http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850 Who says the media doesn't report good news? Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University is not the best fast-pitch softball hitter in America. Her batting average is .153. She had never hit a home run. Until Saturday. With two runners on, she blasted a ball over the center field fence. As she rounded first, she collasped with a knee injury. Under the rules, she would be limited to a single if she couldn't go any farther. Her teammates couldn't help her or she would be called out. The opponents, Central Washington University, could help but they would lose the game if they did. They did anyway. Central Washington's Liz Wallace and Mallory Holtman carried Sara around the bases. It was a display of sportsmanship that made the national news.&nbsp; It was stunning in its humanity. Central Washington lost the game, but won the respect of the country. Posted by Steve E. Swenson Who says the media doesn't report good news? Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University is not the best fast-pitch softball hitter in America. Her batting average is .153. She had never hit a home run. Until Saturday. With two runners on, she blasted a ball over the center field fence. As she rounded first, she collasped with a knee injury. Under the rules, she would be limited to a single if she couldn't go any farther. Her teammates couldn't help her or she would be called out. The opponents, Central Washington University, could help but they would lose the game if they did. They did anyway. Central Washington's Liz Wallace and Mallory Holtman carried Sara around the bases. It was a display of sportsmanship that made the national news.&nbsp; It was stunning in its humanity. Central Washington lost the game, but won the respect of the country. Posted by Steve E. Swenson en-us <p>If I was still teaching I would post this article and show it to every class.</p> <p>In a time when winning at any cost and using every questionable tactic from intimidation to outright infraction of rules seems to be the norm in sports from the sandlot to the Dome, it is heartening to see the true sportsmanship exibited by these young women.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232235 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232235 <p>If I was still teaching I would post this article and show it to every class.</p> <p>In a time when winning at any cost and using every questionable tactic from intimidation to outright infraction of rules seems to be the norm in sports from the sandlot to the Dome, it is heartening to see the true sportsmanship exibited by these young women.</p> <p>It is a sad state the world is in that this kind of tale is newsworthy instead of the norm.</p> <p>I would have done the same if I was on the fielding team. Really, where is the joy in winning on a technicality? I'd rather be beaten fair than winning and knowing in the back of my head that hey, only won because of that.</p> <p>People tend to force themselves to win at all costs because society grew the notion that that is the "right way". How much joy do you really get out of it? The pursuit of happyness rings hollow when you always have to chase higher and further and yet you never get there. It is much easier to let go of all that and revert to a natural state. A sense of fairness is pretty inborn in most humans. They tend to supress it because a sense of society is also pretty inborn. We tend to succomb to peer pressure and to the will of the group because that was our way of survival back in the day. What a pity we've managed to tangle ourselves up so badly.</p> <p>In other news, reading the article ( <a href="http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24392612/">http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24392612/</a> ) the participants seemed to "get it". They were just out there having fun. They were laughing while carrying her around the bases ( isn't that just something that girls do naturally? ) and being happy doing the right thing, according to their own words quoted in the article. I think too much gravitas is being assigned to the incident. These people are still young and they haven't been blighted by the dog eat dog world of adult life, where business tries to work you over at every corner and life becomes a fight. They were just having fun and doing what still comes naturally to them.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232241 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232241 <p>It is a sad state the world is in that this kind of tale is newsworthy instead of the norm.</p> <p>I would have done the same if I was on the fielding team. Really, where is the joy in winning on a technicality? I'd rather be beaten fair than winning and knowing in the back of my head that hey, only won because of that.</p> <p>People tend to force themselves to win at all costs because society grew the notion that that is the "right way". How much joy do you really get out of it? The pursuit of happyness rings hollow when you always have to chase higher and further and yet you never get there. It is much easier to let go of all that and revert to a natural state. A sense of fairness is pretty inborn in most humans. They tend to supress it because a sense of society is also pretty inborn. We tend to succomb to peer pressure and to the will of the group because that was our way of survival back in the day. What a pity we've managed to tangle ourselves up so badly.