...Are Professional Athletes Overpaid? Have you ever considered how much money does an average person need to be able to have food three times a day, have a house, be able to send their children to school to get an education and even have a car? Realistically, all of this plus a little more can be done with an income of between $45,000 and $55,000 easily. For some reason, it was decided by us, people who labor is harder than the most, like janitors, factory workers, and even factory workers, should be paid less than someone that sits on a desk all day or someone that gets paid to play a game for living. Athletes today are the highest paid people in the world, with the exclusion of Donald Trump and Bill Gates. If you think about it, it is absurd to believe that someone is really worth millions of dollars and all they do is play a sport. Millions of people would do this for free if they had the chance. For that reason, I believe professional athletes are overpaid for many reasons. In USA Today Magazine, under section Your Life it says, “Although many professional athletes apparently still feel underpaid, just two percent of the public agrees, according to a survey conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide. In fact, the vast majority of Americans think athletes are overpaid.”(USA Today) This is ridiculous to hear for these athletes already making millions of dollars which is way more than they deserve. Also, in this article it states that professional athletes get paid what...
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...Personally, Duke Basketball is not a team I would cheer for. I am from St. Louis, Missouri. I study and live at Mizzou as a freshman. Teams I would cheer for would be St. Louis teams like the Rams, the Cardinals, and the Blues. Since I go to Mizzou, I would also cheer for Mizzou teams, whatever the sport. Places like gyms, stadiums, fields, and courts gather people together. The gym everyone is gathered in (like the one in the picture) is a place where diversity can exist, and nobody questions it. Individuals come to meet friends, family, even strangers to become one fan base for their favorite team. No matter what differences these people have, they still manage to bond because of this one similarity. Everyone cheers for the same team, unless you’re in the wrong section of seats. This group, and any other large group of fans, represents a melting pot of people with different ethnicities, sexes, cultures, and/or religions. This picture of Duke fans gave me an appreciation for my hometown and the fact that so many of my friends and I love sports. It reminded me of the connection people feel when they are together, as one, cheering. Going to the baseball stadium, football dome, or ice rink, with my friends helped me grow closer to them. Through the excitement of everyone in the picture, the unity of school colors on each individual, and the diversity of sex and race, it can be determined that Duke's basketball team serves as some kind of social captivator for Duke fans, who are...
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...Sport (or sports) is all forms of usually competitive physical activity which,[1] through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to participants, and in some cases, spectators.[2] Hundreds of sports exist, from those requiring only two participants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. Sport is generally recognised as activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with the largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition,[3] and other organisations such as the Council of Europe using definitions precluding activities without a physical element from classification as sports.[2] However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports,[4][5] although limits the amount of mind games which can be admitted as sports.[1] Sports are usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition, and allow consistent adjudication of the winner. Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first, or by the determination of judges who are scoring elements...
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...Ethical issues regarding the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports In the history of 20th century sports, specifically in the post World War 2 era, there has been an ever increasing use of performance enhancing drugs in all avenues of sport. Sports have become money making machine for both athletes and big business and the “win at all costs” attitude which has permeated itself into all aspects of professional and college level athletics. Winners make money, losers don’t. The temptation of fame, notoriety and million dollar contracts in all venues of sport is a lure for many athletes. Elite professional athletes are worshiped in today’s society. This paper will elaborate on the use of performance enhancing drugs in the sporting world and the associated sports ethical issues. It is a majority belief in all sporting circles that the “true” spirit of sportsmanship does not allow any aspect of performance enhancing drugs. There are several arguments both in favor and against the use of performance enhancing drugs which will be presented and discussed in this paper. While addressing this ethical issue, we need to define the term ethics. Ethics can be defined as the socially accepted norms and values. These norms and values are varied from society to society and are based on culture and tradition. Ethics also could be defined as the unsaid, un-written and understood laws that prevail in a society. Ethics also cover what is right and what is wrong in society and teaches...
