Bad Behavior In Sports

The article responds to the debate about if college athletes should be paid on top of their scholarships/benefits. Critics of college sports argue that these student athletes are being exploited because it is possible for schools to generate revenue from TV contracts and other beneficial arrangements. Ackerman and Scott, both commissioners of a conference/sport, respond by stating “College is a time from learning, and college sports provide young men and women alike a chance to learn, grow, graduate, and achieve great things in life.” The purpose of this article is to educate the audience, critics of

Career achievements need to be based on professional conduct and milestones covered. However, the big sports associations such as Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) tend to factor in other principles as well (Withers 147). For these leagues, certain behaviors off the field are keen indicators that determine how a player is viewed. With such efforts, these leagues aim to maintain a standard that professional athletes can use to guide their lives. However, there are questions that linger regarding the forms of conduct that are deemed to be unworthy of these athletes. The question is also posed to the wider society since these professionals are a part of it (Schrotenboer

Students involved in clubs, fraternities, sororities, and organizations experience hazing. In fact, 55% those college students involved in clubs, teams and organizations experience hazing. Hazing is any action taken or any situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule and risk emotional, or physical harm to members of a group or team, whether new or not, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate. Hazing can occur in high school, intercollegiate, or even professionally. As an individual, you have to know what is hazing. What is going over the edge? Am I doing anything illegal? Or is this causing emotional or physical distress or stress to myself or to others? Hazing, even though its tradition,

Continuing with this big picture view, college athletic salaries are bad news for the quality of collegiate sportsmanship. President of the NCAA, Myles Brand, once stated, “If you start paying athletes, you essentially ruin the integrity of the college game.” What Mr. Brand means by this is that once the motivation of the player is changed to a fixed monetary value rather than the pride and passion of the sport, college athletics become devalued and the level of sportsmanship among players alike is dismantled. A Division I board of director chairman and Chancellor at the University of Kansas agreed with Brand is stating, “even if born of the best intentions, pay for play is the worst of ideas.” This director compares the situation to a “slippery slope” in which college sports would eventually fall to corruption, with new questions and debates being raised and athletes becoming enveloped with the idea of “gaining more money” instead of “winning more games”

There has been a lot of controversy on whether colleges should be paying the paying their athletes. Brian Frederick, a board member of Sports Fan Coalition and an adjunct professor for Georgetown University’s Sport Industry Management Program, believes colleges have a broken system when it comes to athletes. Frederick’s contemptuous tone discredits sports fan, who believe college athletes already get paid enough with their education, by stating “If a student athlete is hurt or unsuccessful, the coaches and administrators suddenly discard the noble ideals of “education” and a player is left with nothing.” With the use of metaphors and similes, Frederick convinces sport fans to take action and make the calls in order to continue college athletics

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is one of the biggest sports organizations in the United States. One of the most divisive issues relating to the NCAA over the last several years has been the issue of athlete compensation. There are many sports—particularly football and basketball—that bring in incredible amounts of revenue to colleges across the country; therefore, whether or not athletes should be compensated for their role in college sports has become a topic of debate. While scholarship athletes are already compensated by their access to tutors, meals and a free education, the concept of the student-athlete has deteriorated over time and thus athletes should be able to make money by signing autographs or making public appearances while they are in school. In addition, the big four American professional sports do not give amateurs an opportunity to play aside from Major League Baseball, which funnels athletes to college sports and in turn ushers them into a place where they cannot profit from their athletic ability. The issue is clearly a complex and unethical one. It would be difficult for schools to pay athletes fairly as certain sports would appear entitled to more money based on profitability; however, players should undoubtedly be able to benefit from their athletic prowess by selling merchandise and profiting from their stature in general. The NCAA’s stance hindering players’ ability to sell autographs and other memorabilia is just as important to this

The National Athletic Association’s (NCAA) current policy of not paying college athletes needs to be changed. Athletes need to be compensated for their labor, to ensure their well-being at the Universities instead of using them to gain a profit. There needs to be a change in the world of college sports, there needs to be a Union for college athletes to insure they are taken care of instead of NCAA executives, Athletic Directors and the Coaches of these schools. A quote by Shabazz Napier point guard for the University of Connecticut tells why there need to be a change to the

As college athletic revenues have skyrocketed over the past decade, the controversial question of whether college athletes should be compensated still remains. In the United States over 100,000 collegiate athletes participate in a variety of different sports across the country and do not receive financial compensation for their performances. Dating back to the 1800’s, intercollegiate athletics have played a very important role in American life, not only for the players but for fans as well. Ranked among the most popular sports in the United States, “College football alone attracted its third-highest attendance total ever with 48,958,547 fans in 2012” (National Collegiate Athletics Association, 2013). Intercollegiate athletics is defined as “involving or involved in competition between colleges”.

