Certain trends start in high school

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There are certain aspects of today’s sports world that began at the high school level. Some bad, some good.

Bad: Gang affiliation in sports.

Good: Baggy basketball shorts. It started with #23. His Airness began to wear his a little bit longer than everyone else and, back then, everything His Airness did was cool. High school kids began to emulate #23. Eventually five fabulous kids ended up in Michigan. And just in time.

Even better: Sportsmanship. We see it after every event, players from both teams line up to shake hands. Sometimes we think it’s a nuisance and many of us take it for granted. But, starting in January, Italy’s top soccer league will do the same thing high school kids do after every game. And honestly, it’s about time.

The NHL already does it, Rugby players do it also, the NFL and NBA might want to implement it as well. It could prevent scenes like this one and this one from happening again.

‘Tis the season to be sportsmanlike, after all.

-- Jaime Cardenas

-- Image from video ‘Michael Jordan to the Max’