Being Magnanimous in Defeat
 

As a Sri Lankan I am proud of the way the Sri Lankan Team and Captain behaved and accepted the result of the Final.

In this World Cup I have only come across one Team that has been a sore loser or kept finding excuses time after time everytime they lost.

I am of course referring to the South Africans. Whenever they lost they never acknowledged that they lost to the better Team.

When they lost to Pakistan in the practice match they blamed the pitch.

When they lost to Australia the first time they blamed it on Graeme Smith's cramps (wonder whether they forgot about the rest of the Team there) .

When they lost to NZ they blamed it on the toss.

They never admitted or acknowledged they were beaten by the better Team on the day...Any thoughts comments...

To me it seems a lack of magnanimity in admitting they lost to the better team...is part of this SA Team leadership.

In fact after their Semi Final loss Mickey Arthur came out with more excuses...IIRC...

I don't know but this is a good excuse because it looked like SA could have won that game.

[Quote]
In this World Cup I have only come across one Team that has been a sore loser or kept finding excuses time after time everytime they lost. [Quote]
i don't know about that...India and Pakistan was sore losers after they lost to Bangladesh & Ireland. Inzy was blaming the pitch etc and india were blaming the format etc.

But yeah Mahela Jayawardene is a good sportsmen and so is some of the other captains.

Sorry not all teams can live up to your high and lofty standards of what is right and wrong on a sports feild Jason. If a side (and its fans) want to be magnanimous in defeat that's to be respected, but it doesn't come with the right to tell others how they should act (as long as it's not ott). Seems to me like you're upset that alot of people still think that SA>SL and you're looking for any flimsical way to discredit that.

Just because 1 player went off with cramps and you blame a loss on that, in all honesty you were not good enough to win. 1 player does not = the whole Team , whatever you might say.

They were just not good enough on that day , nor were they good enough on the other 4 occasions (including loss to Bang) ...I mean you can accept an excuse for 1 loss...but to do it time after time after every loss...its a bit pathetic, IMHO..

See the Topic of this thread ...please read it again.

Its about sportsmanship and being Magnanimous in defeat..Its not about the better Team.

You are on a different planet altogether if you are trying to make this into which is the better Team discussion ...

This is (I repeat) about accepting the result and being Magnanimous not about which Team is better ....ok.

And no one is telling them how to behave...nor should anyone..

But you are judged by (others) (on) your behaviour and graciousness...as to your character ...

Jacob Oram...is another shining example of Magnanimous behaviour ...for accepting the outcome of the Catch...

That's how True sportsmen behave , IMHO.

No just putting two and two together, you were visibly upset when myself and Prince suggested that South Africa were a better side then Sri Lanka, so much so that you accused us of bias and being apologists even though we're Australian. Then the very next thread you start is accusing South Africa of being unsporting. Your agenda is as clear as day.

I have no agenda.....if anything you seem to (have one) (and) be quite desperate to turn it into something along those lines....

the thread is quite clear for all to see ...lets leave it for others to make that call..or make their opinions...instead of turning into something this thread is not about...

Haha flimsical. Another one that should be a word.

Lets…Your talking bollocks.

Captain Smith after defeat against Australia- “We just weren't good enough. We were outplayed and you have got to give credit (to Australia)”.

http://www.supercricket.co.za/defaul...cricket/sateam

South Africa’s ‘grievances’ you highlight are perfectly 'valid' - the wicket against Pakistan was not acceptable (acknowledged by Bob Woolmer) and the toss against New Zealand was critical (but again South Africa still acknowledged their faux pas).

You’re the guy who has the agenda, an agenda which began after South Africa left Colombo early last summer.

Also it's a fair call that SA loss to Australia in the group stages because Smith cramped up. It's something the bookies acknowledged, they were favourites at that stage and they were ahead of the required run-rate and were looking brilliant. Anyone watching the game live knew at that stage (right before Smith went down) that SA had a high probability of winning the game. Smith went down and SA fell apart. It's fair to say that SA would probably have won if not for the cramps. My point is, if everyone was acknowledging it (including the Australians on this forum and the bookies at the time) why does it mean that when Smith actually says it in the media, it's a case of poor sportsmanship? It's the truth ffs.

While the big long word Jason mentioned is a nice quality for a cricketer to have, you cannot deny the fact that some of the wickets have been a bit dodgy. That quote of TT Boy's proves that Smith is gracious in defeat (at least on that occasion). Smith comes across to me as a fairly tell it like it is sort of bloke.

:laugh:

Although observantor>flimisical, tbf.