What is the best act of sportsmanship you have ever witnessed?
A MOMENT IN A PHOTO
That old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” proved true during a basketball game in January 2022. The New England Tigers were in the midst of a hard-scrabble game, going into overtime following one of those legendary three-point shots.
GS Publishing covers local news in the southwestern portion of the state, including along the Highway 21 corridor from New England to Flasher and beyond, and reporters cheer for every single player while covering games. This night, the newspaper sent a photographer, Layn Mudder, who has zero ties to any of the local sports teams, to photograph a couple of games. He’s from Mandan, but photographs for GS Publishing in a pinch. And when two boys basketball teams are playing a little farther from home in Washburn.
During the game, the photographer turned his camera toward the bleachers, because something drew his attention. One of the teams in the bleachers was ferociously cheering for the team on the floor.
And below is the moment he caught. The Grant County/Mott-Regent team, who had just played a game in the McLean County Shootout, cheering for their New England compadres. Unabashedly, loudly cheering.
Grant County and Mott-Regent had just formed a new boys basketball co-op starting with the 2021-22 season and were newly sitting beside each other. The Mott-Regent/New England football team had just completed a successful season in a continuing football co-op.
And this night, all the co-mingling of borders just didn’t seem to matter.
Four communities cheering for one. One team cheering for another. Putting all those differences aside. All for one. This photo. No more words.
Luann Dart
Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Cooperative
MORE THAN JUST A BASKET
One of the best acts of sportsmanship I remember took place at an elementary boys basketball tournament many years ago.
Our Pingree-Buchanan team was having a great day. Everyone on the team had scored, except for one player. He was not as tall as most of the other players. Our coaches began setting up plays to get the ball to him in an attempt to let him have the opportunity to score.
The opponents soon figured out what was happening and didn’t play defense quite as hard. The crowd, made up of people from several schools, began cheering at each attempt. After several tries, the ball went through the rim. The entire crowd was on its feet in jubilation for the player who had scored just like everyone else.
Judy Perleberg
Northern Plains Electric Cooperative
GATHERING AT THE NET
Our granddaughter played volleyball for South Heart High School and would get both teams together for a short prayer in the center of the net after the games. We think this showed good sportsmanship.
Kay and Ted Tescher
Roughrider Electric Cooperative
UPCOMING READER REPLY QUESTIONS
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