February represents the stretch run for most high school hockey seasons. In other words, this is the time of the season when coaches tend to get hyper-focused on winning, whether it’s simply to make the playoffs, or to get a better postseason seed. Far too often, I’ve seen coaches lose their composure, and their sense of sportsmanship. And if a coach loses sight of the overriding values that this game is supposed to impart, what can we expect of the players?
Last spring, I watched with serious concern and consternation as a local girls hockey coach went on a Twitter rant when his team lost a playoff game, in a shootout, against a lower-seeded squad. The game-winning goal might (or might not) have been hit a second time by the shooter. Hockey fans, coaches and refs know that, in a penaltyshot scenario, a player can’t touch the puck a second time after it’s shot. In this case, the refs ruled that the puck wasn’t hit twice, which ended the game.
Afterward, the coach of the losing squad took to Twitter to vent. Here’s a sampling: "They blew the call and I could tell they knew it."; "The player clearly saw the puck laying there after the initial attempt, instincts tell her to tip it again. Bad bad call."; "Why are the officials out of position? Horrible."
Now, I understand in this day and age, Twitter allows people — even our highest-ranking elected official — to go complain publicly whenever they feel like it. But I was clearly disheartened by the obvious lack of class, and the total absence of sportsmanship, on display in the coach’s tweets.
To make matters worse, some players on the coach’s team apparently followed his lead. At least one team captain refused to take part in the handshake line after what had been an outstanding girls high school hockey game. That’s such a shame. After all, we’re talking a girls hockey game. Yes, the games are important, especially a playoff game. But that’s exactly when sportsmanship is supposed to trump bad behavior.
The more important the game, the higher the stakes, the more sportsmanship should matter. That’s why Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker is a genuine hero of mine.
Baker, who played hockey and football at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire and Princeton University, was so supremely talented that he drew special attention from his opponents. Many of those opponents took liberties, and at a time (early 1900s) when hockey was incredibly rough, Baker took a beating. But he didn’t retaliate. Instead, Baker was the epitome of "letting his play do the talking." After the game, he would visit the opponents’ locker room to shake hands with each player.
Following his graduation from Princeton, where his team won two national championships, Baker joined the St. Nicholas Club in New York. During the 1914-15 season, when he led the club to a national amateur championship, arenas advertised games by posting "Hobey Baker Plays Tonight," which embarrassed him. Baker would plead with sportswriters to highlight the club, not him.
In 1991, the great Sports Illustrated writer Ron Fimrite said this of Baker: "Through his Spartan example, he imposed a code of behavior on athletes, particularly college athletes, that was accepted, if not faithfully observed, for the better part of four decades. It is now, alas, as forgotten as the dropkick. In the Hobey code, for example, a star player must be modest in victory, generous in defeat. He credits his triumphs to teamwork, accepts only faint praise for himself. He is clean-cut in dress and manner. He plays by the rules. He never boasts, for boasting is the worst form of muckery. And above all, he is cool and implacable, incapable of conspicuous public demonstration."
Sadly, the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation has lost sight of what made Baker great. They’ve ignored his legacy by turning the award into a popularity contest. School sports information offices churn out marketing material for their candidates, an act that would make Baker cringe. It is the antithesis of what he stood for, which is that no one player was any more important than any other. Baker was all about his team, which, somewhat ironically, is what made him legendary.
A general lack of sportsmanship not only impacts how we deal with opponents, and officials, but also how we treat our teammates. When there’s an overall erosion of the values of the game, the fabric that binds a team can fall apart. Conversely, when players put the team first — a basic tenet of sportsmanship — great things can happen.
Here’s an example. I’m not using real names, because I haven’t asked for parental permission to tell this story. But it’s a great story about a player putting his team’s interests before his own. "Jack" has worked with us at Stop It Goaltending for at least eight years. And when I say "worked," I mean he busted his tail, and parlayed that work ethic into a chance to play for a solid New England prep school program.
By his sophomore year, Jack appeared to be on track to be the team’s starter. But injuries, and the emergence of one of his goalie teammates, derailed that plan. By his senior year, he was resigned to a spot on the bench. Still, Jack continued to strap on his gear, every day, pushing his teammates in practice, making the team better. It paid off, and his squad made the New England prep school playoffs.
That’s when Jack was confronted with a gut-wrenching decision. Sitting together in the locker room before the team’s first playoff game, the starting goalie confided he had forgotten his skates. The kid was crestfallen, and presumed Jack would take his spot in the net. Jack, though, didn’t blink. He knew that he and the starter wore the same skates, and the same size. He also knew the starter had earned this game.
So Jack gave up his skates and watched as the starter led his team to a win. But I’ve never been more proud of Jack, and I’m sure his parents were as well. I’m guessing his teammates, and his coaches, felt the same.
More recently, the NCAA college football championship game served up another prime illustration of selflessness, and sportsmanship. Trailing Georgia at halftime, Alabama coach Nick Saban pulled long-term starter Jalen Hurts, a sophomore. Hurts entered the game having won 26 of 28 games over the past two seasons but was benched after completing just three of eight first-half passes, replaced by freshman Tua Tagovailoa. And the freshman delivered, passing for three second-half touchdowns, including the stunning game-winner in overtime.
But what grabbed my attention throughout the second half of the game, and in the celebration following Tagovailoa’s heroics, was the dignity that Hurts displayed.
"As a team player, you have to do what’s best for the team," Hurts told ESPN. "It was important for me to be true to myself and be the team leader I have always been. Don’t change because of a little adversity."
Novelist James Lane Allen said: "Adversity does not build character, it reveals it." Hurts has character in abundance. That, more than his championship ring, makes him a winner. Just like "Jack." Just like Hobey Baker.
