All around athletic skills and abilities. A good sportsman plays many different sports, that work skills from all over his body. Like playing soccer, basketball, baseball, and football. Also a good sportsman should have a high level of physical endurance. And most importantly, to be a 'good' sportsman they should have highly developed skills in each of the sports they play.
I play and follow a lot of sport and am often disappointed at the lack of real sportsmen. If I'm playing a sport, say football or basketball, and a foul in my favour is incorrectly given, I will tell the referee. Many people, however, do not do this. My thinking is that if I were on the other side of a wrong decision I would feel aggrieved, and if I were the referee I would not want to make wrong decisions. So there are good reasons to be honest. It is fundamentally fair, and I wouldn't want to win if I couldn't win within the rules. So how has it become common practice to take advantage of a wrong decision? Because it will all balance out in the end? But surely the same is true of everyone being honest when a wrong decision has benefitted them - the next time they might be on the other side.
I think the lack of honesty in sport may have filtered down from the examples of professional sportsmen who have abandoned sportsmanship in their quest to earn ridiculous amounts of money. I used to be a fanatically passionate football fan, supporting my local team through thick and thin. Then the management changed everything. The bar we used to drink at was now reserved for VIP's only. We had to make do with mid strength beer out of a plastic cup. The price of tickets and membership sky rocketed. Numerous interstate players appeared and disappeared in the team line up. None had any loyalty to the club. I realised the fans had become just another commodity, and now don't go to any professional sporting events as its totally lost its magic for me.
I have no interest in sports. When I was little I played ball with the other neighborhood kids but then I was introduced to organized sports. My cousin was coerced into playing football and was delighted when he broke his arm early in the season. He bragged about how the coach taught them to cheat and get away with it. I went on to high school in a different state and discovered two of our defensive linemen, from football, on the basketball team. They couldn't play basketball but if the other team had a really good player they could take him out of the game. Sometimes they bragged about taking a good player out of two or three games with injuries. The football coach asked me to tutor three of his players in history. Now, history isn't tough. You read the chapters, learn a few gimmicks for remembering things, and you've got it. The three showed up but refused to read anything. They said the coach wouldn't dare fail them. They were right. My worst experience was a discussion with a group of junior high football coaches about the serious knee and back injuries the 13- and 14-year old boys were getting. It was no secret that a big part of the problem was using cleats. So, why don't we just have everyone wear trainers. Oh, they wouldn't be as fast. But, if both sides were wearing trainers it would be the same game. No, they have to be faster, always faster. Is that as important as their knees and backs. Of course, it is. I'll skip drugs. That's so well known it's not worth talking about. Coaches and trainers should have a pharmacy degree. I'm 68-years old so it's not like sports has just deteriorated recently.
