North Dakota Preps

Im going to ask a question thats been debated for years... should athletes be held to a higher moral standard than other humans?

no...

they are humans, just like the next guy. just because they have a natural athletic ability that means the rules should be more strict for them? every person has their own talent that they do better then someone else...it doesnt make sense to me why the people who possess the talent and athletiscm to excel in sports are singled out to be the ones who should be on a higher standard.

alot of times i hear this debate, the people who say they should be held to a higher standard are the ones who complain about the athletes recieving "special treatment". being a public figure its obvious that you should have better judgement about what you do because it will always get to the public eye, but that doesnt mean the rules should be any different.

A higher standard, no. Obey the rules and be ladies and gentlemen and good citizens, yes. Athletes are looked up to and sure as you and I are living and breathing some younger person is watching athletes and will do what they do.

If Joe goofball acts stupid and does stupid things at night with a couple of buddies, no kids are there watching him. And even if Joe goofball gets caught doing stupid things and younger kids hear about it, they most likely don't want to emulate the goofball's behavior.

But if Joe studly acts stupid and does stupid things on the court, or even away from the court, the kids want to be like Joe studly and will do the things he does.

So when people say athletes must be held to a higher standard, they just mean that they should follow the standards that are in place, whereas most people dont' care as much if the goofballs follow the standards or not. (that's a whole other social discussion)

If we are talking about professional athletes they should be held to a higher moral standard. The reason they make all of their money isn't just because of their talents...that's about 10 percent of it. The reason they make their money is because of the FANS and the youth of america who buy and wear their jerseys, shoes and other clothing. Kids in our country need positive role models. With all that is going wrong with our country now-a-days we need to find something in our country to believe in. I feel that the best example would be sports, where alot of kids come from below the poverty line and make something of their lives, and we could all use a little hope. Just my 2 cents.

I talk with all older kids in Dunseith about being role models. Like it or not if your good at a sport or just average on a poor team (you look good), there are always younger kids looking up to you. It shouldn't be that way but it is and will not change. I tell the older kids that they don't have to be perfect but watch what they say and treat everyone like you want to be treated because there are always children listening and watching what they say or do. As for Pro athletes they have no choice but to be a role model, they are where every athlete wants to be or are thriving to get. With this being said, PARENTS should be their own childrens role models. Everything starts in the home. Have a good day.

Achilles wrote:Im going to ask a question thats been debated for years... should athletes be held to a higher moral standard than other humans?

I would almost go in the other direction. It is very possible to be a professional athlete by just graduating from high school and taking easy classes for a year of college, just to stay eligible. I think the doctors, lawyers, and teachers of the world should be held to a higher standard.

It is difficult for me to say that athletes should be held to a higher standard when people like Josh Howard state that many people in the NBA habitually smoke marijuana, or when it seems that every good MLB player has taken steroids. These people should be looked upon negatively if they are breaking laws, swearing on television, or doing Dennis Rodman type acts, not for giving rude interviews or being incredibly arrogant, because that is how most professional sports operate. Doctors, lawyers, and teachers should be held to a higher standards because they should have learned it after all of that schooling. They also go into these jobs knowing that they will be in constant contact with other people, and I feel that these people should be held to a higher standard.

Just my two cents.

balla45 wrote:Just my two cents.

Some good thoughts, worth a bit more than two cents.

Balla45, it is an unfortunate reality that pro athletes are some of the most highly visible people on the planet, especially to kids. That's what Dunseith Runner was saying - that because athletes are so highly visible they are role models by default. Thus the feeling that athletes should abide by rules and laws and pro athletes should be held to a higher standard.

Really, for the millions they are paid, would it kill 'em to try to use their position of influence in a positive way rather than a negative way?

However, I take nothing away from your arguement that doctors, lawyers, and teachers should be role models as well. Shouldn't we all be role models?

Dunseith_Runners wrote: PARENTS should be their own childrens role models.

Ain't that the truth!! Parents being good role models to their children would solve a lot of problems in today's world...and especially in the future.

Hinsa wrote:Really, for the millions they are paid, would it kill 'em to try to use their position of influence in a positive way rather than a negative way?

That's another question/debate. Should people who make more money be expected to do more for society? You always here about how athletes should do more int he communirty for how much money they make. why should they do more then the guy who works the cash register at Target? Being a volunteer costs them both the same thing....nothing.

But I guarantee that they have more free time, money, resources, connection and influence than the Target cashier.

If you are fortunate enough to be in that position, I would hope a person would be generous. Im not saying they have to.

If you are in the public eye you are a role model. Good or bad that is determined by you. Again Id hope ppl would want to be a good role model but I'm not saying they have to. They just have to live with public opinion.

Honestly I wish everyone was held to a higher standard including people in the public eye.

Some excellent posts. I 100% agree that parents need to be the most influential people in a child's life. Should that be considered being a role model or just parenting? I believe that it is almost impossible in our times to find a person who is worthy of being a true role model. The reason I say that is because of what is reported and how fast it can be reported. In today's world the media has become too concerned with reporting stories based on "sensationalism" rather then report the good stories that would truly define people worthy of being a role model. We all know, however, that most of those stories will not sell and therefore do not get the coverage that they deserve. I don't think our society has changed that much, but what is allowed in news (and not covered up like the old days) and the speed for which it gets to the consumer has increased astronomically.
The fans of professional athletes have the opportunity and right to hold these athletes to a higher standard since one way or another we are responsible for paying a great deal of their salary. Whether or not that is considered calling them a role model or just the fact that we should get our money's worth is another story.
I for one have been looking for a political role model for 20+ years and haven't been able to find one worthy of looking up to. ouch

Milkman wrote:But I guarantee that they have more free time, money, resources, connection and influence than the Target cashier.

