For the Sport: All-Star game shows sports’ dichotomy
By Chris Fusciardi
Sports Editor
Sports can often provide an example of the good things – and the bad – that permeate our society.
For children and teenagers, sports can help teach selflessness, teamwork, hard work, dedication, respect and good sportsmanship.
Occasionally, some athletes reach professional levels and lose these traits.
More often I would argue, so called ‘fans’ forget basic ideas of good sportsmanship and respect as it relates to If you are determined to purchase Custom jerseys, then you will want to do your research to know what to look for in fake ones.opposing discount nfl jerseys online,you will save a lot of money and have good things.teams and their followers.
Some hardcore sports fans can even place sporting events at a higher level of importance than real world problems, or at least ignore those problems in favor of Sportscenter and Mike and Mike in the Morning.
This ‘good’ and ‘bad’ was on display in last week’s MLB All Star game.
I’ll admit two of my least favorite teams in all of baseball are the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The media attention and hype these teams get simply because of their location often overshadows the quality of other teams in smaller markets.
Yet in an All Star competition – where the best of the best are on display – it was disheartening to hear the reaction of the Anaheim crowd when Boston and New York players were announced.
Instead of paying respect to the players and offering each at least a cursory applause as recognition of their achievement, each and every one of these players were loudly booed.
If anything it was something I expected from the fans, and that’s a sad indictment of crowd behavior in today’s sports climate.
But it’s disappointing when in an exhibition contest honoring the amazing accomplishments these players have achieved, fans can’t simply give a little recognition to the players.
This, though, is simply Swagelok® Pfa Valve feature high-purity PFA material with low extractables for chemical resistance, Swagelok PFA tube fone example of where good sportsmanship and respect has slipped away from the typical fan experience.
Yet I had hardly gotten my complaints out of my mouth to my wife, when Fox and MLB showed just how sports can illustrate all that is good about society.
Through a lengthy process, each team selected one ‘All Star Among Us’ from their area to represent the team as MLB – in conjunction with People Magazine – paid tribute and recognized these individuals for the good things they do for the world and their community.
Watching the ceremony as each ‘All-Star’ had their picture shown on national TV and worldwide celebrities talked about the value of what they did, I thought it was a great way to recognize the sacrifices of these people.
MLB even brought all 30 people to Anaheim, giving them jerseys of the teams they were chosen from and honored them in the middle of the field after the All Star rosters were announced.
That would have been more than enough.
The touching part, though, was after Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts et al had spoken about what these individuals did, all 70-plus MLB All Star’s and managers moved to the center of the diamond, hugging and giving thanks to the everyday people who deserved recognition For the sake of your health, it is necessary for you to buy a discount cheap rockies jerseys.but never sought it out.
“You are my hero,†Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees said to Minnesota Twins representative Bob Bartwell, a paraplegic who founded a Christian youth ranch and The National Wheelchair Sports and Recreation Camp while finding time to complete 100 wheelchair marathons.
“I always say that pain, style and disappointment is inevitable, but misery is optional,†Bartwell said after the All-Star game. “This is just a big boost to all of us to go back home to our community and inspire other people.â€
These heroes didn’t start non-profit organizations or donate their time for recognition, but because they thought it was the right thing to do.
If only one out of every 10,000 people who watched that got a newfound appreciation for helping others, that could mean an additional 1,000 people country wide volunteering in their communities, starting non-profit’s or becoming active in local charities and assistance programs for those less fortunate.
Excessive focus on sports can lead to many of the worst attributes in society such as self-centeredness, a belief in entitlement and a lack of understanding of what is truly important.
What MLB did with this showcase of everyday All-Stars was to show that they cared, they appreciated and they were thankful for everything these individuals do outside of the sports world.
Maybe, one day, these values the ‘All-Stars Among Us’ hope to build outside the ball parks will once again become the norm for player and fan actions inside as well.

