Youth Sports Spotlight

Serena Williams, called for a foot fault in her U.S. Open match Saturday night, really stepped out of bounds. Arguing with the line judge, Williams lost her cool, dropped some F-bombs and threats, and was penalized a point, which happened to be match point.

Although Williams already was near defeat, she has survived match points before, so her outburst conceivably cost her a Grand Slam title. The laughable $10,500 fine she was assessed probably will bother Williams less than the knowledge that her lapse cost her some of her legacy.

Coaches and parents who use this incident as a teachable moment in conversation with youth athletes can point out that temper tantrums can cost you whatever is dearest, in this case, game, set, match, money and more.

Last night's first nationally televised game of the 2009 major college football season opened promisingly with footage of a new pre-game handshake ritual meant to promote sportsmanship. It ended with University of Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount being dragged by police from Boise State University's famous blue-turf field after firing a fist to the face of Boise State defender Bryan Hout.

Before, during and after the game, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Still reeling from last year's hard-fought game between the Ducks and Broncos, which featured many questionable hits, Blount in the lead-up to yesterday's game voiced to Sports Illustrated some foul-mouthed pre-game smack talk. The staged handshake last night lived down to many pundits' predictions that the show of sportsmanship would fade into the testosterone-fueled chest-thumping typical of big-time college football pre-game rituals.

During the game, we saw more questionable hits, and after the game, a 19-8 Boise State win, Hout taunted Blount and slapped him on the shoulder pad. Just as Boise State Head Coach Chris Petersen rushed in to give Hout a lesson in Honoring the Game, Blount landed his punch.

The one silver lining: Oregon almost immediately suspended Blount for the remainder of the season, yet will keep him in school and offer counseling. Ideally, this sends a message to the rest of the country, from college football on down to all levels of youth sports, that dishonoring the game is intolerable. And hopefully, pre-game handshake rituals in the future are more sincere than staged.

Just in time for the start of a new high school sports season, Positive Coaching Alliance introduces a new book from PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson, The High School Sports Parent: Developing Triple-Impact Competitors. High school sports parents, coaches and athletic directors who want to learn the latest on helping high school athletes get the most out of sports can click here to purchase copies from our partners at Balance Sports Publishing.

In 68 pages, The High School Sports Parent packs philosophy, practical advice and bite-size tips and tools. Sections address the real threats of steroid use and eating disorders. Ten case studies--hypothetical questions and Jim Thompson's answers--cover everything from "Surviving Tryouts" to "The Next Level."

If every athetic director, coach and parent would read and heed The High School Sports Parent, our world would be filled with Triple-Impact Competitors: student-athletes committed to improving themselves, their teammates and the game as a whole...in sports and beyond.

Let's get one thing clear right off the bat.  I love dogs.  I love my dog, Charlie, but then many people love their own dog.  I love dogs so much, I love ones I don't even like.  You know those little bitty dogs that yap without ceasing--I love them.  The ones whose faces are so ugly their own mother can't look at them--I love them.
 
I have always ascribed to the idea that the truest test of a society is how it treats the most vulnerable.  And even the strongest, most ferocious dog is highly vulnerable to human cruelty.  Michael Vick failed that test as a person.
 
Now, let me as a dog lover declare myself in favor of Michael Vick getting a second chance to play in the NFL.
 
John Madden once said, "Winning is the best deodorant."  If Vick can help the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl, the crowd will turn in his favor.  Remember then that I was for his second chance before there was a Michael Vick bandwagon.
 
I am glad Vick is getting his second chance because it's a great teachable moment.
 
Here we have a former abuser (and much worse) of dogs saying the right things about his remorse for his past behavior toward dogs.  And who has made a commitment to keep talking about abuse of man's best friend. 
 
My hope is that Vick's public contrition will help elevate the horror that is dog fighting so it can be rooted out along with cruelty to pets in general.
 
But, you may say, "He isn't really contrite.  He just got caught and this is what he has to do to get back into football."  Could be.
 
But I'm reminded of something my mentor John W. Gardner, author of Self-Renewal once said to me: "When I was young it bothered me when someone did the right thing for the wrong reason.  As I've gotten older, I don't care so much why people do the right thing."