Book review about sport journalism
Jimbo-Weed
EAC955NBANBBRevisedWeek8.doc
EAC 955 NBA NBB Week 8
Performance Enhancing Drugs, The Dehumanization Of Athletes And Racism In Sports
“If you don’t take it, you won’t make it.”
Anonymous
“If I had to make the decision to be a part of pro football for 16 years, if I had to do that, to take the steroids that I took,….I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t give up my life for it. And I don’t think that the kids that walk on the beach that are built by steroids, the athletes that compete in pro-football, pro-basketball, pro-baseball, should have to make a choice, I don’t think there should be a choice.”
Lyle Alzado
This is a quote from the last TV interview provided by NFL legend, Lyle Alzado. When he was in college, this undersized defensive lineman decided to take muscle-building drugs to bulk-up and never stopped. These Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) enabled him to have a lucrative and highly successful NFL career. He was twice named All-Pro and compiled 97 sacks in 196 games. The trade-off for this success though was quite pricey. Alzado died of brain lymphoma at the young age of 43 years old.
Once again, this is just a reminder that whenever you see words that are capitalized, in big letters, have been bolded, coloured, underlined, or highlighted, I am simply trying to emphasize something. Please don’t assume that I’m writing in anger here. Thanks. (
Introduction
In this unit, we will address the issues relating to the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports as well as those associated with what some have termed the “dehumanization” of athletes. This is the longest lecture in our course so if you want, you can read just one of these sections. Aren’t I a nice guy eh?
Remember though, that for your book report and the final exam, you will be asked to relate the books that you have chosen based on the lecture materials. (Details concerning the exam are coming in a few weeks so please don’t ask me what it will be about right now. Thanks.)
If you chose a book or novel that involves something covered in this lecture such as, racism in sport, the use of performance enhancing drugs and/or NCAA athletes then read through the material here.
Please note that I will not be impressed if all that you write about on either your book report or final exam are simply your own views. I expect to see some analysis and that will not come without a deeper understanding of the issues found in the class lecture notes. Don’t make the mistake of just telling me your personal insights. I will not be impressed. I hope that I’m clear on this matter.
O.K. Enough of my use of bolding, highlighting and large fonts to emphasize my point. Let’s start our lecture which is broken up into 5 sections.
In the first, we will examine the issues of doping in sports. Should athletes be allowed to inject whatever they want into their veins in order to win championships? What ramifications might either limited or unlimited use of performance enhancing agents have on society?
In the second section of this unit, we will examine Bo Jackson’s contention that athletes are treated like “pieces of fruit.” Should they complain about the negative aspects of their work given how much they are financially compensated? Are they really “dehumanized?” We will attempt to answer these questions.
In the third section, we will address the issue of whether NCAA athletes are “exploited.” Some have argued that they are “modern day slaves.” I totally disagree. Such a comparison lessens the horrific hardships that were endured during the Pre-Civil War (Antebellum) era. And that’s just not right.
Some of the material covered in this lecture is VERY disturbing. It is simply mind boggling- at times stomach churning, in terms of what athletes, governing bodies, sports unions and management are willing to do in order to win. Do not read this lecture before or after having a meal.
The fourth section will discuss the issues of racism in sports. You simply can’t examine the issue of de-humanization without some analysis of this disturbing topic. Yes, we’ve come a long way as a society since I first started teaching this course but as you will see, more still needs to be done.
In the final section, we will end on a positive note. Given that this is a sports course and all, it is only fitting that we review some techniques in physical training. Getting into good shape drug-free is not as hard as you might assume. All that is required is tailoring a healthy regimen to your personality type, employing a few simple organizational tips and some basic common sense.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
· Understand and better articulate your position on such sports ethics issues as:
· The use of performance enhancing drugs and,
· How athletes are treated like commodities.
· Whether NCAA Athletes are treated like modern-day slaves.
· Racism in sports. And,
· Gain new insights in healthy physical training techniques used by athletes that can be applied to your day-to-day lives.
Glossary
· Arthur Linton
· Tri-methyl
· Aqueous Testosterone
· Tommy Simpson
· Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs)
· International Olympic Committee (IOC)
· Juan Antonio Samaranch
· John Donne
· Pandora’s Box
· Dick Pound
· World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
· Jacques Rogge
· Olga Karaseva (Kovalenko)
· Erythropoietin (EPO)
· Gene Doping
· Uday Hussein
· FIFA
· Sepp Blatter
· “Support” vs. “Marquee” Players
· Jackie Robinson
Watch The Following Video:
If your computer is capable of processing online video, please watch the following clip. If your computer can’t, don’t worry about it. Simply move ahead and read the text portion of this online lecture.
Lance Armstrong’s Now Infamous Nike Commercial
In late August of 2012, Lance Armstrong was finally “caught.” The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) stripped the 7 time winner of the Tour de France of all of his titles and permanently banned him from competitive cycling for blood doping. Here is a Nike commercial that aired prior to his downfall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIl5RxhLZ5U It makes you want to say, “SMH!”
Lance Armstrong On Trial
The following 15 minute video, recorded in 2005, is Lance Armstrong providing sworn testimony that he never doped. At the time, a Dallas-based insurer refused to pay him some bonuses for his Tour de France victories because it claimed this event was fixed. The company accused Armstrong of using drugs to win his fourth, fifth and sixth Tours. These bonuses were worth millions of dollars.
Watching this video I can only say, “Man can this guy lie. He is good. He should run acting workshops.”
If you have the time, see if you can spot him lying here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5bKs2GaOQE
Beckie Scott Finally Gets Her Gold
The following video is a news report on Olympian Beckie Scott who was deprived an Olympic gold medal because her two main competitors used performance enhancing drugs. Fortunately for Scott, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was able to catch these cheaters and awarded this skier her gold.
The purpose of this news clip is to put a face on cheating- and in a good news type of way. It shows how justice prevailed as Scott ultimately received the recognition and honour that was due to her for all of her hard work and commitment.
If there is a Cheaters In Sports Hall of Shame, I would have to place Rosie Ruiz as an automatic inductee. This long distance “runner” took the subway in an attempt to win the Boston Marathon.
If you know of any other links that would be appropriate for this unit, please forward them to me by e-mail. I would be most appreciative.
Sports Ethics
Part I: The Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs)
Nothing New Under the Sun: A Brief History of Cheating
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The very wise king Solomon said in the Book of Ecclesiastes that “there is nothing new under the sun.” This is certainly true when it comes to cheating in sports. The use of performance enhancing drugs in sports can trace its origins all the way back to ancient Olympics first held in Greece. That’s right. Cheating in sports is not something new but a problem that has existed throughout all the ages.
Olympic champions then, like today, were revered as being almost god-like. They were also handsomely rewarded with huge prize earnings. Some economists claim that the award purses of ancient athletes were at times the equivalent of $500,000.
Sports earnings then as today, tantalized athletes into using performance enhancing agents- agents ranging from taking hallucinogenic mushrooms, invigorating plant seeds to consuming dog testicles! (Dog testicles contain a number of steroids including testosterone and progesterone. The Greeks stumbled onto a “naturopathic” PED). Cheating was so rampant during this time, that all athletes had to compete in the nude in order to prevent them from bringing something with them during contests.
Just prior to the dawn of the modern Olympics in 1886, scientists were all ready working on chemical performance enhancing agents- with sometimes terrible consequences.
In 1886, for instance, a cyclist named Arthur Linton became the first recorded athlete to die by doping after he overdosed on tri-methyl during a race.
The use of amphetamines and other stimulants started to make head way in the 1930's and 40's. Shortly thereafter, the first steroid, an injectible liquid called aqueous testosterone, appeared on the market and gained wide popularity.
