Current Issues In Sports
Thursday, May 2, 2013
A quick conversation with Kara and Nick...
Kara Charochak & Nick Otis Interview
Posted by Michael Downs at 2:57 PM No comments:
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Risk & Sacrifice: The Life of a Student Athlete
Contrary to what most people may believe, being a Division I college athlete is far from easy. In fact,
there many obstacles they must face in order to successfully balance being a full-time student with
being a full-time athlete. One would be surprised to learn of the amount of sacrifice required in such
an endeavor. Unbeknownst to many, being a member of a college sports team often requires an
individual to forgo many of the activities the average student gets to enjoy over the duration of their
college career. Along with the sacrifice, there is a certain level risk associated with being a student
athlete. However, despite all of this, thousands of college students across the nation actively
participate in Division I athletics.
Why do they do it?
It can't for the promise of huge future paydays, because according to NCAA statistics, less than one
percent of all college athletes go on to play their sport professionally. With that said, I was honestly
curious to find out why despite all of these apparent drawbacks, so many college students choose
participate in competitive varsity sports.
Let's begin by outlining the sacrifices a college athlete must be prepared to make.
The first and most important thing that all student-athletes sacrifice is their time. At the NCAA Division
I level, athletes sacrifice their time in many ways and for many reasons. The primary way an athlete’s
time is sacrificed is through team practices. Under NCAA rules, teams can practice and do other team-
related activities (such as weightlifting) for up to 20 hours a week during the season, a number that
eats up a significant portion of a student-athlete’s time. To add insult to injury, these practices aren’t
always scheduled at the most convenient times of the day.
“Once you get into the season you’re lifting three times a week on top of your two-and-a-half, three-
hour practices, and six hours of study hall a week,” said Kara Charochak, a graduating senior who
played on the UMass field hockey team for four years. “Typically in the fall you have your classes in the
morning from 8 A.M. till 2:15 then we have practice from 2:30 until 6 o’clock. Sometimes we’ll get out
at five and we’ll have to lift till six or we’ll get out at 5:30 and lift for an hour after that. It takes up a
lot of your time.”
Another major way some college athletes sacrifice their time is through summer workouts. While most
of them do get to enjoy the summer months with their friends and families, some of them aren’t so
lucky. “I’ve missed out on more family vacations than I care to count,” says Carolann Cloutier, who
plays for the UMass women's basketball team. Here at UMass, members of the football team and both
the men and women’s basketball teams are required to stay back and spend most of their summers on
campus and take classes so that they can practice with their teammates in the off-season. College
sports have become so competitive that every team is looking for all the advantages they can find to
win. Because of this, certain sports resemble full time jobs instead of mere extracurricular activities.
They aren’t alone for long though. Other UMass teams, such as field hockey, join them soon enough.
“We get here (on campus) August 7th," said Charochak. "That’s a month before anyone else and a month
out of your summer that you lose”. Once on campus, Charochak gets right to work. “We’re doing two-
a-days and three-a-days,” she said, describing her summer regimen.
The final major way athletes sacrifice their time is through travel. Unlike high school sports, where
completion is mainly local, college athletics take place at a national level. This means that a great
deal of a Division I athlete's time is spent traveling. This is something that many college athletes have
to get used to almost immediately. Participating in Division I college sports often means that you will
spend a great amount of your time busing or flying all over the United States, engaging in competition
with other schools both in and out of your athletic conference.
“Traveling can be extremely draining,” says Cloutier. “A lot of time we fly out for games as early as 5
o’clock in the morning. It’s also not uncommon for me to return to campus in the wee hours of the
morning on a school day, knowing full well that I have a class at 9 o’clock. It’s tough.”
Extensive traveling also causes athletes to miss significant amounts of often-valuable class time, which
depending on their instructor, can put them at a severe disadvantage. Cloutier knows this all too well.
“Nope, absolutely not,” she immediately replied when asked her if her teachers took into account the
fact that she was a college athlete when evaluating her. “Even though I miss large amounts of class
time because of all the travelling I do, I don’t really get any type of special benefits for being an
athlete. It really sucks. We are held to the exact same standards as any ordinary student even though
the constraints on our time are much tighter than theirs. Some teachers here are not really
sympathetic when I miss class because of traveling, which I think is crazy because it is beyond my
control. It's not like I can tell my coach that I can't go to an away game because I have class. I simply
can’t do that.”
