Read the opposing argument from Bleacher Fan and Babe Ruthless.
Does it seem that every time you turn on the TV these days, there is some type of moral issue going on in the world of sports? It sure does to us at TSD, which is one of the main reasons why we decided to have this debate. The debate centered on whether or not leagues should have a stricter moral conduct policy, if they even have one to begin with.
Bleacher Fan’s argument, aptly titled ‘Men Behaving Badly‘, focused on the wide variety of immorally wrong episodes that have taken place in recent memory. The three main points highlighted in the argument revolve around the fact that a) sports is a business, b) the athletes have a social responsibility to be role models, and c) that there is a matter of protection, and yes, you can interpret that last phrase however you so desire.
Babe Ruthless, on the other hand, admittedly had a tough argument to make. Nevertheless, some good points were raised and credit is owed to the Babe for that. While hardly anyone condones the scandalous activities done by today’s athletes, it is definitely important to note that these guys are human. As Babe pointed out, we must understand that while we may not have done some of the same things as today’s athletes, we have all done something we would not want the public to know about. And no, I’m not talking about the time when Sports Geek cheated off someone’s paper in his third grade spelling class.
Ultimately, this debate is quite simple – It is a matter of right versus wrong. As Bleacher Fan indicated, these players represent the team they play for. Tiger Woods is not an employee of the PGA Tour, but he is a representative of it. He is known as a golfer by the majority of us first and foremost, not as a spokesman for Nike (for example). It is the player’s responsibility to behave in a respectful manner because that image essentially is tied to the image of the respective league.
Obviously, athletes are entitled to live their lives as they see fit, but they must deal with the consequences, whatever they may be. The rest of us would have to deal with those same consequences if our actions were considered “immoral”. If you or I had been involved in the same type of situation that Ben Roethlisberger found himself in, how would our bosses look at it? Ask yourself that question and it will lead you to my verdict.
Every sports league needs to have some type of code of conduct to let their “employees” know that these types of shenanigans will not be tolerated.
Bleacher Fan is awarded the victory.