The uses of such drugs by athletes lead to the tragic death of British cyclist, Tommy Simpson in 1967. Simpson died during a televised Tour de France race. In response to tremendous public outrage, the Olympic Committee established a special commission to study doping in sports.
Several years ago, an American physician polled more than 100 U.S. runners on the following question:
“If I could give you a pill that would make you an Olympic champion but KILL you in five years, would you take it?”
The responses that he received were quite troubling. More than 50 percent replied “yes.” (qtd. in Dying to Win) It appears that for a significant number of athletes, winning is worth dying for.
Juan Antonio Samaranch’s Crazy Idea
In the late 1990’s, then International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch opened up a Pandora’s box of potential problems when he was quoted as saying that the list of banned substances should be dramatically reduced - especially those that do not damage an athlete’s health.
Sometimes, the best things said are nothing at all. Samaranch should have thought through on what he was contemplating out loud before the public.
What drugs do not harm a player’s health? Who will provide the studies? Can these studies be reliable since drug cheats do not use doping agents in controlled environments? If these drugs are sanctioned, then how can he argue against the use of the next generation of drugs- in which the long term outcomes of their usage cannot be verified for years? What happens if an athlete gets caught using the latest drug say “Juan Antonium” and loses his medal. Ten years later, though, the drug is found to be safe and effective. Should he get his medal reinstated? Should he get legal restitution for lost potential earnings in endorsements?
Samaranch’s comments took him into dangerous ethical waters. When the head of this organization contemplated allowing banned substances, he implicitly told athletes that the I.O.C. was not truly serious about drug cheats. If Samaranch was vigilant in his attempts to stop the use of performance enhancing drugs, he would not have given cheaters as major foothold as this. He should have instead followed the proactive rather than reactive path taken by former NBA Commissioner David Stern on gambling.
Stern followed the dictum, “if you give an inch, they’ll take a yard.” He has showed consistent firmness on this matter. For instance, when Toronto made its bid to receive an NBA expansion franchise, the league demanded that the province of Ontario remove basketball from its Proline lottery. By both his words- and more importantly his actions, he clearly was serious about doing whatever he could to disassociate his game from gambling. He was not about to give away an “inch”- even to a government controlled gambling enterprise.
In stark contrast, Samaranch took the easy way out by suggesting that the inmates run the asylum. What he should have done was take a more rigid position. At the very least, it would have revealed that the I.O.C. values the integrity of its product.
Samerach’s irresponsible comments essentially condemned the next generation of athletes to shortened and painful life spans while further sullying what remains of the Olympic ideals. Over the years, several new I.O.C. presidents, not much has changed in terms of seriously clamping down on this problem. Take for instance its response to the McLaren Report.
The "McLaren Report"
Back in July of 2016, Canadian lawyer and sports law professor Richard McLaren delivered a devastating report into state sponsored doping in Russia. He found “widespread state action to hide cheating among Russian athletes in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics, as well as a comprehensive cover up of doping during the World Championships in Moscow and the World University Games in Kazan in 2013 and the Winter Olympics in Sochi a year later.” (“Russia doping scandal”)
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not even bother to contact McLaren in terms of what it should do with these findings. Only after tremendous media attention was it forced to come to a decision- a very weak one to say the least. It banned 85 Russian athletes from the Rio Games but still allowed 278 to compete despite compelling evidence of state-sponsored doping across many sports over four years. Some of the 278, such as swimmer Yulia Efimova, had even tested positive several months before the Games. (“Russia doping scandal”)
As one comedian put it, and his name escapes me, “The IOC seems committed to fairness and integrity so long as it does not interfere with either commerce or political pressure.”
My personal take here is that IOC president, Thomas Bachand other key IOC officials, were likely intimidated by the Russian President Vladimir Putin into allowing the 278 to participate. Putin, and his first rate spy agency the FSB, KNOWS the truth about performance enhancing use outside of his country. He could have delivered some
VERY
embarrassing information concerning the top “clean” nations, including the U.S. The damage to the “Olympic Brand” would likely have been enormous. The best option for the IOC then, at least financially speaking, was to appear as if it did something by going after 85 “sacrificial lambs.” The decision to punish Russia’s entire Para Olympic team; by banning all of its athletes, was just plain stupid and outright cruel.
Thomas Bach, has said his organization will “re-examine the possibility of life bans for those caught doping.” (“Russia doping scandal”) What else is he going to say? He is talking like a typical two faced politician who is hoping that in time, the public will simply forget this huge scandal and the IOC can carry on business as usual.
Why Terry Believes That Performance Enhancing Drugs Should Banned
1. Theft
Right about now, some of you are thinking,
“Terry didn’t you just say that cheating has been going on since the creation of organized sports? So why fight it? It’s never going to go away.”
True. But using this line of thinking then why not argue that since theft has and always will exist, then it’s a losing cause, so we should then stop arresting people for doing it? When someone takes something that belongs to us, something that we have worked hard to obtain, we want justice. Likewise, any athlete who becomes the best performer in his or her sport by cheating robs his or her competitors of huge cash earnings and lucrative endorsement deals. That’s just not fair. Right?
2. Health
Civilized societies often enact laws that protect people from themselves as well as for the sake of their loved ones. Let’s not fool ourselves, many Olympic class athletes are willing to die in order to win a gold medal. They do not care about their futures. They have a burning desire to win that some psychologists would classify as an extreme form of obsessive compulsive disorder. If we stop caring about people, even the incredibly stupid and irresponsible, we will stop caring about everyone else.
But shouldn’t they have a right to do what they want with their bodies?
Perhaps in a theoretical world. But what about their loved ones? Who is going to pick up the pieces for their children who remain behind? Why should they be forced to suffer either the loss of a parent or watch either their mother or father endure a permanent debilitating chronic illness brought about by doping agents?
What about all the honest athletes who ultimately bow to the pressure of either their coaches or irresponsible parents because they have to respond in kind to that person who is supposedly “exercising his or her right to do what he or she chooses with his or her own body?” Using PEDs starts an arms race in which not only the cheaters ultimately suffer debilitating health affects but also their reluctant competitors that have “no other option.”
The Side Affects of Steroids
Development of Breasts in Men
Before = When Using Steroids
After = When Off Steroids
And what are some of the side affects of these drugs. Here’s the lengthy list on steroids alone is lengthy:
· Drastic mood swings
· Depression
· An enlarged heart (a precursor to heart failure)
· Damage to the liver, kidneys and reproductive organs
· Stunted growth and unexplained hip fractures in adolescents
· Severe acne
· Shrunken testicles, and
· Premature baldness.
Men are also at increased risk of prostate cancer, and women can have significant changes in or a cessation of the menstrual cycle.
3. This is Not War!
Is it reasonable to allow people to put themselves through such ailments in order to be champions in mere sporting competitions? Really?!
These people are not soldiers who have to risk life and limb to protect us from invasion. Sports athletes are merely participants in games that we might have played as children. The outcomes of their victories will not determine whether we will live or die. Chemically sacrificing their bodies to win sporting competitions then is absolutely ridiculous. When society favours the use of PEDs for such purposes, its priorities have become way out of whack.
4. Health Care Costs
Who is going to foot the bill in terms of health care costs? It costs nearly $100,000 to treat someone who has cancer. In Canada, we spend approximately $2B a day to keep our wonky health care system running. Why add to these costs the preventable illnesses that these athletes and their imitators will incur? Isn’t it a bit too expensive to allow such individuals unlimited choice in terms of what they do with their bodies?
Moreover, let’s not assume that athletes will be able to cover these costs through taxes. The vast majority of athletes in Canada live below the poverty line. For every athlete that becomes a superstar money generator, 100 hardly eke out a living in their sport. And those that make “superstar earnings” tend to hire “superstar accountants” to minimize their tax contributions.
