SPORTS November 17, 2003 Issue

It's about savvy and self-control

By Holly Gutelius Wheeler

AS A WOMEN'S SOCCER COACH at a liberal arts college, there's no way for me to escape some frank discussion about what's been going on in recent weeks in professional sports in the US.

Our students have talked openly about the incident that led to a melee in the Red Sox/Yankees American League Championship game on October 11, and the Kobe Bryant court case in which the Lakers' superstar is alleged to have assaulted a 19-year-old concierge at a lodge in Edwards, Colorado. Some of the players on our team have implied that such incidents are causing them to reassess their role models in professional sports.

So what does a coach say about angry retaliation over real or imagined insults, accountability, and peer pressure? And what do you try to teach—especially to students who plan on becoming teachers—about what used to be called "sportsmanship"?