1. Romanian captain, Cristian Petre, who after suffering a 67-3 loss to England,  was asked by a reporter about the game and replied “I play rugby for happiness.”  More.
2. The French rugby team won the toss to choose who wears their own home jerseys in the Rugby World Cup Final and declined to wear their treasured ‘bleu’. Instead they felt it was right for Kiwis, as RWC hosts, should  wear their own colours.   More
3. Young Kerry Gaelic football Tomás Ó’Sé after the final whistle carried the ball as a souvenir to the Dublin goal keeper who kicked the winning point in 2011 All Ireland Gaelic Final. Caught on camera! More.
4. Former Somali refugee, Mohamed Farah, won gold for Britain in the 5,000 metres World Athletic Championships – making his new nation very proud while arch rival, Kenyan, Paul Lagat (representing USA) was the first to embrace him and congratulate him. More.
5. Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed honour when he allowed England’s batsman to be reinstated after being ‘run out’ because of a misunderstanding that the game had stopped for tea. More.
6. Vancouver’s Langley Elementary School children displayed true sportsmanship after Ice Hockey riots when they wrote to Boston school children to congratulate the winners, Boston. More.
7. Ex American basket ball pro, ex junkie and now coach, Chris Herren, is a true sportsman as he coaches children and encourages them to always have fun & enjoy their games. More.
8. The Indian & Pakistan cricket fans – arch enemies became friends for life as they shared the excitement & enjoyment of fierce competition as over one billion people watched the match on television.  One man offered to sell his liver … More.
9. 19 year old Japanese golfer, Ryo Ishikawa, donated all this year’s earnings to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  More.
10. Irish rugby coach, Declan Kidney when asked about the illegal Welsh try that won the game said, that ‘while he felt extremely frustrated, he was not going to make an issue of it at a time when so many in the world were suffering. More.

I will tweet later our all time favourite single moment for 2011. Happy New Year  To One and All.  Say ‘Yes’ to Great Sportsmanship in 2012.

In Chris’s words: “My message to kids today is to have fun. Because unfortunately in my experience parents don’t see the end – that it’s a marathon.   For 90% of kids in this country it’s gonna end at 18. If you’re lucky you get a scholarship and go to college. If you hit the lottery and make it to the pro’s and not many do. You know when basketball stopped being fun for me and more being like a job I looked for other avenues to go down to relieve stress and escape from it.”

Find out what words hurt him so much but eventually became the best words of his life. Thanks to Jeff Fuller for sharing this powerful story.

He’s written a book called Basketball Junkie: A Memoire

Ryder Cup 1969: Then came that magical moment in 1969. On the very last hole, after three days of intense battle, The Open champion, England’s Tony Jacklin, had to make a nerve racking two foot putt to save Britain and Ireland from defeat. Up stepped the world’s greatest golfer, American, Jack Nicklaus, putted his own four and a half foot putt and then astonished the world by picking up Tony Jacklin’s ball marker (which effectively meant that Jacklin didn’t have to take the putt since Nicklaus ‘gave it to him’ or conceded the putt) and said “I know you would not have missed that.” Nicklaus later revealed: “I didn’t want to take the chance that he might miss the putt and have his stature diminished. “

Ryder Cup 2006: It’s 6.30am before the 2006 at the US PGA Golf Championship, when America’s Ryder Cup captain, Tom Lehman, invites fellow professional golfers to a private prayer for his golf friend and Ryder Cup opposition Darren Clarke whose wife, Heather had passed away a short time earlier. Many months later, when the still grieving Clarke walked onto the first tee of the Ryder Cup at Ireland’s K Club, his opposite number, America’s Phil Mickleson, walked towards Clarke, held out his hands and embraced him in a warm bear hug. Clarke hit a great tee shot and went on to play great golf. Then in the final hole of the final match between Paul McGinley and the American rookie JJ Henry, another magical moment occurred. The young American needed to putt a 25 foot putt to halve the hole, draw the overall match and, although the US had lost the Cup, avoid the USA suffering its worst ever defeat. McGinley conceded the putt.

