The Original Sin

Michelle Mitchell of Scribbit wrote today of her embarrassment over the lack of humility of the Olympic athletes, most notably those from the U.S.  Her essay is interesting because it sheds light on our national schizophrenia in regard to sports.  On one hand, we idolize athletes and we cheer their victories.  On the other, we cringe to see the arrogance that athletes seem to display more and more each year. 

The examples Mitchell gives of shameful behavior include such disparate things as:

• Valeri Liukin missing his daughter’s medal ceremony because he was busy arguing with the judges.
• Track and field stars “strutting their stuff in an ostentatious display.”
• Track and Field winners taking a victory lap.
• Track and field winners draping their country’s flag over their shoulders “as if it were a towel because they’re just too busy thinking about how good it is to be them.”
• 200 meter dash victor (and record breaker) Usain Bolt shouting, “I’m number one!”
• Track and Field athlete Wallace Spearmon protesting his disqualification for stepping on the lane lines.
• Gymnast Paul Hamm (in the 2004 games) keeping his gold medal even though he did not earn it. (There was a scoring error which could not be reversed according to the rules, but there was no question that he did not deserve the gold medal.)

All of these examples fall, for her, into some broad category defined loosely as “lack of humility,” or “arrogance.”  I submit that the reason we see so much arrogance in sports is precisely because we have made genuine pride taboo in every other area of life.

What message do we send our children about pride?  If you are truly religious, pride is an outright sin.  One must never feel a sense of importance or greatness of the self.  But since it is impossible to live without a positive sense of self, we’ve changed the terminology and begun to herald the importance of self-esteem.  We’ve left both of these concepts fuzzy, though, and children receive such mixed messages as, “always think of others before yourself,” “you are great because you are not like anybody else,” “you are no better than anybody else,” and “you are good and I’ll help you feel it by telling you so over and over.”  Note that all of these messages involve the child’s relationship with other people, but none address the true source of pride and self-esteem: achievement. 

Since pride in achievement (which never denigrates others) has been lumped into the same category as conceit (an unearned, false pride), and arrogance (the feeling of superiority over others), children try to suppress it all in the name of being good.  But the one area where pride is not considered completely out of bounds is in sports.  In our culture, physical accomplishment is considered worthy of a respect not granted to any other achievement.  Athletes are exempted from being labeled sinners for their pride.  In sports, we are still allowed to WIN, to TRIUMPH, to SUCCEED, and for the most part, to feel good about it. 

But the kids who have become the athletes of today were never taught the difference between an honest feeling of pride and the petty need to feel superior to others.  They have not been taught to cherish and protect the sacred feeling of their own self-worth, which would make conceit and arrogance abhorrent.  In many cases, they do not have real self-esteem or pride, but are indeed arrogant.  In most other fields, people shut this feeling down because it is considered immoral.  Athletes have been granted license to strut.

What saddens me is that the pathetic displays of arrogance I’ve seen in sports over the years, and even outright dishonesty can be equated with highly moral and beautiful moments.  I watched Usain Bolt win the 200 meter dash and was thrilled with his performance and his obvious pride in his achievement.  I was not offended by his chant of “I’m number one!” or even his childish victory dance.  I saw a man who had earned it, celebrating his victory.  I especially enjoyed the shot of Michael Johnson, watching from above as “Lightning” Bolt broke his world record.  He was clearly excited to see it.  Bolt’s achievement did nothing to take away Johnson’s.  Later, Bolt described his feelings by saying, “I’m just proud of myself,” and “I just try to enjoy myself.”  He never spoke of others, either as having beaten them, or even to thank them, as Mitchell would have him do in the name of humility.  His achievement was his own and his pride was earned, and it was a great thing to watch. 

We need to reclaim pride as a virtue - as the crown of the virtues - and we need to apply it to all areas of life, not just sports.