What I would like my kids to learn from sports

We are in the middle of baseball season. I love baseball, always have. I remember as a kid our parents would take us to Angels' games several times a summer. I played fast-pitch softball.

Sports are good for many reasons, but in my book, the most important reason is to teach good sportsmanship. In life we all need to be good winners and good losers. We need to know when to cheer for our opponents. There are times when that is appropriate; the right thing to do.

I cringe when I am at some high school sports events and hear the kids 'cheering' negatively, giving the other team or their fans a hard time. My blood starts to boil, even, when there are no parents or administrators correcting that behavior. When we were kids the school wouldn't have let us do it, much less our parents. Now I see parents participating in demeaning the other team. I hear about parents and coaches going to blows on the baseball field. It makes me angry and sad.

Then I read something like this: (Shout out to STB for the link!)

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24392612/

Go ahead. I'll wait.

This is what I want my kids to learn about sports. This is what I want my kids to do. A split-second decision- the RIGHT decision, made by competitors, without thinking about the negative consequences for their own team. The Central Washington University women should be given a medal, lots of media attention, I don't know- anything and everything- for making me believe in young people in sports again.