In many courses, class attendance plays a significant role in a student receiving a quality grade. In
athletics, competition and travel very often overlap with class time. When a student-athlete misses a
class, they usually have very little choice but to figure things out on their own. Sometimes, if the
teacher is sympathetic, he or she may provide them with notes from class or give them a brief review
of class material during office hours. However, ultimately, this is not a professor's responsibility and it
is seen as more of a courtesy than anything else. Most of the time, teachers are not so cooperative
when dealing with athletes.
In cases where the professor refuses to accommodate them, athletes are forced to find out missed
information completely on their own. This causes somewhat of a dilemma. For a student to be as
successful as possible, it usually requires them being able to attend class on a regular basis. This
something that frankly isn’t easy for most student-athletes. As a result, they are sometimes forced into
compromising positions, and more often than not, it affects their academic performance. It's a real
Catch-22. You're damned if you, damned if you don't.
Traveling isn’t the only academic-related sacrifice a student athlete must make. There is also the issue
of class scheduling. An athlete’s practice schedule usually dictates the classes they can take and when
they can take them. The problem with this is when an athlete is attempting to complete a degree,
there are certain tasks they must complete in order to receive their diploma. At UMass, there are
certain classes that are only offered in the afternoons and on certain specific days. For many athletes,
afternoon or night classes do not work because of travel and game times. On many occasions, this
causes student athletes to either choose a different major than the one they would prefer to take or
attend class during the winter or summer semesters, which essentially prevents them from spending
time with their loved ones over those breaks.
In certain situations, an athlete will even end up settling for an easy and convenient major because it
is the simplest option. This conflict also places serious time constraints on the athlete to point that
many are forced to stay an extra year in order to play their sport and satisfy the requirements required
for them to graduate. Furthermore, there are the external pressures. Despite all of the obstacles I
previously mentioned, a player's athletic eligibility is heavily dependent on their academic
performance. The NCAA has specific academic standards with which all athletes must comply with in
order to compete athletically. Aside from this, schools have their own academic standards. At UMass,
all student-athletes are required to maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average
Athletes also sacrifice their bodies, which is probably the biggest sacrifice they make. Something that
the majority of people do not see is the day-to-day grind that comes with being a college athlete.
When playing a sport, especially at the Division I level, it is almost guaranteed that you will have to
deal with some type of injury or pain at some juncture of your career. If the athlete has a nagging
injury he or she not only has to deal with the often distracting pain during practice or games, but that
person often has to sit through class with that pain, and that could pose as a serious distraction and it
could potentially affect their ability to learn. Imagine going to class while suffering from the lingering
symptoms of a concussion.
Let’s now look at the risks.
UMass athletes take a great deal of risks every time they don their uniforms. A Minuteman football
player could potentially get seriously injured at any time. A baseball player could get hit in the head
with a fastball and suffer some traumatic head injury. The list goes on and on. Every single school year,
an athlete's season comes to a close because of an unfortunate injury, which is very hard or an athlete
to cope with. The injury does not magically disappear when it is time to get to class or when the
athlete has to study. Student-athletes work year-round for the opportunity to become champions in
their chosen sport and when an injury erases those aspirations, it can be psychologically crushing, and
that's without mentioning all of the intensive rehab required to heal the injury.
Many athletes in college are unaware of the possible long-term repercussions of training year round at
a high level. Why do so many retired athletes suffer from arthritis and joint pain? The answer is rather
simple. It stems from the injuries they suffered and the years of wear and tear on their bodies. Often
after an injury, even a very serious one, it isn’t exactly uncommon to see an athlete make a quick
recovery and get back out on the field or court. However, like almost all athletes, what they do know
will almost surely affect them down the road.
Cloutier tore her left ACL late last season in a freak accident and as a result, she missed all of the
team’s summer workout sessions and had to undergo months of post-surgery rehabilitation to get back
to where she was before the injury. Thanks to timely surgery, advances in medical technology and the
fact the she was closely monitored by the team’s medical staff, she was able to make a rather speedy
recovery. However, 20 years down the road she could very well face some problems with her knee.
“I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t worried about the potential effects this surgery could have on my
knee down the road,” she said. “Unfortunately I can’t control it, but it could be a battle that I will
have to face later on in life.”
