“Anybody who teaches a skill, which coaches do, is
admirable. But sport doesn’t build character. Character is built pretty much by
the time you’re six or seven. Sports reveals character. Sports heightens your
perceptions. Let that be enough.”—Sports commentator Heywood Hale Broun (1918-2001) quoted in Larry Lockhart, “Broun: ‘I
like to See Things Done With Zest,’” Ames
(IA) Daily Tribune, Jan. 16, 1974
The above quote has been shortened to “Sports doesn’t
build character; it reveals it.” But you get the point—which is worth bearing
in mind now, as the Summer Olympics head into the home stretch and various
professional teams say goodbye to old (often problematic) players and hello to
young (and as yet unknown) ones.
(BTW: I used to catch Broun on CBS Sunday Morning more than three decades ago. His outfit, in the accompanying image, brought back many fond memories of his vivid on-air style, sartorially as well as verbally.)
No comments:
Post a Comment