Fair Play

The following lines from a poem by an American sports writer, Harry Grantland Rice, sums up the concept of a fair game. In the Alumnus Football he wrote, “…When the Great Scorer comes to write against your name He writes – not that you won or lost – but how you played the game”

In the common room at school part of Harry’s poem was written on the notice board in golden letters “It’s not that you won or lost but how you played the game”. I now know its origin.

Although he was writing about football these words are universal to all aspects of life and relationships.

The Olympics Oath is about how you played the game in a spirit of sportsmanship. “In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams”.

1879 saw the stirrings of change in American football. At that time it was played largely in the fields of Ivy League schools. Players were intent on beating themselves up the game was regarded as barbaric. Likely it is something to do with the notion of being a man. Along comes the Carlisle Indian Industrial School located near Gettysburg. The school was established to assimilate the sons of Indians who fought in the civil war. An ex-civil war officer ran it on extremely strict grounds. As part of their regimen they started playing football, their mandate was to be the best football team out there. So in 1897they take on Yale. Yale wins when the referee disallows a Carlisle touchdown saying the whistle had been blown. Rather than erupting the Carlisle team displayed what Harry referred to in his poem. The Carlisle team won the respect and support of the crowd. They went on to beat Chicago and again their sportsmanship won them respect.

Cricket was underway in the United Kingdom. It was regarded as a gentleman’s sport and how you played the game was the underlying foundation. The phrase “It’s just not cricket” refers to a situation where the high standard of fair play and sportsmanship is not met, where behaviour is immoral and unethical. Nowadays there are too many situations that are “just not cricket”.

Cricket is a game that has been subject to gambling, game fixing and intrigue. Bookmakers have induced players into providing them with information in return for money. Gambling and game fixing has caught several players manipulating the outcome of matches. The death of the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer in 2007 shows the lengths that these game fixers will go to. Police have never found the perpetrators.

Sadly, the list of sports where game fixing, gambling and manipulation exists is endless. It is not the “how you played the game”, in the spirit of sportsmanship. The manipulation is pervasive.

Bookmaking is the practice of laying bets on the various outcomes of a single event. The bookmaker is in a stronger position if he can get certain information about the event for which he would pay bribes.

Spot fixing is an illegal activity where a betting market exists and the action by a player is unrelated to the final result. It is intended to defraud the bookmaker. So for example the timing of a pass could change the play and result in a penalty.

Point shaving is a type of match fixing where the intention is to manipulate scoring so that the final score results in a predetermined outcome. It generally involves a sports gambler and one or more players of the team favoured to win. In exchange for a bribe the player(s) attempt that their team will not cover the point spread.

What has caused this notion to win at all costs? The stakes are high with sponsorships, opportunities to make money and advertising driving this urge. The use of steroids is well documented. Say no more!!

It is encouraging seeing some isolated incidents of player’s conceding points to their opponent or even applauding them. At the end of the day contests remain exciting to watch. But one wonders…a niggling doubt.