With injuries being as common as they are, athletes like Cloutier will most likely pay down the road for
what they put their bodies through today. Is participating in collegiate athletics and possibly
jeopardize your future quality life really worth it? Cloutier seems to think so.
“I think about the here and now,” she said. “I’ll only be a college athlete once in my life and I want to
enjoy it as much as possible. Whether I’ll pay for it down the road, I have no clue. I guess I’ll cross that
bridge when I get there.”
Torn ACLs aren’t the only serious injury risk college athletes must face. The issue of concussions have
become a major concern for players at all levels of athletic competition, amateur or professional. They
are a major issue because no matter how minor the initial injury, repeated concussions can lead to
serious brain damage that can seriously compromise the rest of an athlete’s life, or worst of all, take
them to an early grave. In recent years, research on the issue of concussions has led some to question
how quickly athletes should return in competition after recovering from a major brain trauma, if at all.
Players often rush get back onto the playing field after suffering a concussion because of pressure
coming from coaches and teammates and the ever-present fear of losing playing time. High-level
collegiate sports have become more of a business than just an extracurricular activity for athletes.
Because of this, the precautions taken towards concussion recovery are sped up when they should be
slowed down.
Earlier in the year, our class watched an ESPN Over The Lines episode that drove home the gravity of
repeated brain trauma. Watching that video, I learned that concussions can have devastating
consequences that many people, including myself at the time, are not aware of. The OTL episode
explained in painstaking detail the risk an athlete takes when they choose to participate in athletics.
Some athletes have even committed suicide as a direct result of repeated head trauma. Look at what
happened to Junior Seau.
The question arises again. Why be a collegiate athlete?
Many people assume that just because you are an athlete, you automatically receive a full scholarship.
That leads them to presume that that you receive a check each month, that all your meals are free and
you want for nothing. That is simply not true. In reality, aside from basketball, which according to
NCAA guidelines, can offer up to 13 athletic scholarships, and football, which can offer up to 85 of
them, the vast majority of UMass athletes do not receive full athletic scholarships. Some student-
athletes like Charochak only receive partial scholarships (approximately a quarter of her total expenses
are covered) leaving them responsible for paying for the vast majority of their tuition, housing and all
of the other things they need.
The even more sobering reality of college athletics is that some athletes receive absolutely nothing in
return for their athletic contributions. Though the realities of being a student-athlete affect all college
athletes, a significant number them must pay their tuition on top of meeting the demands of being a
student athlete. At UMass, less than half of all student athletes receive scholarships of any kind.
Basketball and football receive the majority of them while sports such as soccer and baseball receive
as little as two apiece. Track and field receives little to nothing.
Nick Otis is a senior and a member of UMass' track and field team. He receives no monetary support or
reduced tuition rates. This led me to pose a serious question. With everything that a college athlete
must sacrifice, with of the obstacles they must climb and with all of the risks they must take, why
would so many do it for absolutely nothing? It’s not like there’s a multi-million dollar payday waiting
for them at the end of the tunnel.
"I've never thought about it that way” said Otis. If I did I probably would have quit by now because
when you think about it is pretty depressing. When I think about all of the work I put in then think
about the fact that there’s basically no payout whatsoever it’s not necessarily fair.”
So why do it? It all boils down to family and a love for competition.
“Coming in, I loved that I had an instant family here,” said Charochak. “Being on the field hockey team
which had 27 or 28 girls from various parts of the country and the rest of the world really helped me
learn to adjust to others and better deal with people.”
“It’s a all about family” said Cloutier. “Athletes naturally gravitate towards a family atmosphere. Some
of them leave home for college at 17 or 18 years of age and sometimes they know absolutely no one
when they get on campus. Being part of a team gives you an immediate family, which helps a lot when
you’re adjusting to everyday life on an unfamiliar college campus. There’s also the fact that most
college athletes have been practicing their chosen sport their entire lives. They simply love what they
do. That’s why they put up with all of this.”
Finally, Otis had a very interesting explanation as to why he had no plans of quitting track anytime
soon, despite having some valid reasons to do so.
"The friends, and the camaraderie are what make being a student-athlete worth it,” he said. “I’ve also
ran track all of my life and I’m good at it, so why not run? It’s just something that I’ve always done
because I loved it…it’s kind of like family in a way. You kind of can dislike it, but you still love it. You
can hate your mom for a little while or whatever but you still love her…I like that analogy…I think it’s
accurate.”
