If you like the big mouthed portions and greasy trash talk that gets served on the side of every professional sport in the United States, then badminton is probably not going to be your cup of tea. There are no Chad Johnsons, Floyd Mayweathers or Gary Paytons floating around the pro badminton circuits. These guys pride themselves on their polite etiquette and gentle(wo)manly gestures.
I’m a huge hockey fan,” Santa Teresa badminton coach Mike Do said, “and if there’s a penalty, I’ll still boo. But in badminton, we don’t boo. We only cheer for good shots. Nobody yells `Miss!’ We teach them to be respectful of the game and their opponents.
Where’s the fun in that? Sportsmanship, we don’t need no stinking sportsmanship. In badminton, players are expected to honestly call their own faults and line decisions. Can you imagine a bunch of NBAers or NFLers calling their own fouls? Hell, you can’t even get a couple kids playing a pick-up game on the street to call their own fouls honestly.
They also gotta go shake hands with their opponent after the game which is a pretty customary practice for most sports but what we are really upset about is that players aren’t allowed to give the birdie a nice, hardcore, overhead smash when it gets popped up at the net. And some actually wonder why it gets labeled as a “sissy” sport. Badminton isn’t anything like the commercials make it out to be!
Links:
[MercuryNews.com]: No booing in badminton