On Being a Good Sport

Frequently we hear the phrase, “Come on, be a good sport” _ or something else that means the same. It is sometimes used as an inducement to persuade people to participate in wholesome purposes _ for talking people into doing things they should do; and sometimes for unwholesome purposes _ for talking people into doing things they shouldn’t do. It is the misuse of such persuasion that we would, for a moment, talk to.

Since misery loves company, as the saying goes, people often try to tempt people to do what others do, to be what others are, even if it means pulling them down to a lower level. Why anyone would try to pull other people down is one of the mysteries of human nature, but it must be said that it is often so. Often people are pressured to partake of things that would lower their resistance, impair their judgment, damage their minds and their morals, by the persuasive appeal to “Be a good sport.” Sometimes people are dared or induced to do that which leads to loss of virtue, by persistent persuasion. Boys and girls are often dared to lawless, irresponsible, or unwise acts _ joining a reckless crowd, risking their records, risking the whole future before them _ by the wheedling or threatening phrase, “Come on, be a good sport” _ or something else that means the same. How it is that doing something dangerous or damaging or degrading is supposed to make a person “a good sport” is never quite clear.

Why should anyone think that anyone else should lower his standards, clutter his record, compromise his life just to prove that he is a so-called sport? To do so would be sheer stupidity. Perhaps we should reverse the process. Perhaps we should say this to those who endeavor to induce others to do what they shouldn’t do: “Be a good sport, and don’t try to tempt other people to do something for which they will surely be sorry. Be a good sport, and don’t try to pull other people down to a lower level.”