Sports As a Reflection of Society

Angela Lumpkin University of Kansas

Three Goals of this Session

To analyze the importance of and possibly challenge perceptions about the status of sport in American society

To explore whether sports develop or reflect character and other societal values

To examine the impact of commercialized sports on values using several sociological factors, including race and gender

To answer this question: Do sports lead or reflect societal values?

A Cheating Culture Pervades Society as It Condones

Cheating on tests, income taxes, spouses, and bosses

Lying to gain advantage Stealing from employers

and others

Why: Personal benefit, regardless of who may be adversely affected.

The Pursuit of Fame and Fortune in Society

The aspiration to get into the most prestigious universities

The quest for power and status by politicians

The greed of corporate executives, lawyers, and accountants

Bernard Madoff

The emphasis is on “me first,” self-promotion, and a “winner-take-all” approach.

Recent Examples of The Cheating Culture 2004 — Martha Stewart convicted of insider

trading and sent to prison 2005 — Bernie Ebbers, CEO of WorldCom,

convicted of accounting and securities fraud 2006 — Enron’s Kenneth Lay convicted of

securities fraud, conspiracy, insider trading, and making false statements to auditors

2008 — Bernard Madoff arrested for financial fraud in the largest Ponzi scheme ever

2009 — Rod Blagojevich, governor of Illinois, ousted for his arrogant abuse of power

2009 — Former Senator Tom Daschle failed to pay more than $128,000 in income taxes

Recent Examples of The Cheating Culture in Sports 2001 — George O’Leary resigned as the head

football coach at Notre Dame after it was found he had lied on his resume.

2005 — Several baseball players lied to Congress about their use of performance-enhancing drugs.

2007 — During their game, New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick directed his staff to videotape the defensive signals of the New York Jets

2008 — Helio Castroneves, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, indicted for income tax evasion.

2009 — Florida State University received several sanctions for a cheating scandal involving 61 athletes in 10 sports.

Is there a pattern of behavior that shows that

sports reflect societal values?

Why Are Sports So Important in the United States? Enjoyable use of leisure time Entertainment Social bonding Winning is rewarded An enriching part of

education Incessant promotion and

telecasting by the media Praised for teaching

character and moral values

Sports as Entertainment Can sports be defined as

athletic competitions promoted through extravagant presentations for the purpose of entertaining audiences in person and electronically?

Do sport journalists describe sports as entertainment in ways that reflect people’s cultural, economic, and moral values?

Social Bonding while Cheering for our Favorite Teams

Families schedule their lives and budgets around sports.

Friends and families socialize in and around sporting events Tailgating at football games Sports bars Fantasy leagues

Winning Is Richly Rewarded

Sports Illustrated’s Richest Athletes in 2008#1 Tiger Woods earned $127,902,706#3 LeBron James earned $40,455,000#6 Alex Rodriguez earned $35,000,000#9 Peyton Manning earned $30,500,000#11 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. earned $27,221,970

Winning in Sports Brings Status and Monetary Rewards Millions are seeking after the

elusive dream of “making it” as an athlete.

National Championships for Young Athletes Age Group Gender Sponsoring Organization National Championship

6 years and under

boys; girls Callaway Golf (a golf equipment company)

Callaway Junior World Golf Championship

8 years and under

boys; girls Amateur Athletic Union Amateur Athletic Union Basketball National Championships

8 years and under

boys; girls United States Tennis Association

U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championships

8-11 years with weight limits

boys Pop Warner Football Junior Pee Wee Pop Warner Super Bowl

8-11 years girls Pop Warner Cheer and Dance Junior Pee Wee Cheer and Dance Championships

9 years and under

boys; girls Amateur Athletic Union Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Swimming Meet

9 years and under

boys; girls US Club Soccer Youth World Series

9 years and under

boys; girls Youth Basketball of America Youth Basketball of America National Championships

9-12 years boys; girls Little League Little League Baseball World Series

9-12 years girls Little League Little League Softball World Series

10 years and under

girls Amateur Athletic Union Amateur Athletic Union Girls Junior National Volleyball Championships

10 years and under

boys; girls Babe Ruth League Cal Ripken Baseball 10-Year-Old World Series

What Is the Likelihood of Becoming an Olympic, Professional, Intercollegiate, or

Interscholastic Athlete? US population —

over 306 million Just over 7 million

high school athletes

Less than 500,000 college athletes

Approximately 10,000 professional athletes

Less than 800 Olympic athletes

7,000,000

500,000

10,000 800

0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

1

Athletes

Interscholastic Intercollegiate Professional O lympic

Estimated Probability of Competing in Athletics beyond the High School Interscholastic Level (NCAA, 2007)

