Sportive?

Is it sportive to constantly try to outdo others? I do wonder. Some people are fiercely aggressive in their quest to be first hardly what I’d call sportive. Others dismiss it as "healthy competition," but there’s nothing spirited or fair in it. Steemit falls eerily silent once you step back and focus on your own affairs, unlike those who posture as all-knowing (is there even anything left to know, or is every day the same drone of recycled opinions? Strange how this makes me think of Trump…).

Sportive, what does it truly mean? Certainly not your average footballer writhing on the pitch, milking a foul. Nor the colleague who lets you grind while they claim the glory. Where’s the sportive spirit in that?

I stumbled upon a post in the Newcomers community, no replies, just crickets. A laundry list of questions begging for Steemians’ input (though why anyone would care is another matter). Is it sportive to ignore someone’s plea? Hardly. Yet it’s the norm on social media: we engage only when seething, jealous, or threatened. So-called "positive criticism" exists, but it’s often hollow praise—why invest effort? It’s like leaving a review: we’ll rage about bad service, but excellence? Met with silence. Though… a rare few are genuinely sportive—sharing kindness, sparking momentum with a word that lifts rather than leeches.

Can a single night spawn a thousand replies, most venomous? Or is this AI’s cold hand, or hired trolls? Where money lurks, fairness dies. True sportive souls—who share the stage, who cheer another’s win? Fewer by the day.

_{20.7.25
The title is the prompt - see @freewritehouse
#freewrite #sportive #unsporting #thoughts #steemexclusive}