Earlier in the year, the same Darren Clarke was winning by 2 shots with 10 holes to play when he hit his ball into thick rough in the Carton Club. The hooter went off and play was abandoned due to bad weather. When Clarke returned on the Monday he found his ball had magically emerged into a perfect position as all the thick grass was now flattened around his previously ‘almost buried’ ball. All the fans had trampled around the area or perhaps the Leprachauns had helped him. But Clarke refused to aim his next shot at the green, instead he chose to chip out sideways as that was what he would have done originally when the ball was deep in the thick grass. ‘Honesty’ he said ‘is part and parcel of the game and I could not have acted in any other way.’

Ryder Cup 2010: even before a ball has been hit, the European captain, Colin Montgomerie, announced that he had chosen not to use his “home captain’s prerogative” (which is setting the course up to suit the European players). He preferred instead to create an “honest course that would reward the best team”.  Game on! And what a great game it was. It went right to the wire – the very last match. And Europe prevailed.  The Americans displayed honest sportsmanship as they hugged their European victors – even in the early games. Both speeches were laden with honour and nobility as befits a sport that depends on its code of etiquette.  The magic of the Ryder Cup continues.

Note: For the full story of each of these and to explain how a rampaging streaker influenced McGinley’s sporting gesture see Great Moments Of Sportsmanship – a collection of true 2 minute stories about sportsmanship with the foreword written by Paul McGinley.

He was about to win his first tournament when he asked a referee to check the TV’s slow motion replay to see if he had moved a reed slightly (thereby incurring a penalty and effectively forfeiting the opportunity to win). Brian Davis is a hero who quietly chose honour and the essence of sportsmanship over big prize money.

Then comes the Ryder Cup when the world’s best professional golfers abandon money (there is no prize money nor any appearance money – just a fat wad of honour and respect). And when the European captain, Colin Montgomerie and the US captain, Corey Pavin, sat side by side yesterday at the media conference at Celtic Manor in Wales they showed such great respect for each other and for the history of this unique competition. It only comes round every two years.

Photo: Dan Perry    www.danperry.com

So here’s a two part post acknowledging some special Ryder Cup moments (plus a few extra) and revealing great golfers who had great hearts – as they simply made the world a better place.

America’s Arnold Palmer won 7 majors and also played in six US Ryder Cup teams (1961,1963, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1973). He captained the team in 1963 and came back 12 years later to captain it once again. He almost single handedly made ‘The Open’ (the British Open) what it is today as prior to Palmer few Americans would travel over for it. He once said: ‘I’ve got a strong feeling that golf is a great vehicle to bring nations closer together. If I could get all the war torn nations of the world and have the war lords play golf together, I could solve the world’s problems and we could all be peace loving people. That may sound far fetched, but it’s what I believe.”

Although South Africa’s Gary Player would never play in the Ryder Cup, he did bring nations closer together, in his own way. He took his famous black caddie, Alfred Dyer, all over the world with him at a time when this was unheard of in apartheid South Africa. He won all four major championships and was the first non-American to win the US Masters. He was also the only 20^th century golfer to win ‘The Open’ in three different decades (1959, 1968 & 1974). He has donated his winnings to charity and funded educational charities in South Africa and in his adopted home, America.

Then came those magical Ryder Cup moments in 1969, 2006, 2010 (Jacklin, Nicklaus, Leyman, Clarke, Mickleson, McGinley and Monty). …….see part 2 (on Thursday).

Note: For the full story of each of these see Great Moments Of Sportsmanship – a collection of true 2 minute stories about sportsmanship with the foreword written by Paul McGinley. Also See

India’s Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi say that “If we can be friends, so can our countries”. They say it is “the beauty of sport”. They are vibrant “we are trying to give a message of peace to people of India and Pakistan.”

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947. "It is the beauty of sport that it’s above culture, politics and religion," says Qureshi. "It feels very good to see the Indian fans taking autographs from me and Pakistani fans taking Rohan’s autographs. Rohan always points out that even if we change the minds of 3% or 4% of people, it’s worth it. And if we two can be friends together, then why can’t other Indians and Pakistanis be friends?"