Finally, for every superstar athlete on PEDs there are 500,000 others who will never make it to the bigs. Many of these people will also get sick and you and I will have to pay for their debilitating healthcare through our hard earned tax dollars.
5. The Specter of Future Multi-Million Dollar Law Suits
Over the next 10-20 years, we will likely see a generation of athletes beginning to drop like flies at the prime of their lives. They will die because they made really bad decisions when they were young and “invincible.”
Death brings grieving widows and widowers. And right behind them are ambulance-chasing lawyers salivating at the prospect of class action lawsuits.
Why wouldn’t a group of widows/widowers sue teams or associations that pushed their husbands or wives into going the performance enhancing drug route?
If the powerful tobacco companies could win their multi-billion dollar class action suits against them, is it unreasonable to assume that sports leagues and bodies will be more successful? Don’t be surprised as well if trial lawyers even go after the ultimate suppliers of these agents: the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry.
In addition, it is only a matter of time before athletes begin to sue their former competitors. If athlete “X” made $20M in endorsements for getting the gold using doping agents while clean athlete “Y” who finished second only made say $100,000- why shouldn’t “Y” sue “X” for lost earnings? The courtrooms of the future may soon begin encountering these new math equations.
6. “No Man is an Island”
John Donne coined the phrase: “No man is an island.” What he meant by this is that no one really lives in true isolation. What happens in one place has a rippling affect on another. In this context, moral decisions have repercussions beyond an individual’s personal liberty.
If you make a decision that goes against the fundamental tenets of a civilized society, it will in some way affect others. Likewise, an athlete’s personal decision to cheat will affect others. It will cost people their livelihood. It will likely hurt loved ones who have to watch many of these athletes die as a result of their choices. And, it will send the message to impressionable young people that this is the route to take for success.
Just as an oil spill hundreds of miles from you eventually might make it to your island’s shore, the ramifications of drug cheats may affect the “moral ecology” of our society.
7. What About The Kids?
Never underestimate just how much kids idolize their champion heroes and will mimic their choices. Do you really want children to believe that this is what it takes to make it into the big leagues? Do you really want the next generation of youth to die needlessly so that you can watch someone move and hit fractionally harder?
Creepy Scientific Ways Of Cheating
Soviet Forced Pregnancy Accusation
Arguably the most repugnant story of cheating in Olympic competitions involves gymnasts who competed for the former Soviet Union. Frances Robinson in the Online gymnastics forum, Gynm Forum posted the following report from London’s Daily Telegraph,
"...The world of gymnastics has been taken aback by the accusations of a competitor from the former Soviet Union that she was forced by coaches to become pregnant then have an abortion as an alternative to taking performance-enhancing drugs. Olga Kovalenko, who under her maiden name Karaseva was a team gold medalist at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, said on German television: ‘The doctors told us the body of a pregnant woman produced more male hormones and could therefore become stronger.’” (qtd. in Robinson, Gynm Forum)
Kovalenko, broke down as she said she became pregnant by her boyfriend and had an abortion after 10 weeks.
She claimed that the practice was widespread among champion Soviet athletes during the 1970s. She said girls as young as 14 were ordered to have sex with their coaches if they had no steady boyfriend. In her own case, she added, “` I was told that if I refused I would not have been sent to the Games.’” (qtd. in Robinson, Gynm Forum)
Suspicion that women athletes from the former Soviet Union planned abortions to coincide with important competitions first surfaced in 1956 at the Melbourne Olympics, then eight years later in Tokyo. One estimate at the time suggested that as many as 10 of 26 medal winners may have manipulated their pregnancy.
The BBC series "More Than A Game" as well as the Globe and Mail, Times and Telegraph also covered this issue.
The potential benefits of the hormones produced in early pregnancy have long been recognized by sports medicine specialists. A French expert, Dr. Jean-Pierre de Mondenard, cited in Gymn Forum noted that during the first three months the mother's body generates a natural surplus of red corpuscles rich in hemoglobin. These assist cardiac and lung performance and improve muscle capacity by up to 30%. A pregnant woman also secretes increased amounts of progesterone, a hormone that makes muscles more supple and joints more flexible.
Genetically Engineered Athletes?
The next generation of cheating appears even more frightening. Athletes are all ready experimenting with what is known as “gene doping.” Stephen Moore and A. Craig Copetas of The Wall Street Journal, believe that future Olympics might better be dubbed, “the Frankenstein Games.”
Scientists at Modex Theraputiques SA, a Lausanne, Switzerland, biotech firm have been working towards a method to genetically engineer human cells to produce Erythropoietin (EPO). The cells would then be transplanted into patients undergoing kidney dialysis or suffering from blood diseases where EPO could be a lifesaver.
Bengt Saltin, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen's Muscle Research Center, says researchers world-wide are pouring over DNA data from the Human Genome Project to pinpoint genes for "growth factors" that control the size of muscle fiber and muscle mass.
Pharmaceutical and biotech firms want to take transfer this knowledge into treatments against everything from muscular dystrophy to occupational disorders. "But it would be easy to inject DNA coding for these growth factors directly into muscles of athletes that want to improve their performance," Dr. Saltin adds. (Moore and Copetas, “Gene Doping's Olympic Threat”) According to researchers in this field, “gene doping presents numerous health risks, such as leukemia and, even, death.” (“Fewer Olympics Dopers”)
Genetic Testing Of Infants Just $149.00
Genetic testing is now available for the average Joe. Athletes in particular sports have “genetic markers.” Atlas Sports Genetics, can tell parents by taking a simple swab check if their babies have these markers. This way, they can steer their baby towards playing power sports such as hockey, rugby, football and the like or competing in endurance ones like distance running and cycling. All of this info is available for the mere price of $149.
The science of predicting athletic success through genes alone is still pretty sketchy at best. We are not yet in a world like the one depicted in the film Gattica where people’s futures are determined by their genetic make-up. Athletic greatness does not only come from genes. One still needs the right opportunities such as playing time, experiences, connections, access to equipment; and support systems including parents willing or able to drive him or her to games at 6:00 am etcetera. Let’s also not forget psychological make-up which is an extremely complex element involving drive (intrinsic and extrinsic), self-discipline, passion, confidence, focus, and so much more. You’re better off using the $149 on a lifetime supply of Slap Chops.
Athletes are One Step Ahead of the Law and Show Us the Money
The number of athletes caught using PEDs in the Olympics has dropped sharply. Technology has not kept pace with doping methods. Athletes feel, and rightly so, that the odds of getting caught using performance enhancing drugs are rather slim- especially when it appears that the I.O.C. shows favouritism towards their country. Cheating for some then, is simply viewed as a reasonably good calculated risk.
EPO and Blood Doping
Two of the most common and hardest to detect forms of cheating for endurance sports is through the use of EPO or by “blood doping.” Synthetic Erythropoietin (EPO), a banned substance, boosts endurance by as much as 15%. Blood doping involves drawing a pint or two of blood from an athlete and storing it away. Shortly before his or her next major competition, this blood is put back in. By adding these two additional pints, such athletes are now able to store more oxygen in their bloodstream, which for endurance, gives them a 10-15% edge over clean competitors.
Jamie Metzl, an executive vice president of the Asia Society (America's leading institution dedicated to educating Americans about Asia and fostering understanding between Americans and the peoples of Asia) has written extensively about international anti-doping efforts. He flat out said,
“The Olympic testing process for performance enhancing drugs is a farce. The process cannot be successful because the tests are inadequate and often administered by national sports authorities with far stronger incentives to win than crack down on wrongdoers." (“Fewer Olympics Dopers”)
Less detection resulted in lower public cynicism and has produced amazing TV ratings. Few people were left with a sour taste of the 2008 and 2012 games than those in Athens in 2004. Detection it seems is really bad for the multi-billion dollar Olympic brand. If you are a conspiracy theorist or a cynic, it’s not a good idea for the IOC or governments to take a leading role in monitoring athletes who dope.
