Decisions made quickly have almost immediate consequences in this day and age. This is a Sports Ethics minute highlighting a teachable moment in Little League Softball and what happens when ethics are thrown to the wind.
While I’m not a mind reader, I can almost hear the commentary in my head. The coaches for West region team from Snohomish, Washington (Little League team) fresh off a tough win against Central Iowa are saying to themselves – “Wow. Hope we don’t have to play them again! Hey, if we throw the game we won’t have to play Central Iowa again in the semi-finals.”
To be fair, South Snohomish President Jeff Taylor denied wrongdoing, saying Coach Fred Miller just rested his players. But to most anyone who watched the game pitting South Snohomish against North Carolina (South Snohomish lost 8 – 0 to NC) the game was fixed. Here’s what was reported in the Bleacher Report.
Scott Reister of KCCI 8 News in Des Moines, Iowa (h/t Deadspin’s Timothy Burke), tore the lid off this rotten container of orange slices, reporting Monday night that a West region team from Snohomish, Washington, took a dive against a Southeast region team from North Carolina in order to skirt a showdown with a tougher Iowa squad in the LLSWS tournament.
As Reister reports, the West team blatantly botched a pool-play tilt against the North Carolina squad Monday afternoon, with coaches resting starters and ordering players to bunt the entire game.
The Snohomish club lost the game 8-0, with zero hits—which fit with its larger agenda of not playing quality opponents on the way to a World Series title.
Having already secured a spot in the semifinal, the West squad throttled back its game, knowing a win against the North Carolina team Monday would’ve pushed a club from Central Iowa—apparently the Murderers’ Row of Little League softball—out of the tourney and allowed North Carolina to slide in and take that spot.
How NOT to Teach Your Kid Ethics and Sportsmanship!
Of course you play the game to win, but win fair and square. Win because you played your best and may the best team win.
The problem today with ethics in sports isn’t the kids, it’s the parents or adults who pressure the kids to win at all costs. This is an adult problem imposed on the kids as pawns.
I’m often asked about the erosion of ethics in sports among high school, college and young pro athletes and the source of the problem is simple – they are not taught ethics early. They are taught to win at all costs including throwing games to gain a better position. That is simply unethical!
A Karmic Outcome!
Central Iowa President Chris Chadd sensed that something wasn’t right about South Snohomish’s loss so he appealed to World Series organizers and then to Little League International. They agreed. While they didn’t reverse the outcome of the Washington vs NC game (leaving NC the winner), they did force a play-off game between South Snohomish and Central Iowa. Central Iowa won!
Three lessons:
- Sportsmanship is more important than trying to engineer an outcome;
- Every choice has a consequence – so be prepared for the consequences when you try to do something sneaky; and
- Hopefully the team members will remember for the rest of their lives what can happen when you act unethically!
This is Chuck Gallagher and this has been a Sports Ethics minute. Remember your comments are welcome!
