 |
As Lance Armstrong's doping confession reminds us, professional athletes are people, too. And just like people, they
sometimes do bad things. However, in the past twenty years, pro athletes have
been involved in a variety
of scandals, including
sexual assault (Mike Tyson, Kobe Bryant, Ben Roethlisberger), steroids (Mark McGuire), illegal betting (Pete Rose), sexting (Brett Favre, Ron Artest), drunk driving (Charles Barkley), sexual harassment (The New York Jets), infidelity (David Beckham, Tiger Woods), dogfighting (Michael Vick), domestic violence (Tito Ortiz), prostitution (Wayne Rooney), assault (Tonya Harding, Jason "Mayhem" Miller), drug use (Jennifer Capriati), and even murder (OJ Simpson). Still, in the court of public opinion, some athletes transgressions are
judged more harshly than others. Some athletes have the ability to sail
past scandal (e.g. Michael Phelps), while others' images remain permanently impaired (e.g. Barry Bonds).
What is the line between what fans can forgive and what they cannot
forget? Has a favorite athlete of yours ever been embroiled in
controversy? If so, did you continue to support him or her?
Include at least three of the following in your discussion:
- "Most Disliked Athlete? America Still Hasn’t Forgiven Michael Vick" (Yahoo! Sports)
- "Rich Athletes Behaving Badly" (Forbes)
- "My Newfound Sympathy for Lance Armstrong Fans—and Hatred for Lance" (Atlantic)
- "'How Could You?': The Fan's Response to Athletes Behaving Badly" (Psychology Today)
- "Sports: Where (Almost) All of Your Sins are Forgiven, Maybe" (The Sports Manifesto)
- "Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and American Athlete Worship" (The Sports Fan Journal)
- MLA Style
- Two full pages in length
- Works cited page
Due: We 01.30—Along with Reflection 02
No comments:
Post a Comment