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...Blake Feldmann Orlet English 101-OL01D 16 June 2010 Types of Sports Fans Professional sports has become one of the most popular industries in the world today. The media spends billions of dollars on advertisements and teams spend millions of dollars on professional athletes all for one reason, the fans. The fans ticket sales and merchandise purchases are what keeps all the sport teams around and prevents professional athletes from losing their jobs. There are three types of fans in the sports world, average fans, fanatics, and fair-weather fans. Fans that are fanatics are the ones who are diehard and will put their favorite team before almost all other priorities. Their lives revolve around their favorite team and they will do anything for their team. Fans who are like this go to every sporting event possible that their favorite team is in and many are season ticket holders. Fanatics are usually not much fun to sit by at games because they get easily irritated or believe they know more about the game than everyone else. If they are not at the game, you can usually find them watching the game somewhere else on TV. People who are fanatics also spend much of their free time researching their team and will know almost every aspect of every player on their team as well as their opponents so they know how they match up with the other teams. No matter how bad the season is going for their favorite team, fanatics will always stick with them and will continue to go to the games...
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...Sports Medias Negative Approach Ernest Culler COM 150 10 November 2012 Janice Prince Betian Sports Medias Negative Approach In the late 1980s and early 1990s many professional athletes were viewed as positive role models. During this time sports media found it hard to report about the negative accounts of the professional athlete. It was not until the early 1990s when Mike Tyson became the first prominent athlete to gain negative reports aired on national television. Before the 1990s Mike was known as the greatest boxer in the world after he was convicted of rape he was known as a criminal. While Sports media believes they report about the positive athletes as much if not more than they do the negative athletes, the bias approach taken towards role models is unequal. Sports media has chosen to take a radical approach in reporting about the favorite role models of children in today’s society. Over the past three years sports reporters have driven Lance Armstrong from atop the cycling world, they have taken an approach that has tarnished both his career and personal life. Michael Pearson reports that Lance Armstrong has stepped down as Chair of the Live Strong Cancer charity. In a CNN report Pearson (2012) writes that “Nike, which initially stood by Armstrong, dropped him October 17, 2012 with a terse statement citing what it called seemingly insurmountable evidence that he participated in doping.” Pearson has chosen only to give partial information...
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...Role of Sports in Popular American Culture Our group will cover the world of sports and its effects on pop culture. The sports that will be focused on are the NBA, NHL, MLB, And the NFL. In our discussion we will cover why athletes are considered role models and if they should be. Also we will discuss the debate of why many athletes make millions of dollars before even playing a game and if they are actually being overpaid. Throughout the paper we will explain how pop culture effects why these players get paid what they do by ratings and popularity of the sport. We research why teams take risks on players risking millions of dollars when that money could go back to the fans. In looking at major sports in America in referencing professional athletes as role models . Yes, we know how much money they make and what type of endorsement deals they get; what types of clothing they wear in to the locker rooms before/after the games and to press conferences; if they have of the field incident it is known to the public via media outlets; These athletes are looked up to for the skills possess during the sporting event. These people are great athletes again they are not recognized for what they do off the field of play. Most of Americans all ages that compete in sports copy some type body movement; buy a piece of equipment; develop a swagger that is influenced by professional athletes through which is seen during the time the time competition. These athletes are not recognized for time...
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...Shawn Bellesine Andy Jones English 102 28 September 2014 Our mouths are closed:Locker room camaraderie in sports today In his article,”Locker Room Cultivates a Reluctance to Criticize” published in the September issue of the New York Times, author Ben Shpigel discusses the growing trend of deviant behavior amongst professional football players: the alarming increase of anomie among their teammates in the locker room. Shpigel agrees and argues with other columnists and authors, that the reason behind most of this deviant behavior stems from a fast and rapid change in wealth, the stress and burden that it brings with it, when dealing with fortune and fame. The two most recent cases of player misconduct have caused an outbreak of cries from players and fans, when running back Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens was caught on an elevator camera knocking his fiance out cold and running back Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings charged with child abuse for beating his son with a switch. The sports industry has been under extreme scrutiny for years now: with its rules of engagment towards the misconduct of players, but none more than ever with what we are seeing in the news and media today with the N.F.L. Ben Shpigel a sports journalist for the New York Times, has covered the New York Jets since 2011, the Yankees since 2010 and the Mets since 2005. Shpigel was born in Philadelphia on Sept. 23, 1980. Shpigel has since received a bachelors degree for English and Journalism...
