Unethical Behaviors

          

             On November 29^th, the two most popular soccer teams in Spanish league, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, had their first match in this year. The result was 5-0 win by Barcelona; however when the match was almost ended, a defensive player Sergio Ramos kicked an opponent player on purpose. Eventually he got a red card, but he didn’t stop his violence, which he stroke two more players while he was exiting the field.

            While I was watching the news and reading the articles about the incident, I questioned the sportsmanship that needs to be considered during the competition. I understand that players get mad when they are losing the game badly, but I think Ramos had absolutely crossed the line. He should be condemned not only for the dangerous tackle that he had committed but for the unnecessary violence. Will the result of the game change for being violent player? Will the team benefit from those behaviors? I think Sergio Ramos’ behaviors have outcome disgraceful image of the team. Can the violence in sport justified by expressing anger? Can’t the two teams just end the game congratulating and encouraging each other? 

Related Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6BHmHIrxjE

Collegiate Athletes get paid?

 

                The tremendous amount of revenues generated by collegiate athletic department come just like the professional sports league. The school sells tickets to sports fans and earn enormous amount of money through television and media rights. Where does all those money go to? Every single dollar goes to coaches and school facilities. I wasn’t surprised when Dr. Todd told us that top ten highest paid people in Texas is all coaches except one person. So, should part of that money also go to collegiate athletes?

                I was thinking what if collegiate athletes are getting paid by school. Then what will be the difference between collegiate and professional sport league? Student athletes might focus on getting paid rather than obtaining education in the college, which it is definitely denying the mission of the college. Should seniors get more pay than the freshmen? Should NCAA allow schools to buy or trade collegiate athletes just like in the pro league? Many problems are expected if collegiate athletes are allowed to get paid. Therefore, the school can use the funds for student athletes’ graduate degree or other financial support such as starting a business and making payment on house.

Caster Semenya

               

                An 18-year old girl, Caster Semenya won a gold medal in the women’s 800 meter dash in Berlin 2009. However, she was forced to take a gender test from International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) to verify that she is really a female. The result of the test was astonishing. It has been reported that Semenya has no womb or ovaries and her level of testosterone was three times higher than that of the normal female. As a result, the federation decided to distinguish her as a hermaphrodite – having both male and female organs. 

                I believe Caster Semenya has been raised as a girl in her family, which I think IAAF’s decision to conduct a gender against this young girl is violating human rights. It has been reported in public that she is no longer considered as female, but hermaphrodite. And how would she feel after being tested and realized that she can be both male or female? Although Semenya might benefit from her stronger muscles and faster movements, this issue is different from athletes taking advantage from doping. Therefore, I don’t think any additional punishment is necessary.

Is it an Ethical Decision?

                On November 23th, there was a Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Ajax. Since both teams are very well organized and have shown outstanding performances during the season, soccer fans were expecting a remarkable match. As a result, Real Madrid succeeded to score four goals against Ajax, and reached the top spot in Group G. However, after the game, the decision made by the manager of Real Madrid, José Mourinho, caused a great controversy. At the very end of the game, Mourinho directed two key players, Xavi Alonso and Sergio Ramos, to try to get another yellow card so that they can be suspended on the next Champions League match. At last, Alonso and Ramos received second yellow cards by delaying a ball playing, which they were suspended until the next match (I attached a link that shows video of the situation). Real Madrid have already been decided to play at the knockout stage despite the final match in Group G, and Mourinho wanted to have their yellow card count wiped clean ahead of the Champions League knockout stages.

                Is this an ethical decision made by the manager of the team? It is true that they didn’t violate the rules, and it seems that those two players were adequately punished from their behaviors. Some people say that it was a clever decision and there is nothing wrong with it, however, I think the manager’s decision is against the sports spirit. Professional athletes should try their best to earn victory, which the Real Madrid players’ behaviors were disrespectful to the opponent team. How about the soccer fans watching the game? You will notice from the video that fans were outraged by the behaviors of the players. Those fans paid to watch the team performing exciting plays, not to watch them playing only to gain advantage. This incident has occurred at one of the most popular soccer league in the world, which I think the managers and players should be more aware of the sportsmanship. 

 Related Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPplbi9QeKE

Major in Football, Basketball or Baseball?

              

               The common issue about the ethics of the college sport is that whether university should consider athletic programs as central part of the educational mission. We all know that students can major in art, music or even dance, but why shouldn’t Universities allow athletes major in the sports whatever they are participating? Just like music students, those student athletes have same talents and put same effort to become successful in the field of sport.

                I think the reason student athletes have very low graduation success rate is that they are not benefiting from their hard work participating in athletic program. If the schools offer credit for being successful in their specialties, I guess more student athletes will be able to earn the bachelor degree. I’m not saying that university should allow collegiate athletes to graduate just by participating in sport; it is reasonable to provide just a small number of credits. Intercollegiate athletics show positive values, including striving for excellence, resilience, hard work and sportsmanship; therefore, universities should balance the approach of education by considering both cognitive and physical capacity.

Violence in Sport

             

                 After reading the article “Offensive Play” and watching videos showing football players’ hits, I realized the severity of this problem of violence in sports. Many of the former football players ruined their future life suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and brain damage. In addition, those players had much higher rate getting dementia and Alzheimer disease. It has been scientifically proven that repetitive concussive traumas during the football game are detrimental to players’ brain, which hitting their head in full speed can cause similar damage to having a car accidents. 

                Considering this dangerous aspect of sports, we were debating whether we can solve this serious problem. In my opinion, sports association could establish some new rules that can reduce the number of injuries or concussion. For example, the victory of the game can be partially determined by the number of fouls committed. If two NFL football teams have scored the same number, the winner can be the team with less fouls committed. I know this would not directly reduce the number of hits between players during the game but the players would become more alert to not to commit illegal tackle. However, we should also understand that there is always a chance to get injured in any sports; professional sports players recognize this risks and it is their responsibility to overcome the difficulty.