For over a century, college athletics have thrilled generations of fans; from alumni gathered in stadiums to armchair quarterbacks, the fervor of team loyalty reaches spiritual proportions. This popularity is evident from the gigantic economy college athletics have created, with the NCAA raking in nearly eleven billion dollars last year (Edelman 7). A problem overlooked in spite of this boom is the exploitation of the people who make this venture so profitable: the players. Although it has not always been the case, the majority of players now are grossly undercompensated for contributions to their alma maters, the sport, and the burgeoning economy created by the two. College athletes are exploited when universities refuse to acknowledge

Professional athletes were paid less than average wages and would frequently work multiple jobs. The reason student athletes would play their sports was for the spirit of competition and the desire to be better than their rivals. However it wasn’t long before these friendly competitions became more and more heated and teams would do whatever they could to gain an advantage over their opponents. In 1840 “Harvard University sought to gain an undue advantage over its academic rival Yale by obtaining the services of a coxswain who was not a student.” (R. K. Smith, 11) It was at this time that some regulation to college athletics would have to be set in place. In the beginning college athletics were monitored by the faculty of the universities until 1905 when “over eighteen deaths and one hundred major injuries in intercollegiate football” occurred President Roosevelt called for the formation of what eventually would become the NCAA. (R. K. Smith, 12) The NCAA, the governing body behind all college athletics, is ultimately the deciding force behind not paying student athletes today. From humble beginnings the NCAA’s focus has been to preserve “the collegiate model of athletics in which students participate as an avocation, balancing their academic, social and athletics experiences.” (NCAA) In an attempt to preserve this core value the NCAA states in its rules that any student athlete is “not eligible for participation if [they] have ever taken pay, or the

The audience to which this paper is directed towards is the college aged baseball fan in America. They are interested in the game and love to go to the ballpark to watch a game, and if they can’t make it to the game they will try to watch it on TV or catch some of the highlights. They hear the stories about steroids and the various scandals, but don't possess a deep understanding of them. My audience’s attitude towards my culture is admiration for the players and teams. However, likely objections could include the steroid scandals and some fans may be hesitant to accept the fact the these players makes huge salaries each year. Professional baseball players come from all over the world, so while it is likely that my audience share similar backgrounds

In the book “Winning Is the Only Thing”, Randy Roberts and James Olsen unravel the true origins of sports and the post war effects on American sports. The book reveals the social, economic, racial, and worldly affairs that shaped sports in the U.S. Roberts and Olsen also explain how sports went from fun and games to winning being the only importance. The book begins with the cold war and its effects on the Olympic Games, demonstrating how the games were politicized. It then transitions with racial integration becoming a thing of the past, to the modernization of sports through mass media and technology. “Winning is the Only Thing” offers a variety of the historical stories, giving the readers factual insight on the controversial and scandalous sides behind the transformation of American sports. The book was informative and quickly covered the historical and evolutionary aspects of sports, keeping the book short, sweet and easy to read.

In every group of people, there are generally behaviors that are acceptable and others that are not. While we are all taught to except differences, we certainly only do so within particular limits and boundaries. This holds true for people participating in sports as well. It is not uncommon to see teammates, particularly males playing basketball, baseball and football, slap each other on the butt as affirmation of a good play. Since that is behavior we are all accustomed to seeing, it does not strike us as odd in that context. What if some player demonstrated a different behavior though? What if, as Yadier Molina headed back to home plate, he gave the pitcher a kiss on the cheek? What would happen? Clearly, I am not a star with Yadi's magnitude, but I do run with a group of very accomplished runners every Wednesday night to do

Working in the college setting, during both undergrad and grad school, I can attest to the fact that substance abuse is a major issue within athletics. The “winning at all costs” mentality in today’s sports culture directly correlates with the ever-increasing rate of substance abuse amongst athletes. Conversely, substance abuse does not only affect the individual who is misusing the drug, it too affects the individual’s family, friends, and other loved ones. This week’s discussion in combination with the supplemental articles provide us with tremendous insight on the role that we as athletic trainers will have in deterring these addictive behaviors. But how can we take this pertinent information and allow it to guide our decisions in the near

Every society has established social norms which set forth the framework of such a society with regards to what behavior is to be viewed as acceptable and also as what is to be considered deviant of such social norms. Such norms include what is acceptable to wear, what is acceptable to say, and also what is the acceptable way to treat others, all of which are susceptible to the context. Failure to follow such norms leads to one to be socially deviant which results in from the members of society reacting to the act since it failed to follow social norms. One prominent example of failure to follow such established norms can be found in the world of sports when it comes to the sensation of unsportsmanlike conduct by players. Such unsportsmanlike behavior is socially deviant since it results in the negative reaction from the group of people for not adhering to the social norms.