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...Performance Enhancement Drugs in Sports, the Ethical Choice In May 28, 2002, former Major League Baseball player Ken Caminiti admits to Sports Illustrated in the article “Caminiti Comes Clean” that he used steroids during his 1996 National League MVP (most valuable player) season with the San Diego Padres and he estimated that half of the players in the big leagues were also using steroids. He later died of a heart attack at age 40 where it was ruled by the New York Medical Examiner that drugs are a factor in his death. In October 5, 2007, track star Marion Jones admits to use steroids during the 2000 Olympic Games where she won three Gold Medals and two Bronze Medals. She was later sentenced to six months in prison for lying to the court and stripped off of all of her medals. Throughout history, there have been many stories of athletes using performance enhancing drugs, but none more than in the last 20 years. As technology advances in science as well as the media, more drugs has been engineer to enhance performance as well as the test to detect such drugs, as the results get to the hands of the media, the entire world would be at noticed in a manner of minutes. The fact is that performance enhancing drugs have existed since the time of the ancient Greek during the original Olympic Games from 776 BC – 393 BC. The question is why should we care? If most athletes are using it, is it a plain level field? And why is the government involved? Should the government be involved? ...
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...Involvement with drugs and athletes is a big step towards future activities. It can cause hazardous predicaments by taking illegal drugs, not following the laws that’s required for an athlete to compete. The drugs that are used by athletes are to be used for considerable reasoning. Instead, it gets used for the wrong reasons. Cheating your way towards a great success, will soon catch up and turn out into a tragedy due to eagerness. Athletes must find a way to abstain from this type of virus. Any and everyone can do this, but it takes time to do so with the certain capabilities that will help. It might appear that drugs are being abused by athletes, but as to them, it is taken as a concise product. By athletes enhancing drugs, risks are being taken. In results, athletes rely on drugs by keep them in the best shape of their lives as well as performing at their best level Testing Drugs on Athletes "Drugs have changed the way athletes perform. It has spread throughout the world in many different ways and is an effect towards the young, as well as the elderly" (Adler, 2009, p.44). Athletes are first tested by giving a urine sample. Athletes must first go through this progress in order for them to proceed. A drug test is an ANALYSIS of specifics through hair, blood, urine, sweat, or saliva. It’s to determine whether or not a person is on drugs. Drug testing is assembled all throughout the world. Discovering drugs on athletes can be critical at times. Any athlete can...
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...Impact of Paying College Athletes 1. Purpose of Research & Analysis On April 25, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., granted Northwestern University's request to review the decision made by the regional office recognizing the school's football players as employees. In mid-April, Northwestern football players voted as a team on whether or not to unionize, but the votes will only be opened if the board ends up siding with the players, which may take at least a couple of months. Ultimately, the Northwestern football players are determining their fate through this secret ballot and their decision to form the first union amongst college athletes—a decision that has the ability to change the landscape of American college sports. If granted the right to unionize, the Northwestern football team will actually have the ability to bargain over their conditions and it is expected that this could ultimately lead to requesting salary compensation for their efforts. In light of these recent historic discussions, it is critical to analyze not only the ethical, but also the economic impact of such potential situations. My research paper has been structured to shed some light into the challenging and complicated discussions that continue to occur around this topic. Specifically, I have broken my research and analysis into three key topics. First, I explore whether or not there is an underlying issue with the current state, from an economic perspective. Specifically, I answer...
