Not Cheating Per Se

Again, I love football coaches. This morning's entry into the love fest comes from Connecticut where the coach of the Southington High School football team took advantage of a little situation caused one careless player from Manchester High.

You can read the full story here, but for me it all comes down to this: A Manchester player dropped a wristband with the team's play codes into the box that had the video sent to Southington and the Southington coach used it in the game.

With the wristband, the Southington team could know the Manchester plays as the Quarterback was calling them. According to the Southington coach, he used it during just one drive, but that's the damage and the damage is done.

The Southington High School principal said, "The administration's investigation determined that [the coach's] actions did not adhere to the district's high expectations for all Southington Public School coaches."

The Manchester High School said that he has sent a protest letter to the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which governor high school sports in Connecticut.

But these are the words of Larry Williams, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Football committee chair (spoken before he saw the Manchester protest), "It's what we call ethics between coaches and good sportsmanship. I don't think it's cheating per se." He goes on, "We need to make sure we produce good citizens, and that's what this game is all about. These are all teaching moments."

This is what I like, "these are teaching moments." There are those who say that "If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying." and "It's only cheating when you get caught." I agree with Mr. Williams, it probably isn't cheating, but it's not good sportsmanship. There is more to being a good citizen and a good sportsman than following the rules.

Living in a society that pushes all of the rules to their most extreme and one tick more is one that becomes an overfilled balloon, one slight misstep and the whole thing will explode in our faces. (Banking scandals? Enron?)

Was the Southington coach's actions unsportsmanlike? I think so. Was it cheating? We'll see.

It's the motion toward citizenship and faithful stewardship that makes life worth living. A life in good citizenship tends not just itself, but for the neighbor as well. The life of a good steward is not just concerned with the individual but with all God creates.

So three cheers for Larry Williams, three cheers for citizenship, three cheers for sportsmanship, three cheers for stewardship.