure celebration of sport.
But Olympic athletes have a unique distinction: They appear suddenly in the public eye for an extremely short amount of time; they become famous instantly and then unknown just as fast.
Olympic athletes don't get a bonus for winning medals; they aren't employees. Some do advertisements leading up to or following their achievements, but most return to their previous lives, incomes and notoriety.
Almost all Olympic athletes will never again be as famous as they are for just a glimpse in time.
Telling these people not to use such an opportunity to speak their mind is stripping them of what could be their biggest accomplishment - bigger than winning Olympic gold.
Before raising his fist in protest of unfair conditions in America, Tommie Smith was just the fastest sprinter in the world. John Carlos was third fastest. They were just names in the record books.
But they chose to be more than that. They chose to be honest.
While the 1968 Summer Olympics may not have been seen as pure by many, the hearts of Tommie Smith and John Carlos were pure that day.
Purity is honesty.
Purity is truth.
Purity is free.
Purity is free speech.
Most ventures were filled with fundamental basketball and devoid of the overzealous celebrations, taunts and working of the crowd common in modern American sports.
The high school players almost always conducted themselves with a great deal of discipline and respect for the game.
They came jogging out of the locker room in perfect lines and went through their warm-ups with soldier-like uniformity.
The starters would always shake hands with the opposing coach, an opposing player and the referees before the game.
Appreciating this type of purity was typical of my upbringing.
One year, Brandon Payton of De La Salle High School in Concord, brother of former NBA star Gary Payton, after winning the Division I Northern California championship, hung on the basket until the rim bent.
My father and I didn't think highly of that.
Today I prefer a different type of purity.
The outcomes of sporting events mean nothing 99 percent of the time. Sports are just for fun.
Some work as the gateway to better economic conditions than many good people could otherwise hope for, and they are beneficial to millions of people who play sports or watch sports, but sports should not hold authority over acceptable behavior.
Athletes who participated in the 1968 Summer Olympics were told the same thing as athletes who were part of the 2008 Summer Olympics: No political or social messages of any kind.
The Olympic committees made these demands to avoid bringing in outside elements to what is meant to be a pure celebration of sport.
But Olympic athletes have a unique distinction: They appear suddenly in the public eye for an extremely short amount of time; they become famous instantly and then unknown just as fast.
Olympic athletes don't get a bonus for winning medals; they aren't employees. Some do advertisements leading up to or following their achievements, but most return to their previous lives, incomes and notoriety.
Almost all Olympic athletes will never again be as famous as they are for just a glimpse in time.
Telling these people not to use such an opportunity to speak their mind is stripping them of what could be their biggest accomplishment - bigger than winning Olympic gold.
Before raising his fist in protest of unfair conditions in America, Tommie Smith was just the fastest sprinter in the world. John Carlos was third fastest. They were just names in the record books.
But they chose to be more than that. They chose to be honest.
While the 1968 Summer Olympics may not have been seen as pure by many, the hearts of Tommie Smith and John Carlos were pure that day.
Purity is honesty.
Purity is truth.
Purity is free.
Purity is free speech.
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