Bad Sportsmanship Update

Bad sportsmanship has always been a subject of interest to me.  Boys and girls in my New York neighborhood growing up played games and sports more or less continually, so there was plenty of opportunity to observe the different styles of winning and losing. 

There were the usual examples of exultation and triumphalism, annoying but not so bad on balance.  Much worse were the guys who would start a fight with you if you beat them at something.  Like every game of Stick-Ball or Knock-Hockey was an event of cosmic significance.  Maybe they were thinking that it would make you think twice before beating them again.  More likely they just wanted to get a win posted at something, immediately, to balance the books. 

These Olympic games are providing an object lesson in bad sportsmanship, taught by the Chinese.  I'm happy that their country is doing good, that their economy is growing, that people seem to be a little freer and happier than back in the bad old days.  Really I am, God bless them.  But boy, they have quite a chip on their collective shoulder about winning and losing. 

All of that celebration after every point won; all of those negative reactions to every point lost; all of that sense of entitlement upon winning some event; all of that bitter complaining after every loss.  Please, would it kill you to show a little grace? 

A reporter asked one of the stars of the Chinese men's gymnastics team when he began to think that they'd win it.  "When I woke up this morning."  No mention of the strong competition.  

I'm loving the Ping-Pong, especially the women, it's always more fun to watch girls do anything.  The world number one woman Ping-Pong player is named Ding Ning, how great is that?  She's good too, very good, and kind of cute.  She didn't come to these Olympics just to compete though, didn't come just to do her best, no, she came for the gold.  After all, she's the best! 

She hit a road block though, on the way to that happiness, in the form of Li X.X.  All through the early rounds Ding was kicking ass and taking names, but Ms. Li had her number.   As usual, Ding was set to mumbling by any lost point, and she was never loathe to confront a referee when something went against her.  In the final, the Italian referee started to take exception to Ding's style of serve, it seems that you're not allowed to use your body to hide the ball at the point of impact with the paddle.  Ding was furious, vociferously.  So Ding switched the style of her serve, to something almost indescribably weird, a head on, twisting, squatting kind of thing.  That was all the referee could stand, and she produced both a yellow and a red card.  Who know that there were such things in Ping-Pong? 

This awarded two points to Ms. Li, and Ding almost had a breakdown.  Red faced and crying, she complained to the referee and to any other official in earshot.  When she lost the match, winning thereby a silver medal, she lost it completely.  Copious tears and unrestrained complaining.  I do hate to see a pretty woman so unhappy, but it was almost fun to watch.  After losing, all that she showed Ms. Li was her back. 

It's sports, Ding!  Shit happens!  Get over it! 

To be fair, I did see a very gracious Chinese archer.  If memory serves, he'd just been beaten by a Mexican.  That must have hurt.  Don't the Chinese think that they invented archery?  Maybe they did; one way or the other Mexico came late to bows and arrows by at least a thousand years.  Still, this Chinese archer was very nice about it, he went over and congratulated both Mr. Alvarez, the winning Mexican, and his coach.  And smiling about it too, not like it was a chore.  Good for him. 

I'm sure that there were plenty of good sports among the many, many members of the Chinese Olympic team.  Watch out for those bad apples though.  It's not an attractive picture to show the world.