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The code of a good sport

by Handley

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When Hugh Fullerton, a well-known sporting editor, featured an article on Good Sportsmanship in the American Magazine, under the title, "Ten Unwritten Commandments of Sport", it caused a minor sensation. Handley promptly reprinted the article in the WSA News saying that "these laws should model everyone's conduct; they are handed down by tradition and should be obeyed by all sportsmen if they wish to live up to their good names."

FULLERTON'S TEN UNWRITTEN COMMANDMENTS OF SPORT

1. Thou shalt not quit.
2. Thou shalt not alibi.
3. Thou shalt not gloat over winning.
4. Thou shalt not be a rotten loser.
5. Thou shalt not take unfair advantage.
6. Thou shalt not ask odds thou art unwilling to give.
7. Thou shalt always be ready to give thine opponent the shade.
8. Thou shalt not underestimate an opponent, nor overestimate thyself.
9. Remember that the game is the thing, and that he who thinketh otherwise is a mucker and not a true sportsman.
10. Honor the game thou playest, for he who playeth the game straight and hard wins when he loses.

(Footnote: It is likely that if Fullerton had composed his Ten Commandments at the end of the 20th century, he would have moved Commandments 5, 9 and 10 to the top of his list...)