I hope Usain Bolt, of Jamaica, loses the next medal race, at the Olympics, by 15 lengths. Why because he is a showboat, someone who tries to show up all his competitors. Now this guy is clearly blessed with tremendous speed, but be a little humble, show some class. Here is my dream race for Mr. Bolt. Bolt is out front by 10 lengths when, at the 3/4 mark, he starts to look back at the other competitors and trips over his feet and falls to the ground breaking the fall by squarely landing on his face. The only injury is his giant ego.
And talking about showboating, I was watching the Little League World Series yesterday, the game between Italy and Curacao. The Italian team was clearly out matched by the powerful Curacao team. And because soccer is the number one sport in Italy and not baseball, the Italian team kicked the ball to each other rather then throw it. It was quite bazaar and was possibly the reason they lost 14 to 1. But getting back to the showboating thing, the Curacao team had some very good players who were very powerful. Three or four of them hit very long home runs. But what they did after they hit the long tatters is what I did not like. They stood at the plate, for a good long time, and watched the ball leave the park like some major leaguers do now. Is this good sportsmanship from a team that is playing a clearly outmatched Italian team. Are kids of today all emulating the wrong kinds sports figures. Give me the Yankees Mickey Mantle, who after hitting one of his 536 home runs, would not stop and stare at the ball, who then would run the bases with his head down at a good pace showing a little humility. That's the kind of sports figure our kids should be mimicking.
2 comments:
Yes UW, arrogance, cockiness, bravado, disrespecting opponents and showboating are pet peeves of mine too.
Unfortunately (and probably a little unfairly) I generally associate it with American sportsmen.
So to balance that comment out I will give dishonourable mentions to Australians who are guilty of this too - Anthony Mundine and Chris McCormack.
I think it goes back to the Muhammad Ali days, and talking smack or showboating is generally a marketing ploy by the athletes to generate interest on the event.
Personally it makes me lose interest and I always wonder what deep seated insecurities lead to that sort of behaviour.
Every top sportsmen needs supreme self confidence and competitve drive. That's partly what gets them to the top.
But let your results do your talking for gods sake.
- Basil Cornelius Snootles
PS. It's spelt bizarre, not bazaar. Bazaar actually means something completely different. I only mention it because you have used it a few times now.
Thank again Mr "I spell everything correctly" Snootles. And it was spell check who made me choose the wrong spelling.
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