</p> <p>In other news, reading the article ( <a href="http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24392612/">http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24392612/</a> ) the participants seemed to "get it". They were just out there having fun. They were laughing while carrying her around the bases ( isn't that just something that girls do naturally? ) and being happy doing the right thing, according to their own words quoted in the article. I think too much gravitas is being assigned to the incident. These people are still young and they haven't been blighted by the dog eat dog world of adult life, where business tries to work you over at every corner and life becomes a fight. They were just having fun and doing what still comes naturally to them.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>All I can say is BRAVO for&nbsp;reporting something good for once.&nbsp; We see far too little of the happy news.</p> <p>What a cheerful way to start a day...my thanks.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232247 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232247 <p>All I can say is BRAVO for&nbsp;reporting something good for once.&nbsp; We see far too little of the happy news.</p> <p>What a cheerful way to start a day...my thanks.</p> <p>If only we had more stories like this on which to focus our attention, we'd be singing the praises of our youth rather than worrying that they were going to hell in a hand basket.  Three cheers to the girls, and double that to the parents for raising them so well.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232280 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232280 <p>If only we had more stories like this on which to focus our attention, we'd be singing the praises of our youth rather than worrying that they were going to hell in a hand basket.  Three cheers to the girls, and double that to the parents for raising them so well.</p> <p>Deb..note that this story has been posted for over an hour and only 17 views.&nbsp; I guess it's not controversial enough for folks to comment on.</p> <p>I think the teams showed remarkable sportmanship and, like you, I applaud the parents and coaches.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232285 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232285 <p>Deb..note that this story has been posted for over an hour and only 17 views.&nbsp; I guess it's not controversial enough for folks to comment on.</p> <p>I think the teams showed remarkable sportmanship and, like you, I applaud the parents and coaches.</p> <p>Nancy, I know it made me feel&nbsp;good when I read it.&nbsp; Hey everyone!&nbsp; Read this and feel good!</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232293 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232293 <p>Nancy, I know it made me feel&nbsp;good when I read it.&nbsp; Hey everyone!&nbsp; Read this and feel good!</p> <p>This is so AWESOME!! Congrats to the girls on the opposing team as well as the parents who raised them. They could've been snotty little teens and not done a thing. This is great and I'm forwarding this to my niece in Oklahoma, who plays high school softball. Thanks for sharing.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232297 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232297 <p>This is so AWESOME!! Congrats to the girls on the opposing team as well as the parents who raised them. They could've been snotty little teens and not done a thing. This is great and I'm forwarding this to my niece in Oklahoma, who plays high school softball. Thanks for sharing.</p> <p>I just saw it at MSN.&nbsp; Amazing women.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232305 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232305 <p>I just saw it at MSN.&nbsp; Amazing women.</p> <p>This is soooooooooooo awesome!&nbsp; <u>THIS </u>is what sportsmanship is supposed to be. I have sent this to all the parents I know who have kids who play sports.&nbsp; Total cudos to the parents who raised these young women.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232315 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232315 <p>This is soooooooooooo awesome!&nbsp; <u>THIS </u>is what sportsmanship is supposed to be. I have sent this to all the parents I know who have kids who play sports.&nbsp; Total cudos to the parents who raised these young women.</p> <p>Keep it on top..more need to know about these great kids.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232326 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232326 <p>Keep it on top..more need to know about these great kids.</p> <p>Must agree Nancy!!</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232336 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232336 <p>Must agree Nancy!!</p> <p>In a world where teenagers pitch in the Little League World Series, a story like this is nice to see.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232686 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232686 <p>In a world where teenagers pitch in the Little League World Series, a story like this is nice to see.</p> <p>good for them.............that story brought a tear to my eye.......</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232690 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232690 <p>good for them.............that story brought a tear to my eye.......</p> <p>jbs when did teenagers pitch in LLWorld series?</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232691 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_232691 <p>jbs when did teenagers pitch in LLWorld series?</p> <p>WOWO!!!!!!!! True Ladies!</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_233574 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/talkofthetown/25850/#c_233574 <p>WOWO!!!!!!!! True Ladies!</p>