Over the past 100 years the story of Jim Thorpe has created so much controversy. Back in 1912 Jim Thorpe competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Jim Thorpe wasn’t just your average athlete he had different training mentalities and different eating habits.” It was fried squirrel with creamed gravy after running all night in the woods at the heels of his dogs” (Jenkins,2012).” By age 6, Thorpe could already shoot, ride, trap and accompany his father, Hiram, a horse breeder and bootlegger who would die of blood poisoning, on 30-mile treks stalking prey” (Jenkins,2012). He would spend hours outside studying how graceful and the form of wild horses. Where most athletes study and learn from professionals he learned from the outdoors. After years of trying to imitate and learning from the wildlife he competed at the Stockholm Olympics of 1912. Thorpe won gold medals in both the decathlon and the pentathlon, received fourth place in high jump, and seventh in long jump. With so much success in the Olympics came …show more content…
A year later in 1912” The International Olympic Committee stripped his medals and struck his marks from the official record after learning that he had violated the rules of amateurism by playing minor-league baseball in 1909-10 “(Jenkins,2012). It was released that he had played two seasons earning a little more than 50 a month for a semiprofessional league baseball team in North Carolina. Jim Thorpe claimed he has was completely unaware he was breaking the rules. “I hope I will be partly excused by the fact that I was simply an Indian schoolboy and I did not know all about such things.”, but his ignorance-as-an-excuse appeal was rejected” (Jim Thorpe Gets His Medal). Playing for the semiprofessional team in North Carolina was considered and illegal tactic which is defined in the textbook as “strategies employed or practiced that are against the rules”
Ethical Rules on Sport’s Justice. Dallas: East Dallas Times, page 21. 2008. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Print: Harry, Patrick Hayes.
Baseball?s reputation has been painted with a red asterisk. The non-medical use of steroids has been banned according to the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990. Many baseball athletes have been caught or presumed illegal users of HGH or Steroids since the act passed in 1990. All these athletes have one thing in common, they want to have an edge or advantage on the game. Some athletes even admit to administering the drug to other athletes and themselves. Jose Conseco testified to personally injecting the steroids into Mark McGuire (Cote).
Most student-athletes grow up as very innocent lads bedecked with tremendous talents and become very promising in sports. Thus, they become rays of hope for their families, neighborhoods, and schools yet to be determined. Like the lamb in William Blake’s poem The Lamb, they are fed “by the stream & o’er the mead; gave…clothing of delight, softest clothing, wooly, bright…making all the vales rejoice.” (Smith 24) Then they are exposed to the life of hard work in which only the fittest survives. This makes them ready for the different challenges in the sports scene.
Even with knowledge of Mosher’s Ph.D. in Sports Studies, the essay would have been stronger if it included additional credible resources. I agree with Mosher’s unstated evaluative claim that society should not expect someone to possess the characteristics of a hero simply because they are a sports athlete. Yet, Mosher asserts that society unrealistically demands their sports athletes to possess traits of high character. After reading this essay, I still ask; why not?
The following essay will discuss the argument that the current pre-dominance of black athletes in the world of sprinting is a social and not a racial phenomenon. Firstly the article will examine the physical differences between black and white athletes. Secondly, this article will discuss stereotypical beliefs in the world of sport. This essay will give an objective examination of the above issues and to challenge beliefs held and conveyed by individuals.
James Francis Thorpe accomplished without argument what no other athlete in history has. The Sac and Fox Indian won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Olympic games in Sweden and played both professional football and professional baseball. His feats on the football field put him on the 1911 and 1912 All-American football teams. In 1920 he became the first president of the American Professional Football Association (later to become the NFL). In 1951, he was one of the first men to be admitted to the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame.
