Finding the peace, good will and kindness we'd like to see in sports

This column is also award-winning writer Frank Deford's weekly sports commentary on NPR. At Christmastime, it's long been the fashion for sports columnists to

Frank Deford | Dec 26, 2012

Finding the peace, good will and kindness we'd like to see in sports /

Hopefully the NHL will find labor peace and start the season before it's too late. — Hopefully the NHL will find labor peace and start the season before it's too late :: /AP

This column is also award-winning writer Frank Deford's weekly sports commentary on NPR.

At Christmastime, it's long been the fashion for sports columnists to write an annual column about what various people in sports want to find under their tree -- a new quarterback for this coach, a starting pitcher for this general manager, and so on. But, of course, the Christmas of Santa Claus isn't the only one. There's also the message that is found in the gospel of Luke, which we can all of us, of all faiths, support... as the angels sing, "And on earth, peace, good will among people."

Nothing is so down to earth as sports, so let us this morning take scripture rather than Santa, and celebrate just some of the peace and good will we'd like to find in sport in the year ahead:

First of all, and most obviously, may the National Hockey League owners and players find labor peace and start the season.

May all men and women who coach children's teams treat their young charges with kindness. Character does not have to be built with screaming and abuse. May children's sports coaches show the same good will as those who direct children in plays and conduct them in orchestras.

And may all parents, watching their children play youth games, act with grace toward their own kids and good will toward all the others.

May Manny Pacquiao have the good sense never to climb back into the ring again. You were the best, Manny, but now go away in peace, and don't risk the good life you can lead for yourself and your Philippine people.

At every stadium and every arena, when you hear "Down in front," get down.

Find a way to convince National Football League players to stop owning guns and carrying guns. Peace, guys.

Have European soccer fans stop being racist. Good will, chaps and amigos.

May Pat Summitt, the great Tennessee coach, find joy in the games she still can watch and a gentle comfort thereafter.

Whenever the NHL does come back, let's make hockey like every other civilized sport and ban fighting.

May all networks give us more peace and quiet by restricting it to two announcers per game, per booth.

For every fan at every game who has ever had a beer: if you have to get drunk when rooting for your team, have the courtesy to stay home and watch the game there on your big HD screen in the family room.

May every football player -- NFL, college, high school, Pop Warner -- have the good sense to tackle with your shoulder, rather than spear with your head. Peace, good will to all players.

And when you go to the game, whatever the game, watch your language and... turn off your cellphone. Peace. Good will to all fans.

Published Dec 26, 2012

FRANK DEFORD

Frank Deford is among the most versatile of American writers. His work has appeared in virtually every medium, including print, where he has written eloquently for Sports Illustrated since 1962. Deford is currently the magazine's Senior Contributing Writer and contributes a weekly column to SI.com. Deford can be heard as a commentator each week on Morning Edition. On television he is a regular correspondent on the HBO show Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. He is the author of 15 books, and his latest,The Enitled, a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball, was published in 2007 to exceptional reviews. He and Red Smith are the only writers with multiple features in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century. Editor David Halberstam selected Deford's 1981 Sports Illustrated profile on Bobby Knight (The Rabbit Hunter) and his 1985 SI profile of boxer Billy Conn (The Boxer and the Blonde) for that prestigious anthology. For Deford the comparison is meaningful. "Red Smith was the finest columnist, and I mean not just sports columnist," Deford told Powell's Books in 2007. "I've always said that Red is like Vermeer, with those tiny, priceless pieces. Five hundred words, perfectly chosen, crafted. Best literary columnist, in any newspaper, that I've ever seen." Deford was elected to the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Six times at Sports Illustrated Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review. Deford has also been presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles; a Christopher Award; and journalism honor awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University; and he has received many honorary degrees. The Sporting News has described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and the magazine GQ has called him, simply, "The world's greatest sportswriter." In broadcast, Deford has won a Cable Ace award, an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award for his television work. In 2005 ESPN presented a television biography of Deford's life and work, You Write Better Than You Play. Deford has spoken at well over a hundred colleges, as well as at forums, conventions and on cruise ships around the world. He served as the editor-in-chief of The National Sports Daily in its brief but celebrated existence. Deford also wrote Sports Illustrated's first Point After column, in 1986. Two of Deford's books, the novel, Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life Of A Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis, have been made into movies. Two of his original screenplays have also been filmed. For 16 years Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport, CT, with his wife, Carol. They have two grown children – a son, Christian, and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University, where he has taught American Studies.