No one likes a poor sport

Taylor, left, lost two out of three to Cox to determine who represented the U.S.

The older I get, the more I absolutely love athletes that are cool towards each other. I like intensity as much as the next guy, but when the match is over or the play is done, I dig a guy who gives proper respect to his opponent. (Or "Hespect," as the Brazilians say.) But I can't stomach the whining of a sore loser.

J'Den Cox, who Tracy and I saw win an NCAA title in NYC last year, just won his 2nd world level medal. First, he had to beat one of the best Americans to never make a world or Olympic team, David "The Magic Man" Taylor, in the World Team Trials in best two out of three, which qualified him for the Worlds in Paris.  Then last Friday, on his way to winning the bronze, he lost in the semis to the eventual silver medalist, who Taylor had beaten in an earlier tournament.  Taylor also had beaten the champ, so it appears he was fuming at his computer in Pennsylvania asking, "What if?" over and over.

Anyone can understand the frustration, but dude . . .













It is one thing to critique performance, but heart? And nearly 700 people liked it??

Cox saw the tweet before his bronze medal match, and his response was simply, "That wasn't cool," and "I'll be praying for him."

Classy response from a classy young man. Such class is in short supply, but it is cool to see.

I once heard a rookie wide receiver interviewed years ago about facing NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders for the first time. Sanders came up to the line, smiled big and made eye contact with the rookie like they already knew each other. Then spent the next hour beating the brakes off of him. But there were times he was giving him advice, one time walking him back after one play telling him to stay low before he makes his cut so it gives the defensive back less time to react.

I saw Rickson Gracie interviewed before a big MMA fight, or Vale Tudo as it was called back in the day, and he wished his opponent good luck in his training leading up to the fight. No face off or silly McGregor-Mayweather traveling minstrel show.

When I was at the World Cup in L.A. a couple years ago, the wrestling teams I enjoyed most were Mongolia and Iran- they compete with joy. They looked like they were having fun, and appeared that wrestling was closer to dancing than combat. Those Iranian fans are crazy fun; and wildly cheered, rang bells, beat drums and blew horns for our Yanks when we dualed the Russians. At the other end of the spectrum, the Cubans seemed to have a chip on their shoulder.

There is honor in observing good sportsmanship.

This week at the World Championships, Olympic Champ Helen Maroulis ran the table, outscoring opponents 53-0. Jordan Burroughs just won gold #5. Kyle Snyder beat 3x World and Olympic Champ Sadulaev, who was was so unchallenged at his weight that he went up a class to challenge Snyder. The team score had both the Russians and Americans tied for first, and this match sealed the U.S.'s first team title in 22 years.

Too bad Taylor's comments seem to be right up there in the news. Come on DT, don't be The Tragic Man.