Student-AthletesMen's

BasketballWomen's

BasketballFootball Baseball

Men's Ice Hockey

Men's Soccer

High School Student Athletes

546,335 452,929 1,071,775 470,671 36,263 358,935

High School Senior Student Athletes

156,096 129,408 306,221 134,477 10,361 102,553

NCAA Student Athletes

16,571 15,096 61,252 28,767 3,973 19,793

NCAA Freshman Roster Positions

4,735 4,313 17,501 8,219 1,135 5,655

NCAA Senior Student Athletes

3,682 3,355 13,612 6,393 883 4,398

NCAA Student Athletes Drafted

44 32 250 600 33 76

Percent High School to NCAA

3.0% 3.3% 5.7% 6.1% 11.0% 5.5%

Percent NCAA to Professional

1.2% 1.0% 1.8% 9.4% 3.7% 1.7%

Percent High School to Professional

0.03% 0.02% 0.08% 0.45% 0.32% 0.07%

Do Sports Build Character? Athletes potentially can learn

Respect for opponents, teammates, and officials

Self-confidence Self-discipline Sportsmanship Teamwork Mental toughness How to win and lose with class Life skills and life lessons

Goals of Sports

Young athletes:

Have funLearn

sports skills

Learn life lessons of character

High school athletes:

Develop sports skills

Broaden educational experiences

Develop character

College athletes:

Achieve their potential in sports

Enrich educational experiences

“Going professional in something other than sports”

Coaches and other Adults Can

Teach, model, shape, and reinforce values like honesty, respect, and responsibility

Help athletes learn to play by the letter and spirit of the rules — the epitome of sportsmanship

Myths and Truths in Youth Sports (Farrey, 2008)Myths Truths

Myth…The best athletes are those who work the hardest.

The truth is…The elite often have innate, natural advantages.

Myth…Early, focused skills training makes a Tiger roar.

The truth is…In golf, sometimes; in most sports, no.

Myth…America is the world’s athletics superpower.

The truth is…We’re the fattest nation—and it all starts in preschool.

Myth…Organized competition breeds success.

The truth is…Unstructured play is often more valuable.

Myth…Children want to win. The truth is…They do, but it means far more to adults.

Myth…Athletic scholarships support amateurism.

The truth is…The lure of a payoff turns peewees into mini-pros.

Myth…The poor benefit the most from college sports.

The truth is…Rich kids are far likelier to get roster spots.

Myth…Grade-school travel teams identify future stars.

The truth is…They reward early bloomers, leaving the rest behind.

Myth…No national body coordinates grassroots sports.

The truth is…The U.S. Olympic Committee is supposed to.

Myth…Children inevitably find their best sport.

The truth is…Most are never exposed to sports they might excel at.

Myth…Money is pouring into youth sports. The truth is…It is, but not in the communities that need it most.

Myth…Media coverage drives up participation.

The truth is…Kids play a game — then they become fans.

Myth…Grassroots hoops has gotten too professional.

The truth is…The problem is it lacks a professional approach.

Myth…Playing sports builds character. The truth is…It depends on who runs, and who surrounds, the team.

Athletes Learn at an Early Age The importance of doing whatever it takes

to help win, as they Cheat to gain competitive advantages Taunt their opponents and use other

gamesmanship ploys Engage in harmful behaviors personally

and against opponents Display poor sportsmanship

Are athletes who engage in such actions simply displaying the values that characterize families,

peers, businesses, and society in general?

Did These Really Happen?

A mother abandoned her daughter alongside an interstate highway after the daughter did not perform to the mother’s expectations in a soccer game.

A mother abandoned her daughter alongside an interstate highway after the daughter did not perform to the mother’s expectations in a soccer game.

A father provided steroids and human growth hormones to his 13-year old son who was a world-ranked inline speed skater.

A father provided steroids and human growth hormones to his 13-year old son who was a world-ranked inline speed skater.

A T-ball coach offered a player $25 if he would hit an autistic teammate in the face so that child would not have to be played in a play-off game.

A T-ball coach offered a player $25 if he would hit an autistic teammate in the face so that child would not have to be played in a play-off game.

Justify Actions by Saying Everyone else does it. This is the way the

game is played. Do anything you can

get by with until the official calls it.

If you are not cheating, then you are not trying hard enough to win.

