“Feel Good” Sports Stories
My blog has been pretty sports-intensive this week (not that that’s a bad thing, not that it’s a good thing), but I did want to cap off the week with this little nugget.
It happened the other day at a university women’s softball game in Oregon. With two runners on base and a strike against her, a player named Sara Tucholsky hit her very first home run, but as she was rounding the bases, she blew out her knee. In order for it to count, she had to touch all the bases. She would be called out if her teammates tried to assist her and if a pinch runner was called in, the homer would count as a single. Her opponents came to her rescue, asking the umpire if they could carry her around the bases. There was no rule against it, so that’s what they did. Their display of sportsmanship cost them the game and led to their elimination from the playoffs. (Click HERE to read the whole story.)
Have you ever experienced or witnessed anything like this? What “feel good” sports stories have touched you? Share your thoughts by clicking on the No Comments/Comments link at the bottom. Today’s Jack Nation bonus code is SPORTSMANSHIP. It’s valid until May 4th.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Carly, I heard you guys talking about this earlier. What a great story! Just goes to show there are still some people who play for the love of the game, and care about other people!
Reminds me of a story a few years back about the Special Olympics, and how one runner tripped and fell short of the finish line. Several other athletes turned around to help the fallen runner, then cheered them on to the finish line.
Carly’s Note: Kind of restores your faith in humankind, doesn’t it? At least for an hour or so.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I love hearing about stories like this, it’s a nice change of pace from the usual tales you hear about overzealous parents beating up umpires or referees etc. over a call they didn’t appreciate. Or Hockey riots in Montreal?
-S.B.
Carly’s Note: I guess things will be pretty quiet in Montreal - until next year’s playoffs, anyway.
May 3rd, 2008 at 5:48 am
What a great story. Thanks for sharing that with us. I can honestly say, I haven’t seen anything like that. Am I jaded in thinking that if it was a male league, that never would have happened? play-offs-game decision on the line? “NOT” and yes we can deny it, but you guys know its true. Way to go ladies!!!
Carly’s Note: I might have been inclined to agree with you, but check out Brendan’s link.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Hi Carly, I hope your weekend is going well
Here’s a video of a soccer player in England that could have scored a goal, but he remembered that it is just a game
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/59279/di_canio_plays_it_fair/
Carly’s Note: There’s no glory in a cheap goal. Too bad Sean Avery never learned that lesson!
May 6th, 2008 at 10:28 am
As a softball player for most of my life, I have to say, those ladies made me proud as a fellow player, and a human being. What a sacrifice. I wonder if it was an all-male team if that would have happened.
As for sportsmanship, well, I play for co-ed teams. Last year in the playoffs in one of the games I was playing “rove”. Daft position they created for co-ed adult leagues. It’s between the infield & outfield players. Typically I play first or 2nd (or 3rd), catch…but all the gals take turns playing in that particular “spot”. Anywho, the ball was hit exactly in my direction, just had to move a couple of feet, here it comes and in my right ear I hear a guy scream “I got it” and *BAM* smashed right into me, knocked me right to the ground and after I shoo-ed the tweety birds away realized I was surrounded by my team-mates who quickly helped me up. Asking me “are you ok?”…yeah, ta, I’m fan-effing-tastic thanks. Then someone said “there’s a little blood” followed by the feeling of said substance rolling down my cheek. It was a cloudy day, but I had my shades on to cut the glare, good thing, I guess, but his forearm pushed them into my face, that’s what caused the cut. I played out the day, but over the next 24 hours the black eye/bruise set in, I went to the Dr’s, had a slight concussion. She said although my shades caused the cut, they probably spared my occular bone. Have I encountered Sportsmanship yeah I guess, the ones that peeled me off the outfield I supposed, but unsportsmanship, absolutely! When we signed up again this year, I asked if the aforementioned show-boat was on the team so I knew whether or not to get full-out football gear. He’s not…thank god!
Imagine the looks I got when I went to the stores and anywhere in public. I wanted to wear a sign saying “it was an accident”. Thank god it wasn’t permanent, people are shamless when they gawk.
