Moral dilemmas can happen in the most unlikely of places...but the sports section?

Recently, the Denver Broncos clinched the title in their National Football League division and thus a spot in the playoffs that lead to the Super Bowl. Despite the fact that they have several regular season games to go, their position is secure. The outcome of the next few games simply will not affect their standing in the play-offs.

The moral question then becomes: Do these remaining games matter? If they have no affect on post-season play, should the players and coaches approach them differently than the subsequent playoff games? Indeed, should certain key players even be allowed to play and risk injury or exhaustion when they will be needed later on during the race for the Super Bowl?

Perhaps for the more sports-minded than me, the question is easily answered but for those of us who spend considerable time muddling through the world of ethics, none of this is very clear.

For instance, what about the fans who have paid exorbitant prices to sit in the cold and watch, at least theoretically, the best football players in the world? Is it fair to these supporters to offer up anything less than the very best?

And that raises another issue. Is the point of professional football...or any other professional sport...to win the championship or entertain the public? Is a season deemed a failure is the Super Bowl trophy isn't grasped by the hands of our team's players?

This, of course, leads to the question of whether sports in general are to be played only to win. Does the simple act of enjoying a game automatically rank lower than the act of winning?

Which raises another point worth asking. What is this business of the Super Bowl being the "ultimate" game? If it is the "ultimate" game then how come they have another one next year? Isn't there something to be learned from the fact that the seasons endlessly repeat themselves and that last year's champion could be this year's goat?

Some of these questions are well beyond my expertise to answer but they lead me to some other interesting places. Take, for instance, the local middle school gym. There I have witnessed the parents of middle-school boys watch their children play basketball. On occasion, this watching has been accompanied by shouts not just of encouragement but criticism and not just toward their own youngsters but other kids as well. Indeed, I have even seen boys so upset with their fathers' behavior (and it usually is the father) that they have implored them from the court to cease and desist. This, of course, raises one more issue: What is the morality expressed when a thirteen year old child runs by the bleachers and says, "Shut up, Dad...please!"

Go from there, if you will, to inside the classroom. Is it possible that the emphasis we adults place on winning the championship may have an adverse effect on our children's studies, as well? If a boy or girl cannot be first in the class, should she or he simply give up and send in the subs? If all that matters is winning, is the "C" student then not worth nurturing and teaching?

As a former "C" student, I certainly hope not. And, for that matter, as a former (and current) less than exceptional athlete whose only hope of winning rests in divine intervention, I say...no! The value of sportsmanship rests not in winning but in playing the game as well.

In my work, I spend a good deal of time with a few unhappy people. Much of that unhappiness stems from a conviction that happiness can only come through winning. One must have a big house, a new car, a huge savings account, a perfect marriage in order to be happy. These are the marks, they believe, of winners. But some of us, who spend more time muddling through life than winning, know that happiness comes not necessarily when we win but when we play our hearts out. Recognizing that my life isn't perfect, my house not ideal, my car not pristine or my friends flawless doesn't condemn me to misery. I may not have won the Super Bowl of Life but I've enjoyed playing the game and, for me and countless others, that is more than enough.