Posted by Michael Downs at 12:54 PM No comments:
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Review of "42"
I recently had the opportunity to watch "42", the new biopic centered around the opening moments of
Jackie Robinson's Major League career. Despite the fact that it was a rather enjoyable and somewhat
historically accurate, I found the movie to be somewhat underwhelming because it could have been so
much better than it was.
Going into the movie, I was very well acquainted with the historical account and overall cultural
significance of Jackie Robinson's ascent into the major leagues. This was because I had read a book
entitled Jackie Robinson: Baseball's Great Experiement. The book, written by Jules Tygiel, basically
recounts in painstaking detail the rather complex and detailed process that took jackie Robinson from
barnstorming in the Negro Leagues to Major League baseball playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. It is
considered by many to be the most complete historical account of his transition.
I will first speak on what I did not like about the film.
Though the film did have strong performances (I will speak on that later), I found the movie to be
underwhelming for a few reasons. Though it meant well, I found the film overreaching, overdramatized
and sentimentally directed. I felt like so many moments in the film were specifically crafted to evoke
some sort of sentimental compassion from the viewer. Almost every single scene in which Robinson
participates is needlessly amplified and over-directed. His every action in this film is weighed down by
this overbearing sense of historical gravitas. Very little in the movie feels completely organic and
unforced.
I also didn't like the direction the film took in portraying Robinson. Brian Helgeland, the film's director,
was so concerned in making a squeaky clean and inspirational movie that he decided to portray the
man as some sort of mythological saint-like being, void of any flaws or shortcomings. I found that
portrayal to be somewhat disingenuous and it did the film a disservice. I believe that in better hands
the movie would have taken a more multi-layered in depth look at Robinson. Instead of making an
honest and truly remarkable movie, Helgeland chose to make a simplistic, accessible and easy
digestible one.
My last gripe about the film is its historical accuracy. Though the film did the majority of its facts
straight, it omitted very large portions of Robinson's narrative and told a very watered down version of
his story. The movie spent no time examining Robinson's back story or the social impact of his
ascension. It's narrow focus strips Robinson's tale of some much needed perspective and made me leave
the theater wanting much more.
The one thing I did enjoy about the movie were the performances of Chadwick Boseman and Harrsion
Ford, who played Jackie robinson and Branch Rickey respectively. Boseman, who bears a striking
resemblance to Robinson, was excellent in his portrayal of the man. He played the part well both on
and off the field. On the field he was extremely believable, and looked the part of a baseball player
with great ease. As for Harrison Ford, his portrayal portrayal of Rickey seemed very awkward and stiff
at first, but as the movie progressed I feel he settled into the role quite nicely. I would have liked to
see them flesh out his character a little more than they did since he is indeed a fascinating character,
but I was mostly pleased with Ford's portrayal of him.
Overall, "42" was a solid, although unremarkable film. Even though I think it's absolutely great to finally
have a biopic of Robinson's life, his legacy could have been done better justice on film. Although it
doesn't come across that way in my review, I did somewhat enjoy the film and I would probably
recommend it to someone else. It's just that knowing what I knew about the man and his story, I came
into the theater expecting more than what the film delivered.
Posted by Michael Downs at 8:51 PM No comments:
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Thursday, April 18, 2013
A visit form Howard Bryant
In what was yet another highly intriguing encounter, Howard Bryant spoke to our class on April
4th.
He was born and raised in Boston, eventually graduating from Temple University. Interestingly
enough, he started out his journalism career in at the Oakland Tribune, where he covered
technology. During that time, he spoke about interviewing the likes of Bill Gates, even going as
far to credit the experience for him not being starstruck when covering high-profile athletes.
After covering technology, he eventually moved over to sports, covering the Oakland Athletics
during the “Moneyball” era. I found that pretty fascinating. Knowing how much movies can
distort the truth, it was interesting to hear what he had to say on the matter since he witnessed it
first hand. After stops at the Bergen Post, the Boston Herald and the Washington Post he
eventually found himself at ESPN, where’s he’s been since 2007.
He spoke on many things, including how the landscape of journalism has radically evolved over
the course of his career. He stated that when he was first starting out in the profession, journalists
would be able to focus on one specific area of the craft and work from there. However, he
admitted that in this day and age it is next to impossible to succeed in this business without being
able to a variety of things. Today's journalist has to be so much more versatile than they would
have been ten or fifteen years ago.