Modern Games With Ancient Greek Style Security
In August of 2012, the U.K. newspaper, the Daily Mail, published a shocking story that raised Serious questions over how the I.O.C. deals with urine samples. U.P.S. van drivers stored their sandwiches and soft drinks in the same refrigerator as athletes’ blood and urine samples. This was one of their photos. (Gallagher and Craven, “Questions over Olympic”)
The fact that Daily Mail reporters were able to walk in and take pictures makes one question whether or not samples could be switched or removed. Again, I don’t want to sound conspiratorial but what the hey; for some governments, winning at these games is very important for their regimes. They spend billions of dollars to produce their elite athletes to build-up their nationalistic brand and deflect attention away from their brutality. How hard would it be for them to do exactly what these reporters did and make a switcheroo? I mean, this is not Fort Knox here. Just saying.
Excuses. Excuses.
Just as an aside, when athletes get caught using PEDs, they come up with some very creative excuses. The first thing they do is deny, deny and deny. They come across with shock and indignation. When this is not sufficient, they then move to conspiracy theory territory of just get plain silly. When German runner Dieter Baumann was found positive for the steroid nandrolone, he argued that it must have been in his toothpaste. Before you start laughing, English bobsledder
Lenny Paul successfully argued that his 1997 positive test resulted from eating spaghetti Bolognese that contained meat from steroid-injected cattle. Buon appetito!
Solutions?
The solution to doping will involve huge amounts of money, greater public pressure combined with lower TV ratings. Blood and urine tests will need to be taken early on in athlete’s careers so that their “baselines” can be established for “future” detection technologies.
Samples will need to be held in perpetuity. For example, just as many old murder and rape cases are now being routinely solved through the discovery of DNA testing of old evidence samples, so too will future doping detection methods likely be made available. The IOC will need to have independent, well secured, test centre banks containing urine and blood samples of Olympic athletes. If their storage facilities are as shabby as those used in picking-up the samples with UPS trucks, then it’s all just one big joke.
In addition, athletes should sign “contracts for participation” whereby if cheating has been detected by a future technology; they will have to forfeit a portion of their endorsement earnings to those who finished below them.
Finally, Dick Pound suggested that W.A.D.A. and the I.O.C. hire actual cheats, for instance those behind the infamous BALCO scandal in baseball and pay them to teach theses monitoring bodies the tricks of the trade. (Draper, “We're still lagging”) I believe that this is a good idea. Corporations hire hackers to help keep their data secure. Why not use the same concept in the area of PEDs?
The sad reality is that given the billions of dollars in TV rights and corporate sponsorships that the I.O.C. receives, the financing exists to keep up with the cheats. However, this organization refuses to put its money where its mouth is.
These are but a few potential solutions. You might want to add your own in the discussion forum.
“And Their Off”…Yeah But Not Off PEDs
Did you know that in the United States in 2008, approximately two horses died for every 1,000 races that they were in? (Hi-Ho, Steroids, Away!) BILLIONS of dollars are generated in horse racing. Many of them run full tilt on PEDs.
Steroid use is perfectly legal in horse racing- though given the huge death toll in this sport, a ban will likely take affect in 2009.
Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown has been receiving the steroid clenbterol- which helps muscle growth in cattle. (“Death of Eight Belles”) This Tripple Crown winning horse was taken off of steroids for his next big race in the Belmont. Guess what place Big Brown finished? You guessed it, last.
Speaking of horse steroids, sadly, some of these PEDs are being used by very poor athletes to get themselves and their families out of poverty.
Desperation Due To Poverty
Many very young Major League Baseball prospects, particularly from the Dominican Republic, are being given whatever PEDs can be found to get them into the big leagues- even steroids used for horses!
Much of the blame for this problem resides with MLB’s allowance of teams to sign 16 olds as free agents. This policy forces very young kids to physically mature as fast as possible using the chemical route if they hope to be signed onto the bigs.
The Dominican Republic has a very high poverty rate. The average weekly wage is $50 per week. Baseball is the ticket out of poverty for a handful of kids who are lured by the prospect of getting $100,000 signing bonuses. Under such circumstances, these prospects and their desperate/uneducated parents are willing to do virtually anything to sign a deal.
Biogenesis PED Scandal
Baseball can trace performance-enhancing substances back to the 1880s when Pud Galvin downed an elixir of monkey testicle. “This Pud’s For You.” ;-)
Former Oakland A's outfielder Jose Canseco claimed that "80 percent of the players" back in his era of the 90’s, were using steroids. These numbers were never verified but in the summer of 2012 and onwards, a growing scandal revealed just how much one single business was involved in the selling performance enhancing drugs. In 2013, the Miami New Times received boxes of documents from a former employee named Porter Fischer of the local Biogenesis Clinic (which closed in late 2012). In them were records disclosing athletes who had purchased banned substances.
Among the names were former MVPs Alex Rodriguez and
Ryan Braun, as well as sluggers Nelson Cruz and Melky Cabrera. In July of 2013, Major League Baseball (MLB) suspended Braun and Rodriguez. According to Fischer, the number of athletes linked to Biogenesis goes way beyond what has been reported.
"In just the four years that I know, it's got to be well over a hundred, easy," he told ESPN's Outside the Lines. "It's almost scary to think about how many people have gone through [Bosch's clinic] and how long he's gotten away with this." (Solomon,“The Biogenesis PEDs”)
Fischer told ESPN that athletes from the NBA, boxing, tennis, and MMA had also received drugs from Biogenesis. Reports also suggest that Biogenesis sold controlled substances to high school students in addition to baseball players. (Solomon,“The Biogenesis PEDs”)
So for those of you who think that the use of PEDs is just with professionals; now’s the time to take your heads out of the sand.
Blind Eyed Majors
Like the I.O.C., most professional sports leagues for the most part have paid lip service to drug usage. There are several reasons for this.
First, players unions are opposed to testing since many of their members want to use doping agents.
Second, owners also tend to turn a blind eye on this matter. They want to see their teams perform to their utmost talent levels- players using doping agents help win championships.
Third, fans are also contributors to this problem. Where is the outrage at the Mark McGuire’s and Barry Bonds of this world? Fans love seeing a person hit 70 homeruns- even if these athletes are juiced or on “roids.”
Owners always wary of future lawsuits though, have begun to cover their legal behinds by voicing their “concern” on this growing “problem.”
Asterix Records?
A topic that just does not seem to go away is how to deal with records set by athletes who used PEDs. Should the record books simply attach an asterix beside their accomplishments and state that these stats were the result of cheating? This is a dicey and complicated topic.
For example, if you are going to do this with PEDs then you should also do it for all the records set in this game right up to the late 1940s. After all, they were done without significant black talent being permitted to play Major League Baseball. Think about it. Would Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Tie Cobb’s records have been as great as they were if they were competing against better and readily available talent from the Black leagues? I don’t think so.
Even in the modern era, couldn’t one argue that even if most the homerun kings were using PEDs to hit balls, were their records not counter-acted by the numerous pitchers who also used them? Couldn’t one argue that corked bats and balls played a bigger role?
As I said, this is a dicey and complicated topic. There is a huge controversy in baseball as to whether records set by those who use PEDs should be counted- or at the very least asterisked with a note that mentions what helped these players achieve their accomplishments .
You know where I stand on this issue but in fairness, I should mention that one can logically argue that if you do this to players like Barry Bonds, then you should likewise discuss how Babe Ruth’s homeruns were accomplished in an era where African Americans were not allowed to play (what a totally bizarre concept) and that Hank Aaron used amphetamines to get up for games. In other words, there is a taint in all of these records.
