FREE ESSAY ON THE VIRTUE OF SPORT

THE VIRTUE OF SPORT

The Ancient Greeks believed that there were four cardinal virtues to living a good life.
These virtues: courage, temperance, justice and wisdom can be applied not only to
everyday life, but also to the society of sport and to the film, "Hoosiers". In this
film, many characters have these qualities, illustrating the virtue of sport.
The characters in the film show a great deal of the first virtue, courage. For instance,
Coach Norman Dale. He is brought into a new situation, as a coach of a small town
basketball team. It is a formidable task, which he faces head on. Hickory, Indiana is
like many other small towns. They are a close knit community, who are not especially
welcoming to new comers and are generally against change, especially when coming from an
outside source. This is where Coach Dale encounters most of his problems. He has new
ideas for the basketball team and the townspeople resent his ideas and methods. In this
sense, Coach Dale shows a great deal of courage.
Another courageous character is Jimmy. He is the town's star basketball player and has
chosen to give up the sport, due to the death of someone close. When he re-approaches the
sport, he gives new faith to the town, team and himself. 
Shooter, the local alcoholic also shows a great deal of courage. With the support of
Coach Dale, he is able to shed the label he has been given and face his illness head on.
As a result of this, he is given a second chance, both in the community and with his son.
Although it is a difficult road to travel, with many obstacles, Shooter is well on the
way to recovery. Being made an assistant coach to the Hickory High School basketball team
has given him direction in life, a meaning and a purpose. This shows that courage is a
vital virtue for all to keep both in sport and in life.
The second virtue is temperance. Illustrated in the film, this virtue examines the
individual versus team play. The Hickory High School basketball team was all about team
play. In fact, it was one of the central themes of the whole film. Coach Dale realized
that team play was important, and that this virtue was important to the team. They barely
had enough players to field a team. This would seem discouraging to many others, but the
team was able to see that the most important aspect of the game was the team themselves.
Coach Dale also realized that the virtue although present in the team needed greater
expression in the community. By the end of the film, the residents of Hickory finally
observe this aspect of the virtue. Temperance, shows the need for moderation and
understanding in both team and community settings.
Justice, the third cardinal virtue is also shown, to a certain extent in the film. Is it
important to give each person his or her time in the limelight? Coach Dale believed this
was true. He was fair to all of his players, giving each the chance to play, but also
enforcing the rules at the same time. Sometimes this meant that the team had to play
short handed, but it was all to get his point across. He gave each player the chance to
show their ability and made each player feel that they were an essential part of the
team, no matter how big or small they were. It was also Coach Dale that gave Shooter a
second shot on life. Being a part of a team gave him reason to try and reprove himself to
the community and his son. Justice will always be an important part of the society of
sport. How would one even know how far they could stretch their abilities if never given
the chance to try? Coach Dale shows us that this is necessary both in sport and in the
community.
That last virtue, wisdom was shown in a few instances in the film. The concept of wisdom
is that of understanding self and controlling self. It took quite a while, however, Coach
Dale realizes his possibilities as coach and also as a member of society. He also learns
that it is necessary to control himself as that was the reason he had been kicked out of
college basketball. Wisdom is a virtue that is often very difficult. It is difficult to
understand one's self, to find your flaw, and is often more difficult to fix. In the
film, Shooter is faced with the task of reforming his alcoholism. It will be a long, hard
road to travel, but in the end he will be a better person for it. The virtue of wisdom is
hard to come by; it is a process of constantly learning, both about yourself and your
surroundings. Sport teaches control, which in this aspect is an important part of
self-awareness.
The film, "Hoosiers" helps to show the virtue of sport. It illustrates the four cardinal
virtues outlined by the Ancient Greeks, through the characters, team and community. The
film shows that without courage, temperance, justice and wisdom, that not only sport, but
also society would be meaningless.