Sports is a very emotional thing. I would venture to guess if you asked people what their best memories are other than their wedding and the birth of a child, many would tell you about a sports related activity.

Whether it be their favorite college or pro team beating a rival or winning a championship, or their days on the high school gridiron or hardwood. Many people are very passionate about sports and that’s good. It’s part of what makes sports so great.

However, with all that passion wrapped up into one thing, it can be easy to go overboard after a big win or a big loss.

I’ve done it myself. There’s been plenty of times where I’ve gotten a little carried away during a game and basically gone into a depressed state after a crushing defeat.

And judging from some of the violence that happens because of sporting events, whether it is riots after championships or an argument between fans of opposing teams turning into violence, I suppose I’m not alone.

But, as in most things, adults can learn a lot from kids.

I learned quite a good lesson in sportsmanship Friday night in the 12-year-old Dixie Youth baseball tournament.

The Natchez All-Stars lost in perhaps the most heartbreaking fashion you can think of.

Up one run with two outs and two strikes on the batter in the bottom of the last inning, Natchez gave up a walk-off grand slam to Wesson to lose the game and drop into the losers bracket.

It was a crushing defeat. Instead of moving into the championship game of the tournament undefeated, the Natchez All-Stars had to win Saturday night even to make the championship game Monday, and then must beat Wesson twice in order to take the title.

If this had been a college or pro game, there would probably have been a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth on one side and a lot of showboating and rubbing it in on the other.

I know that if my team had lost in that fashion, I probably would have locked myself up in my room and not spoken to anyone the rest of the night.

However, the 12-year-old players from both teams handled it much better than most people ever could have.

The Natchez players were disappointed in the loss, that’s for sure. However, I didn’t see anyone throw their glove or hat and they handled the loss in a classy manner.

Credit must be given to the coaches as well. Even though they were absolutely crushed with the loss, they had nothing but good words to say to the team after the loss and didn’t let them get down on themselves.

Also, credit must be given to the Wesson players and coaches. After celebrating the walk-off game winner, players from both sides went down the line, gave each other high fives and said ‘good game.’

It was a great scene that repeats itself after almost every youth sporting event.

Even though they love the game, the players are young enough to know that it isn’t all there is.

As one of the Natchez coaches told me “The coaches will take this a lot harder than the players.”

If only we could all learn to let wins and losses bounce off our backs as well as the kids seem to do.

Because while sports is so important to many people, it still is, after all, just a game.