There is no doubt that had Ruth competed against African Americans, his numbers would have been lower. He was not competing against the very best of the best in his era. In defense of the Babe, the fact is that he did not make up the rules as to who would be his opponents. Aaron on the other hand, had a choice to play clean or not to play clean.
Did amphetamines make him stronger? No. They just kept him up from a grueling schedule. Are such drugs dangerous? Yes. As dangerous as PEDs? Maybe. So in this regard, he too then, needs to be called out on this.
The bottom line though is that three wrongs don’t make a right.
The Public Does Not Care
What’s most clear is when all is said and done, the public does not care- if stadium attendance and TV ratings are used as the measuring stick. It seems that 2008 was the year that this issue was no longer an important matter with fans. Is this due to ignorance or indifference? You have heard a series of arguments against the use of PEDs. Did I win you over? Feel free to argue for or against this matter on the discussion forum.
Part II: How Athletes Are Treated Like Chess Pieces or Commodities
There are very good reasons why unions were created in professional sports. For athletes, the “good old days” were far from good. Prior to collectively organizing, National Football League players for example had no benefits at all. They had no health or life insurance, pensions or minimum salaries. They were not even paid for playing pre-season games. Even worse, they received no salary protection when injured. Similar scenarios were taking place in professional baseball, basketball and hockey.
The book, and later film, Net Worth reveals some of the NHL’s darkest characters- people like Jim Norris, Jack Adams and Conn Smythe- and their ruthless treatment of hockey players. If you have the time, Net Worth the film is well worth renting.
“Pieces of Fruit”
Former baseball and football star Bo Jackson, once discussed this matter on TSN’s For the Love of the Game, where he argued that athletes are treated like “pieces of fruit” in a grocery stand. Jackson felt that they are viewed as not being humans but “commodities” that could be bought, sold or traded at an owner’s whim. Indeed, when they are no longer of any use, they are “discarded like garbage.”
How many times have we heard of GM’s relate players to “pieces,” “commodities” or “acquisitions” when discussing trades? So is Bo Jackson right? Sort of.
It is difficult to sympathize with someone who makes millions of dollars for playing games that children participate in. The perks associated with their fame- including fan adulation and endless “freebees” are quite attractive.
When was the last time that you were allowed in the front of a line at an “in” club or the best seat at a restaurant without reservations- where the meal of course was throw-in for free?
Conversely, how would you like to work in an environment in which the people observing your actions boo, yell, utter death threats and throw beer at you? When was the last time that you were traded? Could you imagine being sent off to another college for a student to be named later? Surely you are worth at least one first year student. (
Then there is the intense media scrutiny where your every move seems to be tracked. And when the media are not keeping a close eye on you, fans sure are. Imagine trying to go to a simple fast food eatery and having people watch your every move so that they can tell their friends how you munched-down on chicken wings and then see it posted on Twitter, FaceBook or Instagram. When was the last time that you stopped using social media because thousands of people were ruthlessly mocking you?
Several years ago, former Montreal Canadiens’ defenseman Patrice Brisebois had heart problems as a result of stress-related due to the heavy criticism that he endured from both Hab fans and the media. Both the pressure of playing this sport as well as the intensity of the media spotlight nearly killed him. Was Brisebois to blame or was this criticism “fair game” for an overpaid player who appeared to be grossly underachieving?
Is this “dehumanization” compensated with incredible salaries and perks? To a degree yes. For the most part, though, their behaviour was quite “gutless”- as Montreal GM Bob Gainey stated to a contingent of Brisebois bashers.
And if you forget that a TV camera is on you; like Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe did back in 2008;
your penis will forever be exposed online. Give it up ladies for the lovely and talented “Visanthe.”
In all serious though, this dehumanization of athletes is a major problem. When we enter arenas, stadiums or courts, we disassociate from reality. Players are oftentimes not looked upon as humans but objects that we are given the right to boo or heckle. In the “real world” though, we don’t do this. When was the last time that you booed a student every time he or she spoke in class? Somehow paying a $100-150 to attend a game gives us the right to behave in ways that we would not be allowed to do in a “real” non-online setting.
Having said this, athletes such as Bo Jackson also need a reality check. In today’s workforce, many workers are either forced to relocate or find new jobs. More often then not, when they become unemployed, they have to go through the pressures of trying to pay their mortgages. How many players find themselves impoverished when they are let go by a team?
The reason athletes make the kind of money that they do is because of the media’s intense exposure of their sport. Anyone who enters a professional sports league is fully aware that in order to play, he or she must be willing to stand before the media spotlight. Athletes are also fully aware that part of the job title is the possibility of being either traded demoted by management and/or booed by fans when they under perform. This stressful component is part of the package of athletic fame.
If you disagree, feel free to let us know in the Discussion Forum.
Torture of Iraqi Athletes
Some athletes are mistreated emotionally but others are truly dehumanized. As mentioned earlier, there have been incidences in which athletes have been forced or tricked into taking doping agents and/or engaging in experimentation through genetic engineering and pregnancies. Others have been physically and psychologically brutalized by totalitarian regimes.
One of the most extreme examples of mistreatment towards athletes was conducted by the late Uday Hussein, son of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Both the I.O.C. and FIFA turned a blind ey to Uday’s actions including beating his players with iron bars; caning the soles of their feet; dragging them on pavements until their backs were bloody, and then dunking them in sewage to ensure the wounds became infected. Hussein would often stop by jailed player’s cells and urinate on their bowed shaven heads to further humiliate them. (Mackay, “Torture of Iraq’s athletes”)
Back in 1997, after Iraq's 4-1 defeat by Japan in an Asian Cup match, the goalkeeper Hashim Hassan, defender Abdul Jaber and striker Qahtan Chither were whipped for three days by Uday's bodyguards. On another occasion players were forced to kick a concrete football after failing to reach the 1994 World Cup finals. (Mackay, “Torture of Iraq’s athletes”)
ESPN has put together a very informative website on the torture of Iraqi athletes including video interviews. You may want to visit this site at:
http://espn.go.com/page2/tvlistings/show143transcript.html
Next to the IOC, FIFA- under the leadership of Sepp Blatter, is widely regarded amongst the sporting community as one of the most corrupt sports bodies on the planet.
Let’s Take A Negativity Break. Here’s A Good Story
On September 9, 2007, then Buffalo Bill tight end Kevin Everett suffered one of the worst injuries in NFL history - a fracture and dislocation of his cervical spine. Most doctors categorized this injury as "life threatening" and said he would never walk again. Everett proved them wrong on both fronts. In a true class act, the Buffalo Bills did not immediately waive him. They kept Everett on the team’s active roster to finish the season so that he could fulfill the NFL’s requirement of three full seasons for pension eligibility. What a class move by his former club. Not all athletes are treated like “pieces of fruit.” Kevin Everett’s miraculous recovery has been an inspiration for many.
Part III: NCAA Athletes: University Slaves?
A growing controversy in the area of sports ethics involves National College Athletics Association (NCAA) athletes and whether they should be regarded as modern day “slaves.” These athletes help bring billions of dollars in television and sports paraphernalia contract deals to colleges. They also help in regularly filling 20-60,000 seat stadiums. In exchange, they get a “free education.” Is this a fair deal?
On the surface, it appears that they are being exploited. Indeed, one can even see parallels with the slaves of the American South. For example, like NCAA athletes, they were housed and fed but received no income for their work. A few (and we emphasize a few) fortunate slaves even received an education during the pre-Civil War (Ante Bellum) era.
This Is A Slave Ship In
Which People Had To
Lie Down For The Entire
Voyage To Maximize Space.
This comparison though is tenable at best. More importantly, it also waters-down the meaning of the word slave. Please allow me to explain.