Can you imagine embarrassing the infamous Adolf Hitler in front of the whole world? Jesse Owens did that in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was not an easy road for him to get there, but he did it by putting enough effort and hard work forward. Jesse Owens was able to overcome racial judgment by surviving a poverty struck childhood, training hard in school, and by winning the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Sports specialization among young people is when a child or teenager trains for and competes in only one sport. They work extremely hard year-round in order to become well-rounded in every aspect of the game. They make sacrifices and put their health in jeopardy in order to become the ultimate participant in their sport. One of the many young athletes who is only participating in and focusing on one sport is fifteen-year-old OJ Mayo from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the young talented athlete who is predicted to be the next LeBron James in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This young athlete provides evidence of striving for perfection in this single sport when reviewing his daily schedule versus that of his siblings. He says, “The other kids go home and sleep. I come back to the gym” (Thompson, 2004). He is obviously putting forth a lot of effort in his sport to become successful at an early age.
Williams, Peter. The sports immortals: deifying the American athlete. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1994.. 30-31
When Finny trains Gene for the 1944 Olympics, Gene becomes more mature. Through Finny's coaching of Gene, Gene acquires many characteristics of the already grown-up Fi...
Athletes waiver an uncanny amount of courage, by pushing their bodies to the test and showcasing themselves and abilities to the judgement of the public. Sports may come natural for many people, but having utmost character and bravery does not come easy to anyone. Undoubtedly, having both is a rare occasion. Being a prime example, Jackie Robinson used his natural born gifts of a strong character and personality, along with an unprecedented athletic ability. He fought for equality by dignity and hard work. Respectfully, he was one of the best in Major League baseball for his time, and sparked a Civil RIghts Movement while doing it.
Forbes, 30 January 2014. Web. 29 April 2014. Gutting, Gary. “The Myth of the ‘Student-Athlete’.”
As Miller and Wilson revealed, athleticism is not always analogous with success. Willy regarded Biff highly because he observed Biff’s presence and athleticism, and he believed these qualities would result in immediate success. Today many parents associate sports with success and therefore pressure their children to excel in sports. In today’s society it is very rare that fears of discrimination would cause children to not pursue a lucrative career in sports. Both Miller and Wilson knew the impact of sports on family dynamics, and how sports have evolved from a leisure time activity to a full-time commitment. Clearly, many of the qualitative aspects of sports--competition, teamwork and physical dexterity can contribute to being a success in almost any career.
Sports are governed by sets of rules or customs and often, competition. Sports have always been a way to connect us to our past and to build optimism about the future. Sport’s a way to bond the people despite differences in race, age and gender. However, today the game that is supposed to teach character, discipline and team work is teaching cheating. And in today’s world, with fame, endorsement, drugs and so much to gain, it is not surprising that athletes are cheating in sports. Cheating in sports is not new thing; it started the day when humans first discovered athletic competitions. According to the Los Angeles Times (August 20, 2006) “More than 2,000 years before Mike Tyson bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear and was disqualified in the boxing ring, Eupolus of Thessaly, a boxer in the Olympics of 388 BC, bribed three of his opponents to take dives. Historians consider Eupolus' crime the first recorded act of cheating in sports” (Pugmire 7). We have been seeking an easier way to win. Cheating in sports, which recently has manifested in diverse forms, is more a result of increasing pressure to win from the sponsors and team management, especially in the context of sport becoming a career rather than an act of recreation. What actually constitutes cheating? When does gamesmanship stop and cheating start? And should we try to stop cheating in sports? The use of illegal drugs, huge amount of money and betting is ruining the fame of sports. Hence, cheating in sports is caused by drugs and the desire for endorsement and fame which are getting more effective in recent.
In one historical moment from Pamela Grundy's book Learning to Win: Sports, Education, and Social Change in Twentieth-Century North Carolina, she writes about men's college athletics between 1880 and 1901. Grundy states that "metaphors of competition gained new prominence, particularly among the members of the state's expanding middle class, which was coming to dominate public affairs" (Grundy, 12). Male college students living in North Carolina began to excel in organized athletics during this time period. "The contests on the field seemed to mirror the competitive conditions prevailing in the society at large, and the discipline, self-assertion and reasoned strategy that sports were credited with teaching meshed neatly with the qualifies required for business and political success" (Grungy, 13). People who supported athletics wholeheartedly believed it taught good values such as discipline and good character, while there were some who opposed this saying that sports were a distraction for students and thus a hindrance to their educational goals. White college men perceived athletics as a way to show their superiority and justify their presence in business as well as politics. They believed athletic sports were essential in their "vision o...