1/29/01 10:15 a.m.
Whatever Happened to Sportsmanship?
A lost commodity.

By Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth & NR contributing editor

erhaps you saw the story last week of a high-school basketball player from Camden High in New Jersey who scored 100 points in a game. His name is Dajuan Wagner, son of former Louisville star Milt Wagner. At first the story may seem an admirable athletic feat. In truth it's just the opposite and underscores the decline of sportsmanship in America today.

The story has rightly caused a bit of a fury in high-school basketball circles, so here's the quick background.

Camden pressed the highly outmatched Gloucester High throughout the game, forcing turnover after turnover — which were converted into easy lay-ups by Wagner (though he also impressively had 10 three-pointers). The final score of the game was 157-67. Wagner played the entire game save for the last four minutes after he netted his 100th point.

It's an individual record that makes one think much less, not more of Wagner, who is ranked one of the top three prep stars in the country this year. Even worse is Camden's pompous coach Glen Jackson. When asked about the 100 points scored, Jackson answered: "Why should I apologize for him having a great game?" The opposing coach, Bob Sweeney complained: "What bothered me was that they pressed us the entire game. We're all competitive, but one of the main things is to teach sportsmanship."

That's just the point. Sportsmanship is becoming a lost commodity in American sports today. Wagner's century mark wasn't achieved in the spirit of competition, properly defined, at all. If one team is completely outmanned, then there is no competitive environment — in fact, it's hardly even a game. To keep piling on points when the game is safely in the bag, isn't to compete, it is to humiliate.

Another high school player, this one in Texas, scored 100 points earlier this year. The final score of that game: 178-28. What kind of coach lets his team win by 150 points?

We see this problem also in college football, where the rating system idiotically takes into account margin of victory, which encourages the Nebraskas and Florida States to pile on the points at the end of a game. Nebraska threw a trick flea-flicker pass against Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl when the Huskers were up by 35 points in the late 3rd quarter. Why?

One of the problems here is that we've become a nation of front-runners. Anybody can hit a shot up by 20 points, but how about when it's tied with 10 seconds to go? The true athlete and champion elevates the quality of his game under pressure. This defines the remarkable brilliance of a Michael Jordan, Pete Sampras, or Tiger Woods. Each of these three champions has been a joy to watch precisely because they some how find a burst of adrenaline that lifts them to new heights under intense adversity and pressure.

What would have been much more impressive than Wagner scoring 100 points is if he had voluntarily taken himself out of the game at half time, since his coach didn't have the common sense to sit him down.

The National Federation of High School Associations record book includes a disclaimer that says "records should be attained in the spirit of competition — not by running up the score." Let's hope that if Wagner's name appears in any record books, they at the very least put an asterisk by Mr. Wagner's name.

Oh and by the way, Dajuan: pass the ball, for heaven's sake!