It cost approximately $25-40,000 a year to attend many of the major colleges in the United States. Someone living in poverty cannot afford to pay this much in tuition, books, room and board. For many, then, colleges and universities provide their athletes with a ticket out of poverty- or what some might call “enslaving poverty” in exchange for their physical talents.
In addition, these $25,000-40,000 scholarships are tax free. (And these figures pale in comparison to room and board fees that Ivy League level universities charge).
According to Forbes Magazine’s Jeffrey Dorfman,
“What is commonly overlooked is that student athletes also receive free professional coaching, strength and fitness training, and support from athletic trainers and physical therapists … Football and basketball players pay $2,000-$3,000 per week for similar training in the weeks leading up to their pre-draft workouts. Using these valuations, and adding in the value of a scholarship, a student athlete at a major conference school on full scholarship is likely receiving a package of education, room, board, and coaching/training worth between $50,000 and $125,000 per year depending on their sport and whether they attend a public or private university.” (Dorfman, “Pay College Athletes?”)
Let’s not forget that these “slaves” receive adulation both on and off the courts/fields or arenas at the place they choose to go to- usually have an intense series of meetings and kickback offers. Actual slaves are FORCED to work for whoever bought them. This is a huge difference.
In conservative figures, then, colleges not only have to invest approximately $80-120,000 per player in lost tuition fees for a degree scholarship. They also have to pay for coaches and training staff and facilities. In addition, they have to invest in travel expenses and team equipment- not to mention expenditures in building and maintaining stadiums.
And let’s not overlook all the under the table “gifts” that players and their mother’s receive during the recruitment process. All of a sudden, many of these impoverished athletes find Hummers parked in-front of their homes with the keys inside. Yes, this is totally illegal and unethical; but let’s not kids ourselves, it happens all of the time.
“But wait a minute. Sure all of these are huge costs but the colleges are still making significant financial return on their investment.” True.
You might also argue that for the vast majority of college players, this will be the only time in their lives where people will make money from their athletic skills. Few, will ever play in a major league such as the NBA- let alone secure a long term big money contract. Shouldn’t they be entitled to “a piece of the action” that the colleges and universities will be earning from them?
Indeed, why can’t athletes be compensated much in the same way that professors receive royalties when their inventions are licensed out by their universities to corporations? One group makes money for their institution through intellectual discoveries while the other does it through athleticism. What’s the difference?
Actually the differences are significant. College athletes are less valuable commodities for colleges and universities than professors since NCAA teams can generate significant profits with or without any of the players on their rosters.
That is, fan support for college sports is not based on the number of “stars” playing on their favourite team but rather on loyal alumni and current students who love attending and/or watching televised games with oftentimes over the top tailgate parties. These are not your typical professional sports team fans who watch games to see their favourite “stars” in action. They are there to support the college that they attend or re-kindle good old memories of their alma matter.
Don’t believe me? Have ratings for NCAA games dropped since all the professional leagues have opened their drafts for 18 year players? When Lebron James jumped from high school to the NBA, did this even remotely affect attendance to NCAA college basketball games?
Television networks pay top dollars to air NCAA games because of the high ratings that they generate. Some teams are even creating their own specialty channel TV networks because of their incredible fan bases.
Remember though, ratings in NCAA sports are seldom star but “team” driven. A group of “no name” players from Notre Dame will continue to pull-in a huge Notre Dame fan audience- irrespective of who is on the roster. Fan loyalty goes this far. Support players therefore cannot claim that they are the reason behind the economic success of the NCAA. And as such, should not be entitled to sharing in its profits.
This issue of the profit sharing of multi-billion dollar television revenues then boils down to the rewarding of the top five to ten college players who have the potential to draw-in fans. And perhaps these players indeed do have a legitimate “right” to some of the revenues generated in their sports.
But then again, these few individuals also have the right to break into the big leagues by announcing their draft eligibility. No “slave owning” college has control of them. Such players are not under contract. They can leave the college ranks at any time. They are “free” to make the kind of money that they believe that they are entitled to.
In this regard then, who is exploiting who? They also have access to superb training in strategies, tactics and conditioning regimes. This training helps improve their chances of succeeding in the majors. Star players have full mobility in terms of where they want to play and when they want to terminate their relationship with a college and announce their draft eligibility.
For basketball players, the NCAA is THE “University of the NBA.” Few athletes can step into this league at the age of 18. Most need significant preparation. The NCAA offers players the necessary time to develop and refine their skills. They also get vital experience in terms of significant playing time in front of large crowds and huge TV audiences. This elite level of competition is the place where they learn their craft. It is the place where they display their wares before scouts.
In many regards then, the NCAA also acts as a “marketing platform” for a player seeking a major league contract. In other words, most potential NBA players NEED the NCAA more than it needs them. I wonder if Michael Jordan would have become as great a player as he was if he had not had the opportunity to mature and develop while attending the University of North Carolina?
Finally, if one wants to find real exploitation of athletes then he or she should look at the various junior sports leagues in North America. Junior hockey players, for example, make a pittance in earnings ($100-200 a week). They often have to leave their homes at the age of 16 and have no choice as to which team they will be playing for. Sometimes, they have to play for teams located thousands of miles away from where they live -including foreign countries.
Junior hockey players do not receive full university scholarships. Teams offer 18 months of “free” education to players after they finish their careers. Or that’s what they say. However,
former junior hockey player Sam Berg, nephew of former Leaf Bill Berg, is now leading a $190 million lawsuit against the CHL for stiffing him and other players out of promised 4 year scholarships. The following article provide some of the details concerning this matter. If you have time, check it out at:
http://thewalrus.ca/hockeys-puppy-mill/
All players, including the stars, only receive a $60 stipend each week. They play 70 plus games a season and if they go to school, have to take their courses online.
Junior teams reap enormous profits (some have estimated in the $100M-200M range) by attracting fans who want to see these marquee first round draft picks playing in their arenas. The World Junior Tournament generates as much as $26M alone. Some teams in the three junior leagues (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) have been purchased for as much as $25M. This league is not starving. That’s for sure.
Junior hockey players responded to their “unfair” working conditions in August of 2012, when they named former NHL goon Georges Laraque, as the first executive director of CHL Players' Association. The group sought to improve the education package given to players in Canada's top three junior leagues. Approximately 2% of CHLers make it to the NHL.
Real Slavery
Now can you see why I find the use of NCAA athletes as being described as “slaves” a disservice to those who endured the real thing? How many of these individuals have to work in sweltering cotton fields 12-14 hours a day? How many receive whippings and beatings for poor play? How many are forced to “breed” with other slaves and then like cattle have either themselves or their children sold-off to others? How many are repeatedly raped by their owners? How many slaves were given a tax free payment of $80-120,000 for a first rate education, room, board, books, incredible travel opportunities, fan and media adulation, and 4 years of training which might possibly lead towards a multi-million dollar contract with a professional sports franchise?!
When we start throwing the word slave onto the NCAA’s basketball courts or playing fields, are we not committing a terrible foul here? This horrible word should never be watered-down. Not if we want to vigilantly retain the memory of those who had and continue to endure this terrible fate.
Where Changes Should Be Made
Now here is where I am more flexible on this issue. Some have argued that NCAA athletes should at the very least be allowed negotiate their own sponsorship deals. I believe that this is reasonable. Why should they be denied earning an income while attending school? Many of you work part or full time while taking amazing courses like this one ;-). What’s the difference here? If some starting quarterback from a Big Ten school spends some extra time endorsing a shoe or cologne, what business does his college have telling him that he can’t?
Indeed, let’s just say that you were to get a full scholarship to a university for your amazing writing ability and produced a novel (let’s say on vampires that go to a magic school, fall in love and protect cities from zombies) and you managed to make millions/billions from it, would your university say, “You can’t do this?” No. This is perfectly permissible. So why then should an athlete be treated any differently? This is a very hard point to argue.
