Beautiful Game, Ugly Reputation

Much of the world, sporting or not, is wrapped up in the 2014 World Cup, currently taking place in Brazil. The sport of soccer (or football or futbol) is arguably the world’s most popular game, even though most North Americans favour other sports. We would be alone, though, as the majority of the nations of this world passionately follow “the beautiful game.”

Unfortunately, what’s beautiful can sometimes turn ugly, as it did in the Uruguay-Italy match. There was a lot riding on this game, as the winner would advance to the second round. At one critical point, lead striker for the Uruguayans, Luis Suarez, actually bit the shoulder of his Italian opponent, Giorgio Chiellini. There was immediate response to this incident, with some sports writers calling it the “Bite Seen Round the World.” For his unsportsmanlike efforts, Suarez was suspended for 9 international matches and grounded for 4 months. His actions were an embarrassment to his team and his country.

At what point does one’s athletic ability allow poor behaviour to be tolerated? I have observed over the years that ridiculous antics of sports prima donnas are tolerated in direct correlation to their ability to win games for their team. The better the athlete, the more the media and fans seem to put up with their questionable character. I wonder if FIFA’s (soccer’s governing body) is sending a strong signal here that such trends will be changing. Wouldn’t that be nice?

There is a key verse in the Bible, in Proverbs 22:1, that sheds light on this very subject. It says, “A good reputation is better than much wealth; high esteem is better than silver and gold.” A person’s reputation is an indicator of one’s character. For sure, a person can get a bad reputation because they are misunderstood, but sometimes those same reputations are truly earned. Unfortunately for Luis Suarez, he already had a reputation coming in that he was a “biter” and his actions in the game against Italy only served to confirm that fact.

In the National Hockey League (NHL) there is an award given annually to “the player exhibiting sportsmanship and gentlemanly play combined with playing ability” (as cited by ESPN). The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, won the award 5 times with 3 different teams. Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk won it 4 years in a row at one point, and Martin St. Louis has won it 3 out of the last 4 years. These are high-profile athletes in their given sport, just like Luis Suarez, but there is one major difference: character. It has been said that your gift can take you where your character can’t keep you. Maybe Luis Suarez needs to learn that one!