Derek Jeter, Fair or Foul?

To me, there’s a fine line between gamesmanship and cheating in sports.  For those of you that didn’t see the Derek Jeter moment the other night, it was a play that I thought crossed that fine line.  Now there are many replays of it on YouTube  but you can view it here.  To recap, the Yankees were playing in Tampa against the Rays.  He was at bat at the top of the 7^th with his team down 2 – 1.  Jeter lined up to bunt but was “hit” by the pitch.  After hearing the sound, I watched the game and knew he didn’t get hit.  The replay confirmed he didn’t get hit but Jeter put on an act afterwards to sell to the umpire that he did get hurt.  The Yankees’ trainer even came out to check out Jeter’s elbow/hand.

Here’s my take on the play.  I would have been fine had Jeter let the umpire make the wrong call and award him first base (which the umpire did).  The fact that he played it out to be something serious, had the trainers come out, and spun around afterwards and acted in pain is just too much.  It got to the point where Joe Madden came out and argues that it clearly hit Jeter’s bat.  He should be more of a professional and just taken his base, not be an actor.  This just sends the wrong message to kids that admire him as a player.

What Happened To Giving Your Best?

For many people, I think people know who I'm talking about when i mention the name Usain Bolt.  For those of you who don't, he is a Track & Field athlete from Jamaica who dominated the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  He set 2 individual world records for the 100 and 200 meters and also set a relay record in the men's 4x100m relay race.  He has been a dominate athlete in the 100 and 200 meters ever since he started competing in those events.

Recently though, the man whom many think can challenge Bolt, American's Tyson Gay, beat Bolt at the DN Galan Meet on August 6th.  While many are giving Tyson Gay full credit for beating Bolt, others are saying that Bolt wasn't a his peak shape, or that he was just competing for the money (being offered as much as $75,000 to show and compete).

To hear and read this irks me as a sports fan.  Being a world class athlete and having competed in the Olympics and setting world records, not being in top shape is a horrible thing to say in a defeat.  Whenever an Athlete is competing, whether from  Track & Field, Golf, or even Ping Pong, you should be prepared to compete and giving it your best effort every time.  I can understand if it was a semi-final heat to move on but this was the Finals heat and he brought up this excuse.  This totally takes away from what Tyson Gay was able to do beat Bolt. 

For those of you who haven't seen it, you can see it here

This also brings me to my next point.  I am curious as to why Track athletes, mainly 100 meter runners, let up and slow down before they cross the line.  Using Bolt as an example, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bolt was leading with 20 meters left before letting up to celebrate.  He eventually broke the world record running it in 9.69.  His trainer later claimed that he could have ran "9.50, that's how fast he is".

Well Mr. Bolt's Trainer, if he didn't let up, we would have know.  I don't know about you but as a kid when I played Pee Wee football, I was always coached to give it my best, to finish the play, and to run through the line when doing sprints.  On the biggest sports stage, Bolt failed to do that, possibly sending the wrong message to young kinds that show-boating and bad sportsmanship is better than giving it your full effort   While winning a big race is a great accomplishment, athletes should still give it all they got and show up prepared to give a great performance.