Points to Ponder
What do you think (hopefully unlike this guy with your clothes on)? Perhaps you may want to argue for or against these radical ideas in the discussion forum. What would be the consequences if endorsement deals were allowed?
Here’s some other potential forum questions for you to consider:
What do you think would happen if college athletes formed a union of some sort? How would this change the way scholarships are given out? What impact would this have on the way players are treated? Would coaches be as ruthless and play as many mind-games with their athletes? Would this set the stage for players receiving salaries? What impact would this have on colleges in terms of revenues generated? Lot’s of questions here eh? Feel free to tackle any one of them.
Again, whenever I write these questions here in my online lectures, they are always optional questions. That is, if you don’t like any of the questions provided in my “discussion forums” document, then you are free to pick one that I have in my lecture notes.
My Additional 2 Cents…
NCAA athletes should be given a few more perks.
· To begin with, these players should be treated along the same lines as those by the International Olympic Committee.
· Let them make money on the side by signing autographs and memorabilia.
· Let NCAA hockey or baseball players attend NHL or MLB training camps and receive first rate scouting advice. Stop the charade. Amateur scouts make frequent visits and provide tons of “off the record” advice.
· Let them sign contracts with teams that they have been drafted to while still attending school. Employers recruit students all the time with a promise of a job once they graduate. What’s the big deal in doing the same thing for an athlete?
· The NCAA will still be super rich and their athletes will get a chance to make some additional money- which should mean that they will be less tempted to take bribes from organized crime through points shaving or match fixings.
· Given how many of these athletes never make it to the majors and usually squander their educational opportunities by taking bird courses, I say, put aside a tiny percentage of the billions of dollars in revenues generated by these players towards a scholarship fund to pay for further education. There is an expression, “youth is wasted on youth.” Setting aside this money is a good idea for players who have finally matured and realize their stupid mistake of squandering their education from the past. It would be analogous to a player pension plan. Perhaps as well, it could be tapped into by their children. Perhaps as well, these post scholarships can only be granted if these former athletes participate in something analogous to a "scared straight" program where they tell current athletes what will likely happen to them if they do not take their studies seriously.
Sooner or later this entire matter will be decided either through the courts or the NCAA making concessions. For example, in August of 2013, the NCAA ended its video game contract with EA Sports because it feared the ramifications of a lawsuit it was undergoing with former athletes whose likenesses were used in this product. The odds of the NCAA winning the lawsuit were slim. Had they chosen instead to fight on, the payout costs would have been humongous. In August of 2014 a U.S. court ruled in favour of NCAA Athletes giving them the right to be paid for the use their likenesses. This decision will be challenged but the writing is on the wall. The athletes will prevail.
Officials are beginning to see the writing on the wall. We are no longer in the 1920s. Colleges can’t make tons of money from their athletes and remunerate them with just scholarships. If non-athletic students can make money on the side they so should school athletes. Yes, it sully’s the integrity of their sports but it also controls what’s already taking place under the table. The above suggestions should calm the legal waters for at least a decade. The world has changed and the NCAA needs to adapt to this as well as they have in maximizing profits with their sporting products.
Again, feel free to comment on any one of these ideas.
Part IV: Racism In Sports
A final area concerning the de-humanization of athletes involves the issue of racism in sports.
Jackie Robinson Breaks The Colour Barrier
The following 3 ½ minute news clip by the CBC discusses baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s historic breaking of the colour barrier. He did it playing for the Montreal Royals- a farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The reason that the Dodgers picked Robinson to be the first African American to play in Major League Baseball was his character. Only an incredibly strong person like Jackie Robinson could have endured the vile jeers and comments that suffered on the field from racist fans and players. Away from the game both he and his family faced a deluge of death threats and taunts.
Remember, he was living in a time in which blacks (especially in the South) were forbidden access to hotel rooms; told to sit in the back of buses; and were not allowed to use “white” bathrooms let alone drink from “white” water fountains. He and his people were viewed as sub-humans.
I know, this seems incredibly unbelievable in today’s day and age but this was what his man was up against. In my books, he is one of the true heroes of sport. http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-41-621-3322-10/on_this_day/sports/jackie_robinson
Here’s another great clip for you to view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLnP3fWh1tE
At the same time, yes, we have come a long way from Jackie Robinson breaking the colour barrier but we’re not completely there. For example, consider the garbage that driver Lewis Hamilton had to endure just because of the colour of his skin.
Lewis Hamilton Gets Racially Abused In…
Or take a look at these ugly incidents:
…Spain http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=325_1202142223
Sorry for the video quality. This was the clearest version that I could find. .
…Brazil http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1JRV4QudH0
Sticks and Stones?
We are all familiar with the old saying,
“Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.”
Whoever thought this up had no clue how degrading the use of names and images can be on various communities- particularly for the Native Peoples of North America.
It is absolutely mind boggling how in this day and age, sports teams can be named the:
Washington Redskins
Cleveland Indians and
Edmonton Eskimos (Did you know that the word “Eskimo” in some Inuit languages means “raw meat eater?”)
When combined with some of their logos, are these not blatantly racist team names?
Could you imagine the natural disgust most Catholics would have if a team was named, for instance, the “Toronto Popes” and it had a silly looking Pope logo who resembled “Chief Wahoo” of the Cleveland Indians? At the start of this lecture I copied and pasted a cartoon mocking this franchises name by showing the following: Both are offensive. But I think you see this artist’s point.
Native activists have tried to change things through the courts. Unfortunately, they have had no success. Back in November of 2009, for example, the US Supreme Court refused to hear arguments cancelling the Washington Redskins’s trademark. The activists claimed the name was too offensive to merit trademark protection, won an early round, when in 1999 the US patent and trademark office cancelled the trademarks. The Court did not explain its reasoning.
On a more optimistic note though, over the last few decades, thousands of high school and college teams have changed their Indian names. Arkansas State University, for example, in 2008, became home of the Red Wolves after being known for 78 years as the Indians.
It was pressured to do so by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which ruled in 2005 that Arkansas State and other universities had to find new mascots and names or else risk being barred from conference play. You have to wonder though if using the word “red” was a cheap shot of sorts by ASU. Let me now close by covering two more aspects concerning racism in sports: dispelling silly biological theories and some positive changes that I have been blessed to see in my lifetime.
Silly Biological Theories
As in most walks of life, opportunity and circumstance are the two key ingredients for athletic success- not the colour of one’s skin or country of genetic origin. For example, the reason that there are so few black players in the NHL is because there are small black populations in Canada (the first major wave of immigration only started in the 1980’s in our country), Sweden, Finland, Russia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It is only reasonable to assume that a typical hockey player from these nations will likely have white skin colour. The opportunity to succeed in this sport then has nothing to do with genetics and everything to do with demographics.
Over the next few decades, as first and second generation children with origins from nations in the West Indies and Asia begin to embrace this sport in Canada and northern Europe, we will begin to see a greater degree of multicultural diversity in the NHL.
On a similar note, Alan Spector explained why baseball was once dominated by players of Irish, Italian and Jewish origins. Very simply,
“New York is the most fanatical baseball town; New York had lots of Irish, Italians and Jews who played stickball even during basketball season in the dead of winter. And black people weren't allowed into baseball for a long time.” (Spector, “‘Race’”)
Similar arguments could be made for the one time predominance of players with Eastern European backgrounds from places such as Ohio and Western Pennsylvania who saw football as a ticket to college, if not the pro's, and a way to avoid the steel mills and coal mines that were killing their fathers.