Commercialized Sports Are often Characterized by

Violence Gambling Drug abuse Racial discrimination Gender discrimination Academic abuses Recruiting abuses Arms race

Mitch Cozad, backup punter at Northern Colorado, convicted of assault for stabbing his rival’s kicking leg.

Tonya Harding’s cronies injured Nancy Kerrigan.

A Massachusetts judge sentenced Thomas Junta to 6-10 years in state prison for the beating death of Michael Costin, in a fight after a youth hockey practice in which the sons of both men participated.

VIOLENCE

GamblingFormer MLB player Pete Rose Former

NBA referee Tim Donaghy

College basketball has been plagued with point-shaving scandals beginning in 1951 with

33 players from 7 colleges, in 1961 with 37 players from 22 colleges, Boston College in the

1970s, Tulane University in the 1980s, and Arizona State University and Northwestern

University in the 1990s.

Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Baseball players like Barry Bonds

Marion Jones stripped of Olympic medals and sentenced to prison

Racial Discrimination against African Americans in Sports

Were subjected to racial taunts, discriminatory treatment, exclusion, and bigotry

Exceptional athletically and academically, a few males were the first to integrate sports.

Moses Walker, who played catcher for Oberlin College and the University of Michigan in 1881-1883, was the first to play at a Caucasian institution.

William Lewis, who played center-rush for Harvard University, was the first named an All-American in 1892 and 1893.

Continued Racial Discrimination

Historically Black colleges and universities and segregated leagues

Subjected to: withheld from games; violence; exclusion with “gentleman’s agreements;” stacking; and quotas

Oklahoma State’s Wilbanks Smith viciously hit Drake’s Johnny Bright in the face with his fist.

All-American Paul Robeson

John McClendon

Confronting Racial Discrimination

Succeeding against unbelievable odds

The watershed event of the 1966 NCAA men’s basketball championship game

Athletes fighting for their rights, such as through boycotts and demanding equitable treatment

Alice Coachman

Bill Garrett

Jesse Owens

Academic Exploitation of African Americans in Sports

Post-World War II, they were recruited mostly for their athletic skills.

Segregated schools, non-college-preparatory curricula, and socio-economic factors led to poor academic preparation for college.

Many majored in eligibility rather than obtained college degrees.

Dexter Manley

Heisman Trophy

Of the 74 recipients since 1935, 27 have been African Americans (Archie Griffin counted twice); Ernie Davis (Syracuse) was first (1961).

By decades, there were 3 African Americans in the 1960s, 7 in the 1970s, 8 in the 1980s, 7 in the 1990s, and 2 since 2000.

Twenty-one (or 78%) of the African American winners were running backs. Out of the 47 Caucasians, 24 were quarterbacks; 3 of the African Americans played this position.

An analysis of the recipients of the Heisman Trophy suggests these conclusions:

African American football players were denied opportunities to compete at the highest competitive level between 1935 and 1960 or were deemed undeserving of this recognition.

An African American who played running back had a much greater chance of being selected for this honor.

During the 1970s through 1990s, the best college football player was most likely an African American.

Relative to the Heisman Trophy, was football leading or reflecting

society?

College Basketball Players of the Year

Males 1966—Associated

Press 1969—Naismith 1977—Wooden

Females 1981—Wade 1983—Naismith 2004—Wooden

African American males have been selected for one or more of these awards over 81% of the 43 years.

African American females have received at least one of these awards in all but five years since 1981.

Once given equal opportunities, African

American males and females began to dominate college

basketball.

Gender Discrimination in Sports Historically, since sports have

been the domain of male, females were largely excluded.

Basketball — thought to be too vigorous for the “weaker sex” Courts divided into thirds

from 1899-1938 Half-court games until 1970

in colleges

The last sanctioned high school half-court game was played in 1995 in Oklahoma.

Alternative Sports for Females Play days and sports days prevented the

commercialized abuses of men’s athletics. In 1923, the Women’s Division of the National

Amateur Athletic Federation opposed international competition, favored play days for girls and women, and advocated for “a sport for every girl, and every girl in a sport.”

Expanded Opportunities in Sports The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for

Women beginning in 1971, and the organizations it replaced, set standards and policies for women’s athletics and offered national championships until 1982 when the NCAA took over women’s championships.

1976 — NJCAA began national championships for females.1980 — NAIA began national championships for females.

