- The sport ethic is a sort of unofficial criteria used by athletes to determine who is a "real" athlete. It provides athletes with a greater sense of camaraderie amongst their peers while also leaving them uniquely vulnerable to deviations, like drugs.
- There are 4 dimensions of the sports ethic:
- - Making sacrifices for ‘the game’
- - Striving for distinction
- - Accepting risks and playing through pain
- - Refusing to accept limits in the pursuit of possibilities
- Athletes do this because, in most cases, they are obsessed or nearly obsessed with their ideals and their goals, and this single-minded focus makes them better athletes and teammates. Unfortunately, this "whatever it takes" mentality can lead to some pretty awful places if followed through to its logical conclusion- which is why professional sports leagues in the US have been dealing with various drug issues for many decades, from steroids & amphetamines in baseball to crack cocaine in basketball (although pot is more of a "problem drug" in the NBA these days) and so on.
- My experience to the sport ethic is very limited; I am not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination. Hopefully this doesn't get in the way of my striving for distinction in this class.
Friday, January 17, 2014
The Sport Ethic
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You are absolutely right about the sports ethic causing athletes to have a "whatever it takes" mentality. However, I find that some of the drugs that you list do not work toward the sports ethic. For example, marijuana is not really used to improve athletic performance. Rather, marijuana is more often used for pleasure purposes. So I agree with the idea that the sports ethic causes some athletes to use steroids and other performance enhancers, but I do not agree with all of the drugs you list. Also I found this article about drugs in the NBA and it seems pretty interesting. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1754928-nba-players-smoke-pot-sip-lean-and-pop-mollys-according-to-tmz-report
ReplyDeleteThe first comment listed was written by Tyler Martin.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that pot doesn't improve an athlete's performance; the reason I listed it as a "problem drug" is because many NBA players have allowed their habit to interfere with their careers (such as Michael Beasley, whose career was almost ended by his weed habit before the Heat signed him- http://www.sbnation.com/2013/8/30/4675356/michael-beasley-marijuana-nba-suns). I could probably have clarified that in my post; my bad. There are surely many other NBA players who can smoke pot without letting it destroy their lives.
ReplyDelete-Kyle Robbins
I agree that the "whatever it takes" mentality is threatening the integrity of sports. It really isn't that hard to be "the best" when you are taking performance-enhancing drugs. I remember when I found out about Lance Armstrong I was seriously disturbed. Here was this athlete who was so successful and who had beaten cancer. I thought he could be a pretty cool role model. Then, to find out he was only a phony, was a huge disappointment.
ReplyDeleteNice discussion everyone - I enjoy the links to other articles and such.
ReplyDeleteA point on this last comment - PEDs alone cannot account for better performance. Someone still has to train hard to make the PEDs effective. Although I agree that it still makes achieving "greatness" almost a forgone conclusion. I wonder if the work that goes in to training even when PEDs are being used is why so many athletes whole use them don't think there is anything wrong...after all they are still working hard.
Side Note: Tottenham Hotspur! I love it. My best friend is from Newcastle Upon Tyne so I am afraid I've already been swayed. Isn't that funny how that happens? How we are connected with certain teams. - Prof Withycombe
Ok, so performance enhancement drugs are obviously an issue surrounding sports. In no way am I defending or supporting athletes using them but if their competition is using them and are going to get ahead in the game.. it kind of makes sense why they're using as well. Yes, it sucks that athletes cheat to get ahead but if they want to keep up with the others, some are going to use performance enhancements, unfortunately. Like you said, it's that "whatever it takes" mentality instilled into them.
ReplyDeleteKarli Salas