For Spector, “many of the ‘white’ youth who might have used athletics 50 years ago to get to college now have other ways to get an education--as well as other types of hobbies in general.” (Spector, “‘Race’”)
Positive Changes
Without a doubt, there has been some progress in the area of racism in sports but more is still needed. I am happy to say though, that there appears to be significant hope here. In the two decades that I have taught this course, I have seen an explosion of African American coaches and general managers moving into and succeeding in the NFL and NBA. When I first start teaching EAC 955, we were waiting for such a thing to happen. Indeed, if you can believe this, there actually were people who questioned the merits of black coaches and GMs! Crazy, eh?!
Here are a few wonderful examples of improvements in the area or race and sports that I have seen in my lifetime alone:
· I have witnessed a huge influx of coaches and GMs from minority groups. These individuals have flourished in both the majors and college ranks with multiple championships.
· No one any longer questions whether or not a black quarterback or pitcher is a good idea. Can you actually believe that a lot of sports journalists thought this?!
· Minority group representation in sports media has significantly increased.
· Endorsement deals now go to the very best of the best and not the best whites. Just ask Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and the like.
These are but a few areas showing that the picture here is not dimming but becoming brighter. And I couldn’t be any happier for these positive changes. Let’s just not let our guard down. More progress remains to be made. And what’s been achieved needs to remain.
Part V: Sports Training Techniques
O.K. I know this is coming out of nowhere but I have to fit it in somewhere in this course, it might as well be here. Statistically speaking, you are probably out of shape- despite taking a sports course! Getting into good physical condition is not as difficult as you think. Visit the PowerPoint slide show to find out. Give it a look. It’s no sweat! Really.(
Summary
The use of performance enhancing drugs in sports is a major problem that has the potential to grow through ongoing technological advances. So long as both the I.O.C. and most professional sports leagues continue to address doping with minor actions, cheaters will continue to risk getting caught. After all, the odds are stacked in their favour.
In some regards, Bo Jackson was right when he argued that athletes are treated like “pieces of fruit.” However, when one considers how well these individuals are both financially and socially compensated, we can certainly see how such language might be construed as hyperbole.
At the same time, athletes often get treated like commodities and are discarded when they are no longer needed. Some, especially in the past, have been brutally dehumanized.
Only through the torch bearing work of heroic individuals such as Jackie Robinson, are we finally seeing greater equality and respect taking place on the fields and rinks that we love to watch and participate in. In my lifetime, I have witnessed major changes in who coaches and manages teams. I have seen many members of minority groups coach and manage championship teams. In the last decade, we have moved from a “can they?” perspective to one of “why would you ask such a stupid question?” point of view.
No sane person today questions whether or not a black quarterback or pitcher is a good idea. When I first taught this course, some people did.
There is now significantly greater representation of minority groups in sports media. The highest endorsement deals are now going to such persons of colour as Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and the like.
In the past, a star white athlete like Steve Nash would get marketing deals that would match if not beat those of a higher caliber African American counterpart- hello Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson.
So we can definitely see some real progress in this area. However, as I have shown above, this is not an issue that is over with. More still needs to be done.
As for NCAA athletes, I have a problem with someone comparing such individuals to slaves. When you earn over $100,000 in tax free money to provide you access to a first rate education, fan adulation, and full mobility rights- you’re not a slave but one extremely fortunate individual. This painful term should not be watered-down.
We’ll that’s enough reading. Refill you ink cartridges and start printing the next lecture. ;-)
Works Cited
Allen-Mills, Tony “Doctors confirm gymnasts' secret.” The Sunday Times
27 Nov., 1994, local ed.: B1+.
Canell, Marrin and Remerowski, Ted. “Dying to Win: T History of Doping in Sport.” Witness Website CBC Television. 1999 < http://www.tv.cbc.ca/witness/doping/dophis.htm >.
Coakley, Jay J. Sport in Society: Issues and Controversies. 5th Ed. Mosby: St. Louis. 1994.
Conway, Russ. Game Misconduct: Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey. Toronto: MacFarlane Walter & Ross, 1998.
Cruise, David and Alison Griffiths. Net Worth: Exploding the Myths of Pro Hockey Toronto: Viking, 1992.
Dorfman, Jeffrey. “Pay College Athletes? They're Already Paid Up To $125,000 Per Year.” Forbes Magazine. August 29, 2013.
Draper, Rob. “We're still lagging behind in the fight against the doping cheats, claims Pound.” Daily Mail.
August 2012. < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2190409/London-2012-Olympics-Drug-cheats-prospering--Dick-Pound.html>.
Dying to Win. Dirs. MARRIN CANELL AND TED REMEROWSKI. CBC Television’s “Witness” and Paradigm Pictures. 1999.
Engber, Daniel Hi-Ho. “Steroids, Away!Why it matters that racehorses are on the juice.”
Slate Magazine. June 27, 2008.
< http://www.slate.com/id/2194320/ >.
Felgenhauer, Pavel. “No Prize at All for Progress.” Moscow Times. February 28, 2002 < http://www.cdi.org/russia/195-3.cfm >.
Fraser, Kerry. “Fraser: Does Heckling Get Under A Referee's Skin?” December 12, 2013.
< http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=438366 >.
Gallagher, Ian and Craven, Nick. “Questions over Olympic anti-doping as athletes' blood and urine samples are stored in the same fridge as couriers' sandwiches and Coke.” Daily Mail. 11 August 2012.
Gibson, Owen. “Paralympics show way on Russian doping to shame of the IOC” The Guardian. August 8, 2016.
< https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/08/russia-doping-scandal-paralympics-ban-rio-2016 >.
Heussner, Ki Mae. “Fewer Olympics Dopers Raises Suspicion
Cheating Olympic Athletes and Use of Steroids and Performance Enhancing Drugs Remain Hard to Detect.” ABCNews.com. August 21, 2008
< http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=5626333&page=1 >.
Layden, Tim and Yaeger Don. “Playing Favorites? An ex-USOC official says some athletes were allowed to bend the drug rules.” Sports Illustrated. Apr. 2003 < http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/scorecard/news/2003/04/15/sc/ >.
Lankhof, Bill. “Canada's athletes: Hungry for gold... and food.” Winnipeg Sun. Apr.20, 2004 < http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Sports/2004/04/20/429026.html >.
Jessie Halladay and Reid Cherner. “Death of Eight Belles leaves cloud over race track.”
USA TODAY May 19, 2008
< http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/2008-05-04-eight-belles-cover_N.htm >.
Mackay, Duncan. “Torture of Iraq's athletes.” The Observer. Sunday Feb.2, 2003 < http://sport.guardian.co.uk/athletics/theobserver/story/0,10541,887103,00.html >.
Miracle Jr., Andrew W. and Rees, C. Roger. Lessons of the Locker Room: The Myth of Sport. Prometheus Books: Amherst, New York.1994.
Moore, Stephen and Copetas, A. Craig. “Gene Doping's Olympic Threat.” The Wall Street Journal Sept. 18, 2000 < http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/olympics.cfm >.
Net Worth. Film. Dir. Jerry Ciccoritti. CBC Television Productions. 1995.
Robinson, Charles. “Renegade Miami football booster spells out illicit benefits to players.” Yahoo Sports. August 16, 2011.
Robinson, Frances. “Soviet forced pregnancy accusation.” Gynm Forum. Nov. 26, 1994 < http://www.gymn-forum.com/Digests/1994/Dec01.html >.
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< http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/aug/02/biogenesis-peds-scandal-explained >.
Summary Checklist
Did you:
· Read the online materials for this unit?
Are you now able to:
· Understand and better articulate your position on such sports ethics issues as:
· The use of performance enhancing drugs and,
· How athletes are treated like commodities?
· Gain new insights in healthy physical training techniques used by athletes that can be applied to your day-to-day life?
If so, you are now ready to proceed to the next unit.
