Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines "class" as "high quality, elegance." I got to see some "class" last weekend. Not just once, but four times. Three of them oddly enough, in high level sports.
The first occurred in a Big Ten football game between Minnesota and Penn State. If you were watching the game Saturday afternoon, you probably noticed it.
The two teams finished regulation play tied. Penn State is competitive this year; Minnesota hadn't won a game yet and had a chance at an upset. In the overtime Minnesota had scored but missed the extra point, putting them up by six points.
Then it was Penn State's turn in the OT. On fourth down, a Gopher defensive back knocked away a Penn State pass and it looked like Minnesota had its first victory of the season.
But, an official threw a flag, calling interference. That gave Penn State a first down. They went on to score and convert the extra point, giving them a hard fought one point victory.
What was surprising … what was "classy," was the fact that the Gophers did not overreact to the fact that the interference call seemed bogus. In the TV replays, it looked as though the blocked pass was clean and that no penalty had been committed.
But the Gophers accepted their fate, accepted the loss, and moved on.
The second classy act I saw that weekend also occurred in a Big Time football game on Saturday.
This one was between Kansas and Iowa State.
I have to admit to being confused about why Iowa State was part of the national prime time headline game on Saturday night. This slot should be reserved for the real marquee games, like Ohio State/Texas.
But, be that as it may, it was UK/ISU. Late in the game, an obvious touchdown pass by the ISU Cyclones was disallowed when an official ruled it was not caught in bounds.
Again, those ubiquitous TV replays clearly showed the pass was complete. The receiver got a foot down inbounds. Again, the Cyclones accepted the call and moved on.
They also lost.
The third example of "class" was more personal. This one was Sunday afternoon in the NASCAR race in Talladega, Alabama. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., my personal favorite driver, had taken the lead near the end of the race.
On a restart, he was followed by rival Jimmy Johnson, who was followed by Johnson's teammate, Brian Vickers.
As Johnson tried to pass for the lead on the last lap, Vickers followed. He bumped the rear of Johnson's car, throwing it into a slide. Johnson collided with Earnhardt and both slid off the track. Vickers went on to win.
It would be easy to be angry at Vickers and claim that his win was tainted. But this time, those ubiquitous TV replays, along with Earnhardt's first hand report in the post-race interviews, showed that it was "just one of them racin' deals."
Earnhardt said that he had moved down to try to keep Johnson from passing, causing him to slow slightly. That's what led to the contact between the second and third place cars.
Despite the fact that the incident ended Earnhardt's chance at a badly needed victory, he bore no ill will toward either of his competitors.
Johnson was less gracious toward his teammate, but that's probably because of team issues that are another story.
The fourth example of real "class" was not from the world of sports. It was from a small community in Pennsylvania.
You heard about the tragedy, in which a man took a number of young Amish girls hostage in their schoolhouse and shot them, killing five.
He then took his own life.
Instead of rancor and blame, many, not all, members of the Amish community, while burying their own, also mourned their killer.
Now, a little study hints that Amish communities are not "Heaven on Earth." It is a patriarchal, sometimes dictatorial sort of life. But they had to come up with something special … something "classy" to be able to overcome what we "English" would feel was righteous indignation and a need for revenge.
That is high quality … it's elegant.