What impressed me the most was Bryant's candor. He pulled no punches, instead speaking his
mind freely. I know that it's a journalist's job to be opinionated, but certain things he said
caught me off guard such as his position on collegiate sports. I was intrigued by his position on
the state of NCAA Division I basketball in regards to athletes being financially compensated for
what they do and his criticism for the monopoly of power held by college coaches. He made a lot
of very valid points that made me think.
The part of his message that really hit home to me was when he encouraged the class to “bet on
yourself” at least once in your life. I found that to be particularly profound. He said this while
explaining the career changing risk he took when he stepped outside of his usual comfort zone
and decided to write a book about the history of African-American players within the Boston
Red Sox organization. It said it was the biggest risk of his career but ultimately the most
rewarding, since it helped get him to wear his today.
Overall, I found Bryant to be a highly intelligent and very well-spoken individual and I am very
grateful that he took the time out of what is probably a busy schedule to speak to us. Besides
that, this class has honestly been one of the most gratifying experiences I have ever had as a
student. The opportunity to meet, interact with and ultimately learn from some of the greatest
minds sports journalism has to offer, has been an extremely rewarding experience that I’ve truly
appreciated and will never forget.
Posted by Michael Downs at 2:27 PM No comments:
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Race and the NCAA Tournament
As I have done semi-religiously over the past half-decade, I made my usually terrible NCAA Tournament
bracket and attentively followed NCAA tournament.
However, unlike the previous times I had watched the tournament, I was actually carefully listening
the to the sports broadcasters to see if anything that could be deemed racially charged would have
slipped form their mouths.
Sadly, this wasn't case.
I watched both Final Four games as well as the Championship game and came away with absolutely
nothing. In the end, the main story of the Final Four was the gruesome injury suffered by Kevin Ware
and the Cardinals' desire and commitment to winning a national title for their fallen teammate. The
focus of the CBS broadcast was fixed on the emotional story Kevin Ware's injury and the basketball
being played on the court.
The only racially charged (if you can call it that) incident of the entire coverage of the tournament
that I even remotely remember was Doug Gottlieb's very awkward "white man's perspective" joke that
fell flat on its face on live on national television. Though it was cringeworthy and in obvious poor taste,
I doubt too many people were surprised or even upset by it since Gottlieb's mouth has gotten him in
trouble before. If you're at all curious, feel free to watch the video here.
Aside from that I did not notice and racially charged language in any of the three games I watched and
therefore, I sadly have nothing to report.
Posted by Michael Downs at 8:41 PM No comments:
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Thursday, March 7, 2013
A visit from TJ Quinn & Bonnie Ford...
A few days ago, ESPN journalists Bonnie Ford and TJ Quinn were kind enough to take a few hours out of
their busy schedules and make the trip out to Amherst and visit with our class here at UMass. I for one
am very happy they did.
I learned a great deal from their visit. The amount of information and insight they shared with us was
absolutely remarkable. Aside from speaking about the everyday rigors and challenges of their current
jobs, they shared the process it took for them to arrive where they did. I believe that helped us
understand the grind and sacrifice required to make a real career out of being a sports journalists
In what was probably the most enjoyable part of their lecture, they took the the time to share some
their personal anecdotes. The both shared some very interesting stories about their various interactions
and run-ins with some very prominent athletes. Some of them were alarming, while other were
downright hilarious. Given the nature of their occupations, they often have the chance to rub shoulders
with these athletes and the anecdotes they shares gave the class somewhat of an insider's look at what
goes on behind the scenes when the cameras aren't rolling. it was really cool to have them share the
information with our class.
Given that both Ford and Quinn specialize in investigative sports journalism, specifically in the area of
PED use and doping, we spoke at length about the issue of cheating in sports. It was incredible to see
how informed and knowledgable about their field of work and how well-veresed thy were with all of
the scientific jargon and terminologies as well. They were on top their stuff and clarified several issues
that i was unsure of or previously had doubts or reservations about. Having two experts of their caliber
who have invested that much time an effort into doing what do.
Another thing that impressed a lot was how well they answered our questions, which came from a
plethora of directions. They answered every question asked in detail and often added some interesting
piece of information or insight while offering plenty of practical advice.
