[Page H6301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, in the world of sport, my favorite 
discipline has always been women's Olympic figure skating. I have to 
share I still remember way back in the 1990s when I was crestfallen and 
felt betrayed to see the sport reduced in stature after U.S. figure 
skating champion Nancy Kerrigan had physical harm perpetrated against 
her by an opponent on the U.S. team.
  As a young woman, I was perplexed and shocked and, frankly, have 
never fully accommodated that horrific incident that tarnished the 
reputation and standing of the Olympics itself.
  As a lifelong citizen of Ohio, the dean of Ohio's congressional 
delegation, and a grateful graduate of the University of Michigan, 
today, as well, I feel a deep sense of responsibility to speak out on a 
recent degradation of worth in Big Ten football.
  I shuddered this past Saturday at the Michigan-Ohio State football 
game when after the game itself a fracas developed on the field with 
the largest viewing audience of the year. It should have been a moment 
of sterling sportsmanship and national pride. Instead, it devolved into 
adolescent chaos.

  Ohio's and Michigan's traditional rivalry, and it is strong, should 
have elevated our Nation to its best. In past decades and generations 
it has.
  The best among us in sport often rose to higher purpose in life. 
Gerald Ford, from Grands Rapids, Michigan, served as captain of the 
University of Michigan football team. He later became President of the 
United States.
  Even earlier, during the difficult decades of World War II, Jesse 
Owens of Cleveland, Ohio, who had been the finest runner ever on the 
Ohio State track team, led America's Olympic team to Berlin, Germany. 
When he entered that stadium carrying our flag, fascist dictator Adolf 
Hitler, who was sitting in the stands, turned his back on Jesse Owens, 
the greatest male runner in American history.
  It appears last weekend's lack of sportsmanship was not just an 
occurrence in the Ohio State-Michigan game. There also have been brawls 
between Florida and Florida State, North Carolina State and University 
of North Carolina, and Arizona State and the University of Arizona.
  Is this sport?
  America is watching. Our children are watching.
  The Big Ten Conference quickly and justly fined both teams $100,000. 
That is not much in that world.
  That was a useful but small gesture. The universities and athletic 
organizations must investigate and disclose those who initiated these 
violations of sportsmanship and set standards of play.
  They must stop these abuses and must issue full, formal apologies to 
the people of our Nation for disgracing America's finest traditions. 
This moment must become a turning point and recommitment to the values 
that good sportsmanship should teach us: respect, cooperation and team 
spirit, physical and mental discipline, and, yes, good times too.
  This is about more than football games or storied rivalries. Sport is 
about setting an American standard on the field and in the classroom. 
Winning isn't everything, but, as we know, living a life with honor, 
integrity, and respect for others is.

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