Sportsmanship, Good Manners and Convention

I Like America. She is good.

I was disgusted by Serena Williams’ behavior at the US Open yesterday. Back in the day, I didn’t like John McEnroe or Jimmy Conners either ( so please dispense with the ubiquitous “isms”used to justify her trashy tirade). It is often said that sports are a metaphor for life. Most all would agree that our political culture is cheap, vulgar, boorish and dishonest. However, perhaps it is just a reflection on the sad state of our popular culture. I am often told that I am “old fashioned,” but there are certain fashions that never go out of style. Good sportsmanship and good manners are the “white tie and tails” of cultural fashion. The British system of government relies on political “convention” to keep its democracy in check. But “convention” is also societal in that manners and mores unify a nation in a common virtue which ripples through all of its institutions. Convention keeps our republic in check. To quote Alex de Tocqueville, “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” I hate seeing what Serena did yesterday, not because I root for another player, but for the mere fact that it cheapens our culture and “hurts” America. I hate watching the vacuous, Hollywood narcissists accept their Academy awards. They cry and blather because they are so happy for themselves, no one is stoic and accepts their award “like a man.” After my boyhood idol Johnny Unitas  won the NFL Championship in the “greatest game ever played,” he calmly walked off the field. No fist pumping, no taunting, just a man completing a day’s work. It’s good manners to be considerate of your opponent’s sorrow and disappointment.

Growing up in little ole Warsaw, Virginia, the surest way to bring shame on yourself or your family was to be a bad sport on the athletic field or to not display your “good manners” to others. This expected conduct was literally a “civic duty.” There was regional pride associated with hospitality towards others. My father’s instructions were to always wear a sports jacket when flying/traveling because wherever you travel, you represent our family and the Commonwealth of Virginia. This might sound quaint and parochial, but imagine what our country would be like if people from different places and backgrounds around the country were all competing against each other to see who could be a better sport, more polite or a better host?