Lee Ann
Carly’s Note: A couple of things. First of all, I had to laugh at your vivid description of the incident. I think we have all crossed paths with someone like that. I wasn’t laughing, though, when I read about your concussion - brutal! Also, you’re so right about people staring shamelessly. They probably assumed you had an abusive partner, yet not one of them asked if someone was hurting you. If you’re going to stare, then at least do something about it. Otherwise, put your eyes back in their sockets!
May 6th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Thanks Carly, I forgot to mention in my “vivid” description (glad you got a chuckle), that the steamroller who rang my bell was playing at 2nd base. He came a long damn way just to full out tackle me.
And yes, people didn’t have to say anything, their stares said it all. I thought if only they knew me. I was in the grocery store and left my sunglasses on, then realized I looked foolish, so I took them off. I had to to go to the butcher counter and while I am not a vegetarian, I have a hard enough time looking at uncooked meat to begin with…let alone while being concussed (awful feeling I might add). So I was looking up while ordering for fear of *urp* hurling…The poor guy behind the counter likely thought “who does she think she is, Ray Charles”…oh my, only me…:)
Lee Ann
Carly’s Note: Oh no, you’re not alone. That kind of thing happens to me all the time, so we’re in good company.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Hi Carly,
When i read Lee Ann’s story it made me mad at all those goofs that play recreational sports like wacko’s.
Many years ago i played on a co-ed softball team and we were playing in the championship game.
In typcial fashion it was bottom of the 9th inning with 2 out and we were winning by 1 run but the opposition had last at-bats.
The batter cranked a super high fly ball to center field where our rover Anna was positioned. I was playing left field and came charging hard but slowed down when i saw it coming closer to her. Randy the left fielder backed off too.
Anna stuck up her glove made the catch and we won the game. We carried her around on our shoulders and yelled “ANNA! ANNA! ANNA!” all the way to our local watering hole.
The ironic thing is that the team we were playing were the type of team that would crash into you when they were running the bases or kick up their spikes when sliding into a base. Nothing was sweeter than beating them CLEANLY and having Anna be the star that night for no one was a nicer person on our team or tried harder than her.
All of the guys on our team are ex-football and hockey players and we would never put up with what was done to Lee Ann. I’m surprised the guys on her team didn’t fix Mr. Showboat. We would have.
Have a great day:)
Carly’s Note: If a guy is that competitive, why doesn’t he play in a more competitive league? Oh wait, it’s because those guys would eat these clowns alive.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Awwww, thanks Dave - between that tool, and another one that played on my Wednesday night team, both of them pushed me to run so fast, trying to stretch out long hits into homers, that I ended up with a pulled hamstring, then the Wednesday night guy says what’s the matter when I came back after missing a few weeks. I wanted to place kick him right in the family jewels. There are some guys that just like to take the “p” out of everything, these guys think they’re all-stars, and act like they’re being scouted by the Jays. Dream on jackass. So why don’t they join an all male league? Because you’re right Carly, they likely would chew them up, and spit them out. Why guys like that play co-ed is beyond me. There are some good ones out there, like Dave, but the bad ones always seem to end up on my team. I wish the guys on my team would’ve tuned him up.
The ironic thing for me is, the doofus that full-out tackled me, 2 weeks prior took a line drive to his lower shin, from his best-bud no less. And he shook it off trying to be da man, I, being the nice first-aid certified person that I am saw right away that he was going into shock, and convinced him to sit on the bench, administered first aid and demanded his friend take him to the hospital. See what you get? Kharma was working in reverse last fall it seems.
Later gators!
Lee Ann
May 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Lee Ann,
You showed a lot of class by taking the high road and helping out that injured goof.
Like i said all of us guys are ex-football players and hockey players so we know what’s acceptable and what is not in men’s leagues and co-ed leagues. This goof just doesn’t respect other players period no matter what level of competition and he is too chicken to play at a level where the competition wouldn’t put up with his crap.
Sports like most things in life can be really rewarding or they can bite you in the a… if you treat people like dirt.
Good athletes are usually comfortable in their own skin while wannabe’s like this doofus are so insecure that they need to show up people they think they can dominate(although i’m not implying that you are weaker then them).
Please keep doing the right thing but be careful out there too.
Have a great weekend:)
Dave