Sportsmanship and Sore Losers

Mallorie Aldrich

Sportsmanship is a life lesson many people are taught at a young age and learn to understand the meaning as they grow up and mature. Many people think that sportsmanship only relates to sports. For one thing, the word “sports” is part of the term. According to the Merriam-Webster, sportsmanship means “conduct becoming to one participating in a sport such as fairness, respect for one’s opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing.” Even if someone has a very competitive nature, they still understand the meaning of sportsmanship when participating in sports. But there are a few outliers that have not truly learned the lesson of sportsmanship, and those are the ones we like to call sore losers. 

Sore losers don’t have graciousness in losing and definitely don’t have respect for one’s opponent. Back to Merriam-Webster, a sore loser “is a person who becomes very upset or angry when he or she loses a game, contest, etc.” and sadly there are many different types of sore losers in the sports world. One of the most recently talked about by sports analysts sore loser is the Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper. At the end of a recent Jaguars last home game against the Panthers on Dec. 31, Tepper lost his temper over his team losing and threw his drink on Jags fans. According to the NFL, “Tepper was fined $300,000 for unacceptable conduct during the December 31st loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on January 2nd.” Tepper later released a statement apologizing for his behavior stating, “I am deeply passionate about this team and regret my behavior on Sunday. I should have let NFL stadium security handle any issues that arose. I respect the NFL’s code of conduct and accept the League’s discipline for my behavior.” Although Tepper apologized, that doesn’t change the fact that he was a sore loser. But Tepper is not the only sore loser in the sports world. 

Bleacher Report made a list of the 25 biggest sore losers in sports history, and some of the names on the list are surprising to say the least. While it would be great to write all 25 names in this piece, there is simply not enough paper or interest for all 25 so here are some of the more interesting ones. 

Coming in at No. 21 is Randy Moss. Moss was listed as a sore loser because “During the last game of the 2004 regular season, Randy Moss left the field against the Washington Redskins because he didn’t think his team would recover the onside kick. He showed that he cannot take a loss too well or have enough sense to lose with his teammates.” 

At No. 16. is Cleveland Caveliers owner Dan Gilbert. Now Gilbert was mad about LeBron James leaving Cleveland to go to Miami to play for the Heat. But in his anger Gilbert sent “an open letter to James and the city of Cleveland, calling James a quitter saying that the Cavaliers would win a title before the Heat.” Well Gilbert was proven wrong in his statement when the Heat won the NBA Finals title back-to-back in 2012 and 2013.  

Voted No. 14 are the Vancouver Canucks fans. In 2011 the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup finals to the Boston Bruins in game 7, and their fans started a riot over the loss. The fans’ reasoning “They lost on their home ice, prompting this violence and destruction.” According to CBS News, “at least 140 people were injured during the incident, including one person being critically injured. Four people were stabbed, nine police officers were injured, and 101 people were arrested. And in 2015, four years after the riot, the police finished their investigation and recommended final charges against two suspects, bringing a total to 887 charges against 301 people.” Well that’s a difference between Vancouver and Philadelphia, Vancouver destroys their city because they lost, Philly destroys their city cause they won. And that statement is in relation to when the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017. 

No. 3 on Bleacher Report’s list is New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “Throughout the 2007 season, Bill Belichick’s Patriots won 18 times with each resulting in a hardy handshake and a ‘good luck on the rest of the season, coach.’” But with seconds remaining and the perfect season not so perfect anymore, Belichick walked off the field with only a few seconds left, running and hiding into the locker room.” What a great role model Belichick is right? 

Now lastly for the No. 1 sore loser on the list, LeBron James. According to Bleacher Report, James, after losing to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, “instead of doing the whole ‘good game …’ handshake formality, James stormed into the locker room, angry and upset.” But this isn’t the only time James has done that. Most recently in the 2020 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat James walked off the court and left to the locker room with 7 seconds left in the fourth quarter making the Lakers have to sub someone in for him all because the Miami Heat were going to win game 4, and the finals weren’t an easy 4 game sweep like he expected. If that doesn’t scream sore loser, then what does?

With all the sore losers in the sports world, it seems like good sports are hard to find, but that could have to do with the sore losers being talked about more than the moments of good sportsmanship. For example, a couple years ago a men’s college basketball player stayed and helped clean up a mess some of his coaching staff and teammates made after their team’s disappointing road loss. According to Business Insider, the Houston Cougars lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2021 and while Houston’s coaching staff and some players were pissed off and made a mess, then-sophomore Jamal Shead stopped and helped clean up the mess made by his coaches and teammates. Many people praised Shead for his class, poise and sportsmanship. Here’s another example of good sportsmanship and this one hits a little closer to home. During the Dec. 4 Jaguars home game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Trevor Lawrence went down holding his ankle in the fourth quarter. Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson took a knee waiting for Trevor to be helped off the field by the Jags athletic trainers. As for the prospect of taking a knee, when someone is hurt players will take a knee in solidarity as a sign of respect and concern for the injured player. And Hendrickson did just that, and that is a sign of good sportsmanship. 

Sportsmanship is a demonstration of respect, fairness, and graciousness. Sore losers become upset when something doesn’t go their way. When thinking about the prospect of sportsmanship and sore losers in the sports world there is not always enough light to snuff out the dark. But being a good sport always helps bring light to the darkness.