That's sportsmanship

By - Home News Tribune (East Brunswick, N.J.)

Posted: August 17, 2009 at 5:39 a.m.

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BENTON COUNTY — An act of sportsmanship and decency occurred on a baseball field in Green Brook last week that we couldn't let pass without notice.

The East Brunswick 9-yearold-and-under Little League team gave its championship trophy to Ryan Walsh, a member of the defeated Green Brook 9-and-under team, following East Brunswick's championship victory. In June, Walsh had lost his father and coach, 54-yearold Marty Walsh, to cancer two years after losing his mom, Elizabeth Walsh, also to cancer.

Ryan will soon be moving to a new home in Colorado. :

Sportsmanship and decency are two qualities too often lacking in today's sports world, on all levels. In pro sports, high-priced athletes parade like peacocks around playing fields, then demand exorbitant sums of money for mediocre performances. In youth sports,the stands are often a place for boorish and vulgar hostility emanating from frustrated parents who view their children as athletic surrogates, or just because it's all being taken far too seriously.

The role of sports should be to build strong bodies and even stronger character, especially at the youth level. Instead, athletics seems to have become a me-first exercise in which teamwork is secondary. And when we see that from the pros and the top stars, it's our children getting all of the wrong messages.

We can all learn much from brave Ryan Walsh, who heroically carried on despite his loss, and the members of the East Brunswick squad, who recognized Ryan's courage and fortitude. :

All involved are champions.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 08/17/2009

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