GENTLEMEN

Golf has been described as “a gentleman’s sport”.

To use the phrase thus makes no sense to me. How does that description set golf apart from any other pastime?

The reason for my brain’s inability to comprehend something of such seeming simplicity lies in a brief analysis of the words “gentleman” and “sport”.

A gentleman was at one time someone of the upper classes, a person of education and manners. He was usually someone everybody else looked up to. In more recent years, a gentleman can be someone of any social level – simply, someone who is respectful of others and is in turn respected by all.

Now to the word “sport”. A sport is something people do for amusement. It is a competition kept within the bounds of rules. If players don’t abide by those rules, they’re no longer participating in the sport.

A gentleman abides by the rules. Someone who isn’t a gentleman does not.

This leads me to one conclusion: Any sport is a gentleman’s sport. Golf holds no separate status in this respect. Gentlemen follow the rules. Sports are defined by rules. Therefore, anyone who plays any sport honestly and fairly is a gentleman. Whether you’re whacking little white balls down the fairway or using paddles to bounce a similar, lighter ball across a table, as long as the rules are being observed, you’re playing a gentleman’s sport.

Paintball, therefore, is also a gentleman’s sport. Cheating is not gentlemanly. Neither is swearing. Nor is insulting your opponents. Nor is trashing hotels. Nor is any other objectionable behavior, on the field or off.

When you’re playing paintball, ask yourself, “Am I helping keep paintball a sport? Am I being a gentleman?” Because once paintballers cease to be gentlemanly, paintball ceases to be a sport.

And gals, that includes you! Whenever I’ve said “gentlemen” in this article, I’ve also meant “ladies”. All of us, male and female alike, took on a responsibility when we started playing paintball – to keep paintball a true sport.

Ladies and gentlemen of the splat caste, you have a burden on your shoulders. Bear it well – and bear it proudly!