The Sports Museum and HP Hood unveiled the first ever Sportsmanship Exhibit presented by Hood Milk at TD Garden in Boston on January 23. The exhibit highlights great sportsmanship moments in New England and beyond and features past winners of the Hood Sportsmanship Scholarship. 2013 Hood Scholarship recipients were welcomed by Gord Kluzak, former Bruins defenseman, and representatives from The Sports Museum and HP Hood.

Boothbay Harbor student, Sarah Caron, was one of the three Maine winners of the 2013 Hood Scholarship Program. Caron was honored with a personal display inside the exhibit in recognition of her success. The display includes a poster-size photo, quote from her submission essay and listed her hometown. The exhibit will be on display inside the TD Garden for the next two years. Caron is now attending Wheaton College where she is a freshman member of the women's basketball team and playing for Coach Melissa Hodgdon, former East Boothbay resident and BRHS basketball standout.

 “It was an honor to be placed next to some of the top athletes in the world, sharing a common love for sportsmanship and camaraderie. Also, being a big Bruins fan, meeting and shaking the hand of the former defenseman was a real privilege,” said Caron. “Hood has been supporting athletes and their education for years and I cannot thank them and my community enough for choosing me as one of the three candidates in Maine to receive the scholarship.”

In addition to honoring local students, the exhibit also provides real-life examples of how professional athletes have been able to excel while still maintaining a high degree of sportsmanship. The iconic moments include:

Ted Williams and the Negro Leaguers: At his 1966 Hall of Fame induction speech Williams shocks the baseball world by urging the inclusion of Negro League players previously barred from the Hall.  As a result, several years later, the Hall of Fame inducts the first Negro Leaguers.

The Stanley Cup Handshake: At the end of each Stanley Cup playoff series, the two teams (no matter how hard the battle) line up and shake each other's hands.  It is perhaps the best and most enduring example of sportsmanship in professional sports today.

Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese: In his 1947 rookie year, Jackie Robinson (the first African American to play major league baseball) receives a slew of racial slurs from a hostile Cincinnati crowd.  Dodger shortstop Pee Wee Reese silences the crowd by walking over to Robinson and placing his arm around his teammate, thus paving the way for widespread acceptance of the heroic Robinson.

Jesse Owens and Luz Long: On the verge of being disqualified from the long jump competition at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Owens receives some unsolicited advice from Long, his chief rival, about how to shorten his approach. Owens uses the advice to qualify and then goes on to edge Long for the gold medal.

“In sports, we are so used to celebrating the act of winning that we sometimes forget to celebrate the act of being a good sport,” said Rusty Sullivan, executive director of The Sports Museum. “Putting together an exhibit solely focused on sportsmanship was a pleasure to curate and we are so grateful for HP Hood for making this possible and for their ongoing commitment to this cause with their Sportsmanship Scholarship.”

The exhibit kicks off the fifth annual Hood Sportsmanship Scholarship program, which has become one of the largest scholarships in New England and has impacted 72 students and their families over the past four years. In 2014, Hood will award 18 $5,000 scholarships to high school seniors who demonstrate integrity and sportsmanship on and off the field. More information can be found at hood.com/sportsmanship.