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...Constructing the Public Perception of Sports Mass media has become a dominant factor on sports culture in today’s society. “Mass media serve as a dominant hegemonic force in American culture, resulting in the construction and reinforcement of narratives, particularly in professional sports” (Berg & Harthcock). The media can be held responsible for creating the majority of the public’s perception of sports to this day. The heavy dosage of sports communication, in every aspect thinkable, has altered and constructed the influence of sports on millions of people. The sports communication field has become a vast entity and proved to be a profitable market. However, the communicative process regarding sports information has lately cannibalized the true essentials of sports coverage. Sports in general have grown dramatically along with the growth of media. Growth is normally good, but the growth of sports communication in general is so massive that it has become over saturated with inadequate information. The focus of what the media communicates with audiences today is hardly ever statistical information like how many runs Kansas City pitcher, Yordano Ventura, allowed but more on his instigating attitude and why he throws 100mph fuzz balls at guys’ heads so often. After all, Major League Baseball is known as “the show” for a reason. It is easier for the media to narrate exaggerated, unexpected events. These narrations often exclude the true sports coverage essentials. However, they...
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...Is the salary paid to sportsmen far excess of their value to society? Nowadays there are a lot of spheres with great money turnover such as show business including musical one, food industry, film industry, advertising, building industry, politics... This list we can expand and expand. But we should not forget to include here professional sport. It's an obvious fact that now professional sportsmen get incredibly high salaries in comparison with people involved in wage labour. That is why some people ask themselves a question: "what do these athletes do so valuable for society to get such munificent reward?" Of course, this question is not incurious, so let's look into it. At first, nobody will deny that if sportsmen get such serious money, someone is interested in it and is ready to go to expense. And of course, these money-bags are mainly sponsors that give money for positioning of their ads on T-shirts, on different products of professional clubs, on advertising panels standing near pitches, and so on. Sometimes even stadiums have the name of the sponsor: for example, Etihad Stadium, Emirates Stadium (Etihad and Emirates are international airlines). Why do they do it? Obviously, to make people know about them through the TV and other channels of communication in order to attract attention of potential consumer of their product. Okay, advertisement is printed on the team form, and here is a turn of a sportsmen. Showing brilliant talents of ball possession, tactic...
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...Dear Lukas Raschilla, In your article, “Athletes are artists, not role models”, you claim that you are bewildered that anyone would view professional athletes as role models. By saying that sports figures are "not" and "shouldn't be expected" to be role models in their actions on and off the playing field is in my opinion giving a free pass for bad behavior. As the saying goes...to those who much has been given, much is expected. You claim, "athletes do not choose to be role models", but I feel anyone who holds a position of notoriety and popularity with the public should shoulder that admiration with dignity. As we know, merely by association in any career, be it sports, education, health care, government, and even religion, does not guarantee that the individuals will be positive role models. Instead, moral obligations need to be nurtured and, when necessary, consequences clearly enforced in incidents of conduct not befitting the role that person represents. It is unrealistic to think there will not be transgressions in the athletic arena as they are all human, but even this can serve as a valuable lesson to young fans. Charles Barkley is correct when he says in the Nike commercial that "parents should be the most important role model for kids" and no one expects a sports figure to replace that position, but it also takes a village to raise good citizens. Everyone that occupies attention in a child's life should realize that their actions will be seen and will affect the...
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...their first season? AG: Many of us in this room, including myself either watch college sports or have a college that the cheer for, but what if that star player never came to that school because they weren’t required to? ID: Today I want to talk about the pros and the cons of athletes being able to leave after their first season. Ethos: Doing research about this topic has lead me to the conclusion that there are a lot of pros but also very many cons of leaving early. Preview: Today I will be telling you the pros and the cons of leaving early and if I think they should leave early. I would like to talk about the pros about leaving college first. It allows great athletes the ability to earn a living faster and provide for their families. They could but a lot of that money in the bank and start to save money for when they retire. The second pro is that it prevents an injury to occur in college, many college athletes feel that if they stay in college they could get injured and put their professional career at risk. If they decided to leave early, they will get paid great money and benefits. Lastly they would be able to save money and go and get a degree if they wanted because they have the money now. Now looking at the cons of leaving college early. If the student athlete doesn’t stay in college they won’t secure their future. For those fortunate enough to be an elite in their sport, receiving a degree is a good way to insure your future is bright in case they have a career...
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