Title IX and Beyond Title IX of the Education Amendments

of 1972 “…many Americans seemed to believe

that new times required new laws, and most were unwilling to admit that the hundred-year-old equal protection clause afforded far greater protection that Title IX, perhaps because such an admission would indicate that the country and the courts had been violating the Constitution for more than a century. In the final analysis, however, Title IX gave women no new rights, but it inspired them to take advantage of those they already had.”*

(*Fields, p. 161)

Participation Numbers by Gender in Interscholastic Sports

3,666,917

3,770,621

3,409,081

3,429,853

3,960,517

4,321,103

294,015

817,073

1,810,671

1,940,801

2,806,998

3,021,807

0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000 3,000,000 3,500,000 4,000,000 4,500,000

1971-1972

1972-1973

1981-1982

1991-1992

2001-2002

2006-2007

Boys Girls

Number of Athletes by Gender and Governing Organization in 2006

30,656 31,391

218,330

18,188 20,556

161,572

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

NJCAA NAIA NCAA

Males Females

Females in Intercollegiate Athletics in NCAA Institutions (Acosta & Carpenter, 2008)

Year Average Number of Sports for

Females

Female Head Coaches of

Women’s Teams

Female Head Administrators of

Women’s Programs

1972 not available Over 90% Over 90%

1978 5.61 58.2% not available

1982 6.59 52.4% not available

1986 7.15 50.6% 15.2%

1990 7.24 47.3% 15.9%

1992 7.09 48.3% 16.8%

1996 7.53 47.7% 18.5%

2000 8.14 45.6% 17.8%

2004 8.32 44.1% 18.5%

2006 8.45 42.4% 18.6%

2008 8.65 42.8% 21.3%

Comparison of Financial Support for Males and Females in Intercollegiate Athletics in 2006

$1,111,276,301

$893,048,748

$104,242,516

$902,623,678

$513,028,564

$52,385,535

$-

$200,000,000

$400,000,000

$600,000,000

$800,000,000

$1,000,000,000

$1,200,000,000

Grants-in-Aid Operating Expenses Recruiting Expenses

Males Females

Threats to Academic Integrity Some athletes masquerade as students

while chasing the elusive dream of playing at the next level.

Lies, dishonesty, and deceit have been used to keep athletes academically eligible.

University of Georgia (1981)University of Minnesota (1999)University of Tennessee (2000)

In Recruiting, Some Coaches

Creatively violate recruiting rules to gain competitive advantages.

Engage in cheating and lying to get the “blue chip” recruits.

Choose to cheat because of the pressures to win.

The Paradox of the Arms Race

Entice recruits with the biggest and best facilities

Pay winning coaches millionsBob Stoops

Oklahoma football coach Zero Sum Game

Moral Justifications Used to Defend Unethical Actions in Sport and Society

Try to make it seem that the unethical action is really ethical, such as by claiming there is no rule against it, no one will ever know, or everyone else does it.

State that the action is not really unethical since no one was really harmed or no foul was called or penalty assessed.

Argue that while a rule was violated, the situation along with the amount of good accomplished overshadowed the small amount of harm; that is, the end justifies the means.

Sports Reflecting Societal Values

Winning at all costs

Unethical behaviors

Influence of money

Sports Are a Reflection of Societal Values

While sports have been praised for leading positive societal changes, such as reducing discriminatory treatment of African Americans, today sports reflect society’s cheating culture.

Commercialized sports, especially as popularized by the media, entertain Americans, many of whom are obsessed by winning and cheer for athletes and coaches who do whatever it takes to win.

Questions or Comments?

Angela Lumpkin Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise

SciencesUniversity of Kansas

Lawrence, KS 66045-7567E-mail: alumpkin@ku.eduTelephone: 785-864-0778

Thank-you for attending!

References Acosta, V. R., & Carpenter, L. J. (2008).

Women in intercollegiate sport. A longitudinal, national study thirty one year update. Retrieved November 15, 2008, from www.acostacarpenter.org

Farrey, T. (2008). Game on: The all-American race to make champions of our children. New York: ESPN Books.

Fields, S. K. (2005). Female gladiators: Gender, law, and contact sport in America. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

References Frank, R. (2004). Challenging the myth: A

review of the links among college athletic success, student quality, and donations (pp. 1-36). Miami, FL: Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved December 1, 2008, from www.knightfoundation.org/dotAsset/131763.pdf

Lumpkin, A. (in press). Critical events: Historical overview of minorities (men and women) in college sports. In D. Brooks & R. Althouse (Eds.). Racism in college athletics (3rd ed). Morgantown, WVA: Fitness Information Technology, Inc.

References Lumpkin, A. (in press). Modern sport ethics: A

reference handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2007). Estimated probability of competing in athletics beyond the high school interscholastic level. Retrieved January 5, 2009, from www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=279