Honor Among Athletes

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . spending most of today's two-hour conference meeting struggling to entertain Daniel, or carrying him around the building so he could flip every light switch he could find. It made me even more grateful that the Saturday session of stake conference is adults only.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . visiting Mom H for dinner.

. . . my husband giving me hugs out of the blue.

. . . BYU's basketball team achieving a landslide victory this weekend, and reaching the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time in thirty years. I usually don't pay much attention to sports, even when my beloved alma mater is involved, but I've been watching this BYU team closely since they began taking a lot of heat earlier this month.

All students who attend BYU commit to follow a set of moral standards known as the Honor Code. That code includes living a "chaste and virtuous life," and when the team's starting center Brandon Davies admitted he'd slept with his girlfriend a few weeks ago, he was suspended from playing on the team for the rest of the season. Critics assumed the school had blown its chances for the NCAA tournament, and many of them mocked BYU for sticking to its standards when other schools bend rules and ignore criminal offenses to keep star players in action.

I would applaud BYU's decision even if they had lost every game for the rest of the season--sometimes making the right choice requires tough sacrifice. On the other hand, sometimes we're blessed for sticking to our principles, and I'm thrilled to see BYU's team excelling despite the challenges they've faced. I'm even happier to read about the mutual love and support between the team and Davies (the suspended center), who has been on the bench in a white shirt and tie, cheering his teammates on. One of the other players referred to Davies as a best friend who’s like a brother to them, and said Davies’s dedication and support has really strengthened the team. We all make mistakes, and the consequences can hurt, but love has immense power to heal and help us move forward together.