Is the best competition for sportsmanship ... BattleBots?

NFL Network recently completed its annual list of the top 100 players as voted on by their peers.

Locally, sports talk callers couldn’t go wrong with Aaron Rodgers selected as the second-best player and former Wisconsin Badgers star J.J. Watt chosen as the best in the league.

Nonetheless, opinions were offered on how anyone could have voted Rodgers as anything but the best player because of how much of a role he plays in the Green Bay Packers’ success.

Counterpoints insisted Watts’ season was more exciting and provided more entertainment value than Rodgers “ho-hum” statistics of 38 TD passes and five interceptions.

As a former high school quarterback, I would definitely support Rodgers’ stat line as out-of-this-world and worthy of being the best the league has to offer.

However, I couldn’t argue with those who have a defensive mindset plugging for Watt as No. 1.

Another sports talk topic of interest for me would be to discuss which sport demonstrates the best sportsmanship.

Results from TeamScore Inc sportsmanship studies from several years ago showed that basketball, soccer and hockey were the three worst sports when it came to poor sportsmanship as viewed by high school coaches and/or administrators.

On the other hand, tennis and track/cross country were the best, with volleyball and softball close behind.

Wrestling, baseball and football were in the middle of the pack.

As you can see, several sports, like golf, swimming, gymnastics and lacrosse didn’t make the list, and that’s because most schools don’t have those sports and therefore too few results produced noncredible data.

There’s another that also didn’t make the list, one you might not consider a sport.

But if it is a sport, having statistical categories such as Aggression, Control, Weapons and Defense, you’d think it’d be a sport with absolutely no sportsmanship whatsoever.

However, from what I’ve witnessed on television over the last few weeks, “BattleBots” may have the best sportsmanship amongst competitors than any event I’ve seen.

It’s true, the goal in “BattleBots” is to try and knock out your opponent — to inflict as much damage as you can through the use of a remote-controlled, armored machine. But in the end, the competitors show respect and admiration for their opponents, and humility about their accomplishments, regardless if they win or lose.

If I’m a coach, it’s exactly how I would want players to represent their team.

When these competitors go at it, you can tell they approach what they’re doing as a fun event, not something that’s going to be life or death, and not something that determines their worth in life.

They love to create and they love to compete with their creations.

If they lose, they look to improve their machine for the next competition, and if they win, they look to improve their machine for the next match.

Nonetheless, it’s been a treat for me to watch competition the way it should be, just for the fun of it.

Bill Gosse writes a youth sportsmanship column for Press-Gazette Media. Email him at bgosse23@gmail.com.