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.

Indian fielder, Praveen Kumar actually fell over the boundary while stopping the ball from touching the boundary rope. He got up slowly and casually threw the ball back to the wicket keeper. The two English batsmen had run three runs but now thought they had actually scored a four, so the second batsman, Bell, grounded his bat, turned and walked towards the pavilion for afternoon tea. At which point the Indian wicket keeper caught the ball at Bell’s end and knocked the bails off shouting the traditional appeal ‘How’s that?’ to the umpire. Bell was out!

The third umpire was called in as the two English batsman stood by the boundary. The dismissal was confirmed. Bell was definitely out. The crowd booed.

During the tea break, the Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, discussed the decision with his team and decided to withdraw their appeal so that Bell could be re-instated.

“In a game that has become increasingly dishonourable at times it required an honourable act by India’s captain and his team to enable Bell to complete an innings that appeared to have been curtailed by his own doziness” Mike Selvey, Guardian Newspaper.

Ian Bell: “It was the right decision for the spirit of the game. It was very naive of me to assume the ball was dead. I didn’t hear the umpire call ‘over’. To walk off for tea was stupid. I have learned a lot of lessons.”

Senior Indian batsman, Rahu Dravid said “it was the right thing to do. If that had happened to one of our guys we would have felt disappointed. The original decision was right in the laws of the game but not in the spirit of the game. Dhoni (the captain) had a team meeting and there was a unanimity in the decision.”

England and Wales cricket board chief executive, David Collier said “the withdrawal of a valid appeal at the tea interval was made in the spirit of cricket by the Indian team and demonstrates the true spirit in which the game of cricket should be played…”

—end—

Point Of Information: If England beat the World No. 1 team, India, in this four test match series and given that Ireland beat England in the most recent World Cup, does this make Ireland the Number one cricket team in the world?

Millions of children watched cheating win last night when a French player handled the ball twice to create the winning goal and throw Ireland out of the World Cup 2010. FIFA have a rare opportunity to help kids know that Fair Play prevails over cheating. We are at the end of an era in football when games are played without video replay facilities for referees (rugby union and many other sports use it successfully to ensure correct decisions are made). So it would be a fitting end to the era to call for a replay. THE FAI have also asked for a replay against France .

There is precedent. FIFA forced a World Cup replay between Bahrain and Uzbekistan in a World Cup play-off for a mistake made on a penalty kick in 2005 so it is possible (albeit a different type of referee’s mistake). Also a truly great French football manager (who managed Henry) once insisted on offering a replay after winning an FA Cup match by ‘improper means’ in 1999 against Sheffield United. Full story is in Great Moments Of Sportsmanship pp.126-128. The French manager has the opportunity to do likewise. He and France would be remembered forever more in the world of football as truly noble sportsmen, elevating them into superheroes for kids all over the world.

Another Frenchman, Philippe Sella, a classy rugby international when told that France would get a by into the final of the World Rugby Cup if their semi final was abandoned (because of weather), said the team would not accept this way of winning.

So there are true heroes out there. They revel in an honest contest. Come on France – show us your noble honour once again; let fair play prevail; do battle with Ireland once more and become instantaneous immortal sports heroes for children all over the world.