Thank you for this article. I'd like to commend Coach Bronco Mendenhall of Brigham Young University because he puts character above winning (respect, honesty, integrity,responsibility, service to the community, high standards of morality, etc.) He would prefer these traits over winning anytime, and yet he and his team want to win as much as any other team and coach. Fortunately, they are able to have both, but character to him is more important than winning, and his players appreciate this and love and respect him for it.

I have recently arrived at the conclusion that you're extremely vain as so many of your commentaries are "all about you" and/or your family. Vanity is of course one of the 7 most venial sins mortals can commit and I believe it even ranks above "not having good character". You should guard against this sin as anyone who places himself in a high position through his wealth and lectures to others about their shortcomings will never receive the grace he is in search of.

Betsy, our Lord also said "Judge not lest ye be judged. (Matt. 7:1)

While i agree that a prideful attitude is a bad thing, I feel that you have misjudged Michael Josephson in this regard. As far as I can see, the whole Josephson Institute is to promote in society a culture of good character, and as a part of that effort, are his commentaries. He has been given a gift (talent) by God to speak to people in this matter, and he uses it effectively. He is a qualified lawyer, who could be 'making a mint' in the courts, but he chooses to build up and talk about positive values.

You might be right about the sin of pride - it is an insidious one that creeps in when you receive a great deal of adulation, but if that is the case, it is a matter between him and G-d.

Yes he talks about himself in his commentaries, but it is NOT "all about Him". He actually sometimes tells a story against himself, and I have noticed that when Michael has realised that he is mistaken, he has admitted his error, and apologised.

Betsy, a hasty judgmental attitude is also a symptom of pride. Incidently, Mr. Josephson is an observant Jew, meaning that the "seven venial sins" do not come into his theology.

When I hear comments like the ones expressed by Betsy, it makes me realize how difficult it must be to do what you do. I guess all great men and women must experience this. I hope that you will not act upon what she says because it does not reflect I am sure, what the rest of us experience from your comments. I love your comments - I look forward to reading them, particularly your comments about what is going on in your own life and family that you are willing to share with us - I always find them relevant and down to earth.

Having a son who is an athlete I have witnessed coaching for over 20 years from Little League to college to professional. The truth is that winning is everything. coaches are not trained to take care of the physical health of their players much less act in any sort of ethical way. It is the unusual coach that is ethical, moral, and respectful of players. Ethics, morality, integrity...those are simply not part of the current sports scene. What makes the situation worse is our adulation of sports figures and successful teams.

Mr. Josephson writes commentaries about good character. In order to write five per week, I'm sure that he will sometimes write about what he knows: himself and his family. I am sure that he does this to share a point and not to put himself above others. Please do not be so quick to judge.

Thank you.

In regards to Betsy's comments, I would like to say that to judge others shows little compassion, i.e. "Let he who hath no sin cast the first stone...". It is fortunate to have people who address issues by speaking to first hand experience rather than trying to "force" their interpretation of another's situation. Thanks to Michael for sharing his personal experiences and allowing us the freedom to interpret them to similar experiences in our own lives.

In response to Betsy, the 7 sins are: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, & pride. I suspect that you are equating vanity with pride, but they are not quite the same. Additionally, I believe that Mr. Josephson uses his family as an example because that is what he knows best. Since frequently, his commentaries about his family are when he has learned a lesson, I certainly do not believe that "pride" is the motivating factor. In fact, I would equate it with "humility" (one of the seven virtues).

Perhaps Mr. Josephson does use his family in his commentaries more frequently than some of his listeners would like and while you are certainly within your rights to have and express your opinion, I am disappointed that you would choose to verbally assault Mr. Josephson. Your opinion, which is clearly not relevant or related to the commentary at hand (there is no mention of Mr. Josephson's family in the above commentary), would have been better shared with Mr. Josephson and his staff in a more direct and personal manner (e.g. via e-mail) following an occasion when his commentary actually spoke about his family. Ultimately, assaults such as yours do little more than make the offending person look small and callous.

I think this is perfect. Here in California we live so much to be competitive in our sports that we forget about the ground rules. #1 is respect - we instill this in our children from the time they are young (like sharing between 2 year olds).

The sad thing to say is now you pay a coach a salary for coaching your child in soccer or any other sport and that word disappears. I have seen this several times during my child’s playing history. We as parents need to see that winning is not everything, but quality of life is the goal. Yes, it's great to win, learn & progress. This can still be done with the right ingredients.

Please let others read you website or listen to your comments because character does count at every age & level. We as humans affect someone in some kind of way - whether it’s your child, their siblings, players, parents and etc. Remember you coaches are on display during and after a game.