On top of everything, they were also incredibly engaging as well. Both Ford and Quinn are exceptional
storytellers and really captivated the class' attention for the entire time they spoke, which was a little
over three hours. In fact, the lecture went about 20 minutes over the allotted class time and not one
person seemed to mind at all because we were all intrigued by what these two journalists had to say.
Overall, their visit was an extremely positive one. Both Ford and Quinn shared a wealth of knowledge
with our lass and enriched our experience as a result. It was a real learning experience that I truly
appreciate.
Scandals make headlines, especially in professional sports. One of the most important skills if you’re considering a career in
sports management is the ability to carefully navigate the murky waters of sports ethics. While some moral decisions are easy to
make, other ethical issues in sport management aren’t as clear cut. We’ve outlined some of the most pressing issues currently
facing sports management professionals below:
Steroids and Drug Use
Since the 1960s, the use of performance-enhancing drugs has been a problem in college and professional sports of all kinds.
Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) include anabolic steroids, stimulants, human growth hormone and supplements like
androstenedione, which helps the body process testosterone. The battle against PEDs has been a long slog. This year, Lance
Armstrong was stripped of his Olympic Medal and Tour de France titles after he admitted to doping during his career. Biogenesis
of America was sued by Major League Baseball, resulting in the temporary ban of 20 players, including New York Yankee Alex
Rodriguez, Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royal Miguel Tejada, according to CNN. Furthermore, both
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemons were rejected from the Baseball Hall of Fame for using steroids.
What should sports managers do? Some pundits argue that PEDs should be legalized, and a recent poll by the New York
Times shows that younger Americans are less troubled by PED use and believe it to be widespread in American sports. While
that may be a solution for the future, the present presents a battle against PEDs for both athletes and sports executives.
Discrimination
Discrimination has many faces. Racism, gender discrimination and homophobia are social justice issues plaguing a wide variety
of aspects in our society; the sporting world included. While overt racism in the way sports clubs conduct business has,
thankfully, fallen away, racism is still present in sports. Now, the majority of racist action is perpetrated by fans, commentators
and individual athletes. It seems society still has a lot of growing to do.
Gender discrimination exists both on the field and in the office. It is not the intent of this article to discuss the merit or detriments
of co-ed versus single-gender sporting leagues, but the disparity between the genders in sports management careers is grossly
evident. As of 2010, only 9.5 percent of Division I schools had a female athletic director, and all head coaches in major American
professional sports (baseball, basketball, football) are male according to the Women’s Sports Foundation.
Gambling
Illicit and insider gambling isn’t as big of a problem in America as it is elsewhere in the world. While the problem does persist in
the country, the respective gambling scarcity in America may be attributed to how previous scandals have been handled. After
the infamous rigging of the 1919 World Series, the eight members of the Chicago White Sox involved in the scandal were banned
from the sport for life. Heavy sanctions against match-fixing and insider betting have been met with heavy sanctions ever since.
However, exorbitant fines, lifetime bans and other stern punishments aren’t always enough to deter a player, executive or other
insider from taking the risk. Many point to the fact that “rags-to-riches” scenarios for athletes explain the predilection to get
involved with gambling, but there are serious holes in that theory. In fact, when you compare the salaries the eight banned White
Sox players earned to the athletes of today, an argument can be made that large professional salaries are the most prominant
deterrents against gambling. In fact, one of the most recent high-profile American scandals involved a low-paid basketball
referee.
Temptation of the Sports Agent
Corruption is rampant in the agent-athlete arena. According to Breakthrough Sports Agency founder, John Phillips, about half of
all agents are willing to do whatever it takes to sign a player. Because a sports agent’s income is based on a percentage fee of the
contract salary they are able to negotiate for an athlete, the temptation is strong to flaunt the rules to sign the cream of the crop.
Corruption is at its highest in college sports, something universities are attempting to curtail.
Sports management professionals face a barrage of ethical challenges. If you’re interested in a career in this field,sports
management online courses are excellent option for learning more about the industry. Shorter University’s Bachelor of Business
Administration in Sport Management helps students prepare for any future ethical issues in their career by incorporating courses
such as Legal Aspects of Sport and Ethics in Sport into the coursework. These courses, in addition to a variety of other courses in
Shorter’s program, help to mold ethically well rounded and knowledgeable sports management professionals.
