people believed that sport taught moral lessons. Sport made better people of those who took part. In short, sport built character.That was the idealis

Its all about character. How many times do we hear this in the midst of a protracted sporting encounter? Its not about how strong your arms and legs are, its about how strong your character is. We talk about character every time we have a sporting conversation.So it wasnt Sachin Tendulkars hand-eye coordination that made him great, it was the serenity of his character. Likewise Roger Federer. And it wasnt Kevin Pietersens strokemaking skill that made him such a great match-swinger, it was his turbulent nature. Likewise John McEnroe.Character has always been a significant word in sport. But words are slippery things, and what character meant in sport a century back is quite different to character as we understand it in modern sport.We invented sport because its fun. Often quite serious fun, but fun all the same - a chance to savour your own courage in a relatively safe environment. But sport came into the mainstream of life because people believed that sport taught moral lessons. Sport made better people of those who took part. In short, sport built character.That was the idealism at the heart of the modern Olympic Games. Their founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, said: For each individual, sport is a possible search for inner improvement. Not better results, better people.De Coubertin, an Anglophile, adapted the idea from the English public schools, which cultivated team sports as a vital part of education. It taught the boys how to sink self in the common cause - a sentiment forever caught by the poem Vita? Lampada: Theres a breathless hush in the Close to-night - Ten to make and match to win and so forth. Here, quite explicitly, the values required to win colonial wars are compared with those acquired in sport: Play up! play up! and play the game!But as sport became a profession and a business, the emphasis changed. We dont watch sport to improve ourselves, or to watch other people improving themselves. We watch sport because its enthralling. Its enthralling like a novel, an art form that depends on the revelation and development of character.This is now mainstream thinking in sport. Its summed up in lines normally attributed to the American sportswriter Heywood Hale Broun: Sports dont build character; they reveal it. So when Jonny Wilkinson dropped the winning goal for England in the rugby World Cup final of 2003, he was praised not for his endless hours of practice but for his intense and dedicated character.They are both legitimate interpretations. If Wilkinson wasnt intense and dedicated he wouldnt have practised so hard, and he wouldnt have had the skills and the muscle memory to perform the trick under the greatest intensity that his sport can offer.This insistence on character is largely a product of television. On television - but not at the ground - we can see the faces. They fill the screen. Faces reveal character; reading faces is an aspect of being human. Television flattens perspective, diminishes distance, and makes every kind of action look simple, but always it gives us faces. And emotion. And character. So sport is increasingly talked about and written about as if character was all that mattered. We often talk about sport as if its entire function was to put character to the test, as if bodies and skills were almost irrelevant. Marlon Samuels was mischievously - even rather vindictively - inclined to put West Indies victory in the World T20 final earlier this year down to the character weakness of Ben Stokes, who bowled the last over at Carlos Brathwaite. He called Stokes a nervous laddie, and claimed that his sledging of Stokes was decisive. Really? And not the power-hitting of Brathwaite, who hit four successive sixes?It seems that sport itself has swallowed the idea that character is everything. That, after all, is the No. 1 selling point of the sporting industry, more important even than partisanship. The pursuit of excellence - the highest thing in sport - is way down the list of priorities.Sport is now sold as drama - the dramatic revelation of character.But things have already taken yet another twist. The more we learn about the mental issues in sport, the more it seems that character is becoming a skill itself, one that can be improved by practice and expert help. In all professional sports, including cricket, psychologists are part of the landscape. Its no longer about sport building character, or even sport revealing character. These days, athletes work on character as part of their skill set. They do so not in search of inner improvement, but of outer improvement. To win.Joe Root was a talented cricketer eaten up with intensity. But after being dropped by England he resolved to be more forgiving of himself. To enjoy sport more. This conscious adjustment of character made him one of the worlds top batsmen. Perhaps the point is that he had the character to change his character. Certainly character in sport is a different matter from what it was when time and cricket began. Claude Giroux Flyers Jersey . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. Brian Elliott Jersey . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/sean-couturier-jersey/ . Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz were sent to Toronto on Saturday as the Maple Leafs traded defenceman Jesse Blacker and draft picks to the Anaheim Ducks. Shayne Gostisbehere Flyers Jersey . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. James Van Riemsdyk Jersey . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. ORLANDO, Fla. -- Danilo Gallinari is at his best when being aggressive and imposing his will on opposing teams.That hasnt always come easily to the Denver Nuggets forward.Gallinari managed to put it all together Saturday night, scoring 21 points in leading the Nuggets to a 121-113 win over the Orlando Magic. He consistently attacked in the paint and got to the foul line 10 times.Thats what I need to do every game, said Gallinari, who shot 5 for 8 from the field and 9 of 10 at the free throw line. The more Im aggressive, the more I can make things happen for everybody else.Gallinari hit perhaps his biggest shot when he nailed a 3-pointer that put the Nuggets ahead 109-106 late in the fourth quarter. Denver never trailed again in a game that included 12 lead changes and six ties up to that point.Its real simple with Danilo: When he is aggressive, hes a great player, said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, whose team improved to 9-15. When he settles for jump shots and doesnt get to the foul line, he is not as good of a player.The entire Nuggets team played aggressively Saturday, successfully attacking a short-handed Orlando interior that was without center Nikola Vucevic, who injured his back during Friday nights loss at Charlotte. Power forward Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo were there but that did little to slow the Nuggets, who outscored Orlando in the paint 64-34.In addition to Gallinari, Denver also got big baskets inside from Jusuf Nurkic, Nikola Jokic and Kenneth Faried. It didnt help the Magic that leading shot blocker Biyombo was nursing a left shoulder injury and wore a brace to protect it.They have shot blockers in there but we cant be afraid of them, said Farried, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.dddddddddddd We have to keep attacking them. Sooner or later something is going to give. Either we are going to get our shot blocked or we are going to finish over the top. We were able to finish tonight.It was a sore point for Magic coach Frank Vogel, who has seen his top-3 defense cave during this stretch of playing eight games in 12 days.Most of it was on the interior, said Vogel, whose team has lost three straight. Nurkic is a load in there. Not having (Vucevic) hurt us a little bit.Nurkic had 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds for the Nuggets, who lost their previous two games. Will Barton scored 16.Faried was 9 of 10 from the field, and Denver shot 57 percent.TIP-INSNuggets: Denver outrebounded the Magic 35-26 and benefited with 17 second-chance points to just seven for Orlando. ... Denvers bench outscored Orlandos reserves 58-34.Magic: Orlando recalled rookie center Stephen Zimmerman from the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League.ROOKIE BREAKOUTDenver rookie Juancho Hernangomez had his best outing as a pro, coming off the bench to score 14 points. After missing his first 3-pointer of the night, he knocked down four straight in the first half. He also had a big basket inside to tie the game at 106 in the fourth.UP NEXTNuggets: Their six-game road swing ends Monday in Dallas. The Mavericks have won five of the last six regular-season matchups.Magic: Orlando visits Atlanta on Tuesday night. The Magic have lost 17 of their last 22 games against the Hawks. ' ' '