New award evaluates high school sportsmanship

MCPS introduced the Sportsmanship Award Program at the start of this school year in order to recognize and promote sportsmanship among varsity teams, coaches and fans.

Several games are selected for evaluation over the course of the season. Game officials and athletic administrators from both teams rate the conduct of fans, players and coaches on a scale of one (poor) to four (excellent).

The school that obtains the most awards over the course of the year recieves $2000, the runner up $1000 and the third place school $500.

Before every game at Blazer Stadium, announcers remind Blair fans to follow the three A's of sportsmanship in order to promote higher standards of behavior: "Applaud the performance, accept the officials' decision and appreciate the participants' efforts."

At the boys' varsity soccer game against Northwest High School on Sept 20, the crowd and players largely disregarded the announcement when sophomore Jack Eisen-Markowitz was illegally tackled to the ground and, seconds later, slapped in the face. In the ensuing skirmish, senior co-captain Alieu Terry received his second yellow card while trying to stop the fight and was ejected from the game. The referee's decision received jeers and catcalls from the Blazer stands.

Similar misconduct occurred at the Sept 13 football game, which was also against Northwest. Blazer fans booed and launched bottles at Northwest cheerleaders when Blair players were penalized for un-sportsmanlike conduct on the field.

After the game, varsity football coach James Short engaged in a verbal confrontation with the Northwest head coach who had called Blair an "embarrassment." The argument developed into a shouting match in which both coaches used obscenities.

Later, Short commented on the Blazers' behavior. He believes it is not the place of the spectators or the players to argue with officials but rather is his "job" as a coach.

One goal of the Sportsmanship Award Program is to help prevent arguments between officials and participants. However, Andrew Shoenfeld, senior co-captain of the boys' soccer team, considers the attempt ineffective.

Shoenfeld believes that "sportsmanship is fake" and will never be practiced by all athletes, even when offered a reward. "Most people, when given the chance, will take every opportunity to harass each other. That's the opposite of sportsmanship," he said.

Short agreed about the ineffectiveness of the award. However, he argued that the rating system is at fault, not the athletes. According to Short, the rating system does not recognize that levels of sportsmanship differ greatly from one sport to another.

Senior Max Eckert cited his experiences on Blair's ice hockey and baseball teams as examples of varying degrees of sportsmanship. He explained that while sportsmanship is necessary on the diamond, it is quickly forgotten on the ice.

According to Eckert, hockey coach Brian McCabe instructs Blazers to talk trash and get in the faces of the other team. During his first season, Eckert tripped and slid into the opposing team's goalie, resulting in a brawl between the teams and his ejection from the game. In another incident, Eckert responded to taunts by angrily slamming another player through the glass.

Eckert explained that hockey involves much more physical contact and verbal abuse than other sports he has played. "It's the opposite of baseball," he said. "When Blair plays baseball, we are very respectful to the other team."

According to Athletic Director Dale Miller, attitudes like the baseball team's are the norm for Blair. "If we don't receive the award, I'm still not going to believe that other schools have better sportsmanship than Blair," Miller said.

However, many Blazer athletes believe that Blair has very little chance of winning the award due to unfair stereotyping.

According to Short, Blair holds a poor reputation in Montgomery County regarding sportsmanship, while Blazer conduct really outclasses that of other area schools. "Because we're close to D.C., people think we're more thug-like, but that's not the case at all," he said. "I've witnessed things up-county that our kids have never done."

Terry sided with Short but believes that sometimes Blazers do little to help Blair's reputation. "Incidents like [the soccer fight] perpetuate the stereotype of Blair being a dirty team," he said.