Whatever happened to sportsmanship?

Some might call it a contrast in styles; others simply good sportsmanship. Two weeks ago, the Dinwiddie Generals football team raised the ire of Colonial Heights fans by constantly kicking on-side kicks after scoring plays. Although Dinwiddie Coach Billy Mills explained that his team has resorted to making those kicks because it generally only cost them one first down for a chance to get the ball back.

Mills said he and his defensive coordinator had reviewed film of kickoffs for last season and found that kick returns averaged coming out to the 37-yard line. Lost on-side kicks typically ended up at the 45 or 50 yard line, a difference of about one first down (10 yards). Once the statistics were compiled, making the philosophical shift was logical. Admittedly, Mills said that they had not had great success with the philosophy, but they still felt it could benefit his team in the long run.

When his team continued to employ the short kicks, which are usually employed in last ditch efforts by teams’ who are trailing in games; many of the spectators on the Colonial Height’s side of the field were repulsed. It wasn’t difficult to hear the Colonials fans who felt that the continued practice with a huge lead was not so much philosophical as it was bad sportsmanship.

In football, and especially at the high school level, an element of fairness and sporting behavior should and ought to be groomed. When one team so far out performs another, at some point a sense of gallantry ought to come forward. Stronger teams, once they have established themselves by virtue of a lopsided score, ought to call of the dogs.

At what point the dogs should be called off is another matter altogether, which relies on a coach’s judgment. Dinwiddie’s use of the short kick gave them two additional possessions in the first half, during which the Generals rolled up a 52-0 lead.  The Colonials were due to get the ball back on the second half kickoff. What kind of lead is enough? For the Generals, apparently, 52 points didn’t meet the requirement as they once again employed the onside kick.

No one argues that Dinwiddie was within its rights to continue to employ the tactic. The question is more about ethics. With the score 52-0, the second half already was going to employ a running clock ,which shortens the playing time, and the chances were non-existent that Colonial Heights might launch a miraculous comeback. In fact, Dinwiddie had turned to its back up players, and that allowed the Colonials to score three touchdowns to make the final score 66-22.

Fair or not fair?

What did the Generals have to gain? Other than needing to win, the game was meaningless. The Colonials were no competition on the field or in the standings. The game was not for a District Championship or some other title. Instead, the Generals gained nothing more than a bad reputation.

By contrast, Prince George also employed the onside kick in its 36-0 win over the Colonials last Friday. The Colonials had managed to keep that game fairly close in the first half, yielding a touchdown with only minutes to play in the half to give the Royals a 10-0 lead. It was still a close game.

After scoring their next touchdown in the third quarter, the Royals also tried an on-side kick, which they recovered and scored again to push the lead to 17-0. The Royals scored later to go up 23-0, and had a 29-0 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

Obviously in charge of the game, Prince George did not resort to the on-side kick again. They went on to win 36-0. But the Royals showed compassion and good sportsmanship by not continuing to use the onside kick to gain more opportunities to score against a team that was neither able to stop them nor able to score against them.

The Colonials, who always seem to lack enough players, have been seriously dinged up this season. They have had many of their starters injured and at least four first-team players were not in uniform for the game and were sitting on the bench. Their injuries are serious and not just bumps and bruises:  torn MCL, broken wrist, separated shoulders, and hurt tibias are not run-of-the-mill injuries. The Colonials have continued to field a team, although many players have had to move to different positions, and a number of backups have had to take on starting roles. Colonials Coach Remus James says injuries are part of football, and he just wants to make sure his charges come out and play as hard as they can; which they do.

Most other teams in the Central District are aware of Colonial Heights’ personnel situation. That’s one of the reasons the Colonials are invited to so many Homecoming contests. The real question is when and why have teams lost sight of sportsmanship, and the sense of camaraderie that used to exist among district and region foes?

From my perspective as a reporter, kudos to the Prince George Royals for recognizing the situation during the game, and holding back from actions that might otherwise seem unsporting. Once they established the lead and dominance on the field, they let the game to play out without feeling the need to pummel a weaker opponent.