I was a little disappointed to read Wendy's comments with re: to the current state of coaches and their ethics, morality and integrity. While I certainly understand that there are a fair share of poor coaches who may be misquided by what they see and hear in professional athletics, I think it is important to tease out this arena (prof. athletics) with most other athletic venues. Professional athletics is all about winning because it is a business, and like most other businesses (financial, legal, retail, entertainment, etc.), the bottom line is what counts.

Having been involved in interscholastic athletics for over 30 years, I have found most coaches to be highly ethical and moral and ones who work to communicate this to their athletes. Subsequently, many states now have constructed an athletic framework that speaks to the development of character through athletics and the importance of civility, integrity, and ethical conduct. It's the responsibility of everyone involved in athletics and sport to promote these virtues through meaningful programs, and to educate parents (this is a challenge even in the best educational settings).

It's important to remember that professional and high level college athletics, are a business and like any business that involves high stakes profit, is always prone to unethical conduct and at risk of becoming misaligned with the true value of sport.

Continue to spread the word as to the real value of involvement in sport and athletics for children and young adults: development of a work ethic, responsibility to teammates, respect for your opponent, trustworthiness to do the right thing, fairness, perseverance in difficult situations....all things that will serve young people well once they enter society as citizens, parents, community members, professionals and workers.

I have enjoyed and learned from your commentaries for years especially the ones involving coaching and also police work. As a full-time peace officer and new coach of youth Lacrosse your commentaries gave me a framework to teach from, in addition to teaching the physical technique of playing the game. Also, as a novice coach I was pleased to see the senior coach, David Houseworth and the league (Fair Oaks Youth Lacrosse)held the same views of character and sportsmanship. Keep up the good work. There are many men who will be new coaches and will need an example to follow. Regarding Betsey's comments, they are not worth even responding to and I doubt if I would have even printed them.

A coach's job is to take every player, find his or her strengths, build on them, and have those with more skills help out those with less. It bonds kids and everyone succeeds, together as ...a team. They not only build skill and self confidence, they build character.

A bully singles out someone who is weaker and/or different and attacks the weaknesses. Many times bullies get their friends to join in.

What would you call a man who lets a child know that he was the last draft pick in the league? Who tells a boy, who just wants to play, that if he does he'll get hurt? Who, when this child believes him and is fearful for the first time in his baseball career, points and says. "See....he's afraid".

Our little league's zero tolerance says "[name withheld] promote(s) fair play, good sportsmanship, and teach(es) our children how to play the game. It is everyone's responsibility to teach the children that there is more to the game than winning or losing or the final score."

Really? That's not we see this year.

We’ve seen a boy start out the season enthusiastic, looking forward to being one of the Colorado Rockies. He knew he was not a star player but one of the benefits of Asperger’s Syndrome is that he didn’t mind. He’s always loved the game, cheered for his teammates and hero worshipped his coaches. We’ve seen a boy crushed, fearful of going on the field because his coach told him he’d get hurt. This boy believed, after all, that this man was the coach … he must be right. He didn’t know that being called a safety issue was little league code for not good enough. We saw a boy gather his courage to get back out on the field only to be told by the president of the league that it was all right if he wanted to quit. We saw a child bow under the pressure of adults and decide that it was just too hard for him. We saw a child realize that the game of baseball was over for him.

We want to know how little league baseball became so competitive that only the kids deemed good enough are allowed to play. We want to know where the sense of fair play went. What happened to playing for fun? Why are people paying hundreds and thousands of dollars a year for private coaches to help their children excel in recreational sports and then even more to orthopedic surgeons to put them back together again after their bodies crack from the strain? Is this what the founders of little league had in mind? I doubt it.

I happened upon this commentary just today. Being married to a coach and having a child who plays sports, I come at this as a wife and a parent. I have seen competition taking top priority in sports, sometimes to my dismay; but I have also seen boys growing into men--pushing beyond what mothers thought were their limitations and becoming real "team" players. Yes, coaches need to exemplify good character! However, it is the parents who are responsible to teach this!!! Too many parents are leaving the "raising" of their children to (teachers and) coaches. Parents need to teach their children good character and lead by example. Sometimes my heart aches for my husband. He gets complaints from parents, whether or not the team is winning--not every parent can be happy all the time. He has even had parents "demand" that their child play a certain position on a team!...and with the child standing right there!! ...and this before the season has even started--my husband has never even seen the child play!!! Wow! (But the parent knows his/her child is the best on the team...) Yes, coaches need to lead by example; but they also need our support and respect as parents. They have a very tough job!!!............