Sometimes in a sports world where madness is the standard and ugliness is the norm, you need a little ray of sunshine.
Watch my latest video commentary or read below:
This story is a remarkable one.
It is remarkable because it involves sportsmanship in sport. Those stories have become fewer and farther between these days. Too often, we see folks in sports posturing and pushing. This week, we even had an NBA player mocking another in the media.
Are these grown ups or third graders?
We don’t have to ask that question about a couple of Division II softball players from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Western Oregon was visiting Central Washington for a doubleheader last weekend, and early in the second game, Sara Tucholsky stepped to the plate. The diminutive senior had never hit a home run in her career, but on the second pitch, she smacked a pitch over the centerfield fence.
Everyone from Western Oregon went nuts, including Sara. In her excitement, she missed tagging first base. When she turned back to touch it, her right knee buckled.
She fell to the ground.
Her coach knew if anyone from their team touched Sara, she would’ve been unable to advance. Her first career homer would’ve gone down as only a single.
Then as everyone stood around trying to figure out what to do, Mallory Holtman spoke up. The Central Washington first baseman knows how great it is to hit a home run. She’s her school’s career leader.
Mallory said, “Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?”
And that’s exactly what Mallory and shortstop Liz Wallace did. They lifted Sara, their hands crossed under her and carried her to second, then third, then home.
I’d like to think that any athlete anywhere would do what Mallory and Liz did for little Sara, but I’m not sure they would.
Maybe that’s why this story from a small-school conference in a far-away corner of the country is being noticed by ESPN and The New York Times and so many others around the country. Even though you can find sports in sportsmanship, you can’t always find sportsmanship in sports. Maybe the story of the gals from Central Washington and Western Oregon shouldn’t seem so remarkable, but we know that in today’s sports world, it is.
Mallory and Liz carried Sara, but really, they gave all of us a lift.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Ms. Jenni Carlson:
Ms. Carlson, I respectively ask that you, and all women sports reporters, refrain from entering the men’s locker rooms at all sporting events. Prior to reading the report regarding the White Sox blow up doll incident I had no idea female reporters were allowed in men’s locker rooms. This is absolutely an invasion of privacy. I understand the reasoning behind women being allowed in the men’s locker rooms, equal access regardless of gender, and as such I believe all reporters must abstain from entering the men’s locker rooms to level the playing field. However, at this time I believe the most egregious issue is the lack of personal privacy in the men’s locker rooms. Once this issue is resolved then we should tackle the issue of equal access regardless of gender.
Best regards,
Aaron D. Marr
amarr@gatech.edu
May 13th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Jenni Carlson,
Personally, I believe you are the single worst sportswriter I have ever taken the time to read. Your stories are poorly written and often time carry factual inconsistencies. You are just another reason why I believe that women should not be able to cover male dominated sports. You are unprofessional and come across as arrogant, which is very unwelcome when it comes to reading and hearing about sports. I hope your services will be short lived and I wouldnt be surprised if they were.
Steve