India’s and Pakistan’s ambassadors to the United Nations have been sitting together and cheering them on. The players now want to stage an exhibition match at the Wagah border crossing between India and Pakistan. They have invited their presidents and prime ministers and are awaiting a response. In Wimbledon, earlier this summer, they started wearing t-shirts with the message "Stop War, Start Tennis".

They eventually lost narrowly to the hot favourite America brothers, Mike and Bob Bryan who spoke warmly about the ‘IndoPak Express’: “What these guys are doing bringing India and Pakistan together is very special. It shows that sport can bring people together." Both of the Americans have  donated generously to an appeal fund set up for the Pakistan floods.  "It’s just a match and it’s just a game. A lot of people in Pakistan don’t have homes and are out on the street. What these guys are doing bringing India and Pakistan together is very special. It shows that sport can bring people together."

During the interview I was moaning about the French footballer, Henri handling the ball (see 3 Wise Men) and demanding a replay in the name of Fair Play (as well as marking the end of the ‘non-video ref era’), when a wonderful Wigan FC fan phoned in (as the programme was originally about the Wigan players giving the fans their money back after Wigan were beaten  9-1 by Spurs). He  admitted that one of their players had, in fact handled the ball also, and that they, as true sportsmen, were offering Spurs the opportunity of a replay. Don’t you just love some football fans’ wit & humour? A wonderful Christmas gesture!

Cochran won the event in 10:36, beating Shadle Park’s Andrea Nelson by 3 seconds. Thirty minutes later, race officials disqualified Cochran, ruling that the Harvard-bound runner ran 3 consecutive steps inside the lane adjacent to hers. Bellarmine Prep Coach Matt Ellis appealed the infraction, but his appeal was denied. Everyone knew that Cochrane had not stepped into the next lane and that the officials were wrong.

In a magical sportsmanship moment  when the official 3,200 race winner Andrea Nelson was awarded her first place medal at the podium, she moments later gave her first place medal to Cochran. Redmond’s Sarah Lord followed by giving Nelson her second-place medal, and the other medal winners followed suit. Somewhat reminiscent of the Britain’s  Gold medalist fencer, Judy Guinness at the 1932 LA Olympic when she refused her gold medal because officials had missed her opponent’s scores.

Some days later – the officials, having studied the video tapes rescinded their decision and officially awarded Cochran the gold medal. Congrats to Nelson, Lord and the other young lady who felt honour was more important than metal.

See the Full Story.

Never may we lose this tradition. I have another question for you:  Why do some players now, when asked to swap shirts by their opposing player, point to the dressing room and, I assume, suggest that they swap shirts in the dressing room. Is this protocol madness. Doesn’t the FA, EUFA and FIFA realise that the best PR for the game is to let kids see players swap shirts. Does anyone know the logic here?

I was so pleased to receive the  full poem from John Miles (see 6th comment on this link) – many thanks John.

This discussion has been ongoing since I first posted a question about  these magical sportsmanship words back in December 2008.  However I still wonder why the attached beautiful graphic (which used to hang in my parents’ bedroom  in Dublin in the 1950s) refers to Newbolt? Does anyone know?

You can download this as a poster by clicking on it or print it out and post it onto a notice board, or a dressing room.

Although many of the thousands in the stadium and the millions watching on TV expected him to collapse into tears after coming very very close to winning the championship, he replied:

“No. I’m one of the lucky few that gets cheered for. So thank you for that. I appreciate it (massive applause). You know aww, I just want to say congratulations to Roger (Federer). You know he’s a true champion. He deserves everything he gets. So well done Roger.

Sue Barker: “You threw everything at him.”

“Well I tried. Sorry Pete (Pete Sampras who was in the crowd and whose record of 14 Grand Slams has now been taken Federer with his 15th Grand Slam title). I tried to hold him off. It was a pleasure playing here today in front of great champions like Pete (Sampras), Minolo (?), Rod (Laver) and Bjorn (Borg). I still hope one day that my name will be up there as winner of this tournament. And I’ll be back.” (massive applause).

- a true sportsman.

See the interview: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8135340.stm