Between practice, weights, film, travel, media obligations, etc....id bet the athletes have just about the same if not less free time...I remember the Twins did a post game thing on Michael Cuddyer and his average day for a night game is arriving at the field and 1, see the trainer, batting practice, watch a little film, eat, batting practice against, fielding, the rest of the pregame stuff then after the game its media, team meetings and stuff. it wasnt uncommon for him to be at the dome for 10-12 hours every game day. I'd assume most professional atheltes have that type of schedule.

All the articles I read where they calculated how many hours a player works a week put most at around 40. Some more some less. and all sorts of circumstances. One had some days at 2 hours of meets one day and other days had 10-12 hr days in the same week. It all averaged out. Now all of these were during a week in their regular season.

Although I know that a players off season is not one long vacation, I am willing to bet it is not as busy has his/her regular season. Honest question that I am now really curious about. If you took every hour the average athlete spent working for their sport for a year and divided by 261 (average amount of work days for full time jobs) would that equal 8 hours.

But all of this was not the point of my post. Lets say that athletes have the same amount of free time, they still have more connections, influences, and money to help out. Money being the only thing that would "cost them more".

The two points of my post
1)Athletes are in a better position to help.
2)This does not mean that they HAVE to help.

Milkman wrote:The two points of my post
1)Athletes are in a better position to help.
2)This does not mean that they HAVE to help.

I agree with that 100%....i just want to add a few thoughts to this.

I believe the media builds up players to look up to and only seem to make the negatives public.
Warrick Dunn payed for houses for homeless families during his playing days, not sure if he still does (never got mentioned, yet TO gets interviewed doing sit ups in his driveway because he says hes not paid enough).
Shaq is trying to be a police officer in every city he lives in (articles make that out to be a publicity stunt, but the guy truely does care about making the community a better/safer place).
Kansas Jayhawks provide a free basketball camp to children with disabilites and the players are always quoted saying its the most fun they have all season, (that gets no press, but a punch thrown by a basketball player at a football player makes national news for a month).
Stephan Marbury had a contract with his shoe company saying they can't sell them for more then $15/pair while Jordans/LeBrons/Kobes/etc...are on the shelf for over a hundred, (he only makes press for being a complainer aobut playing time and a cancer in the locker room).
How many people knew dude Vitale paid for a little girls funeral who he never met before because her family lived in poverty? I believe it was Shaq, not positive, who did it for another girl a few weeks ago.

You are right. We rarely hear the good and only get the bad.

I heard that Chad Ochocinco actually does a lot for his fans. Giving away TONS of free tickets. After I heard this I gotta like the guy. Anyone know if this is true. Honestly I kinda just heard it as a rumor.

Mind you thats a little different but still nice and doesn't get any press if true.

baseball wrote:

Milkman wrote:The two points of my post
1)Athletes are in a better position to help.
2)This does not mean that they HAVE to help.

I agree with that 100%....i just want to add a few thoughts to this.

I believe the media builds up players to look up to and only seem to make the negatives public.
Warrick Dunn payed for houses for homeless families during his playing days, not sure if he still does (never got mentioned, yet TO gets interviewed doing sit ups in his driveway because he says hes not paid enough).
Shaq is trying to be a police officer in every city he lives in (articles make that out to be a publicity stunt, but the guy truely does care about making the community a better/safer place).
Kansas Jayhawks provide a free basketball camp to children with disabilites and the players are always quoted saying its the most fun they have all season, (that gets no press, but a punch thrown by a basketball player at a football player makes national news for a month).
Stephan Marbury had a contract with his shoe company saying they can't sell them for more then $15/pair while Jordans/LeBrons/Kobes/etc...are on the shelf for over a hundred, (he only makes press for being a complainer aobut playing time and a cancer in the locker room).
How many people knew dude Vitale paid for a little girls funeral who he never met before because her family lived in poverty? I believe it was Shaq, not positive, who did it for another girl a few weeks ago.

baseball, that was my point exactly. Now, is it the media's fault or is it that we as humans allow ourselves to be sucked in to this huge vacuum? I personally think there is fault on both sides.
We as fans of professional sports could try to boycott games when we think the price of taking our family to a game has become too high. Will we ever do it? No. We as readers of news articles could refuse to read the stories that delve into the "dark side" and in turn just read the positive, uplifting news. Will we ever do it? No.
Tiger Woods was put on a pedestal for all the right reasons. He handled himself with dignity and class. Sure he would swear once in a while or pound a club into the ground, but everyone realized it was in the heat of the moment. He kept the media at bay for many years, while becoming one of the finest athletes in the world and the best in his sport of all times. No reporter dared to bring up negative articles because they would be shunned. But all along, they sat in the weeds and waited. They waited for just one crack in the glass and now they have pounced. I wonder now if he will ever be able to bounce back and be the same athlete and/or human being. He is strong enough to do so, but who knows.
The media has become too strong. They know they have us by the cajunas. The question is, what can we do to turn it around?

classB4ever wrote:The media has become too strong. They know they have us by the cajunas

The media have my what? Whatever they have me by, I want them back. I'm just glad they don't have me by the cojones.

digger wrote:

classB4ever wrote:The media has become too strong. They know they have us by the cajunas

The media have my what? Whatever they have me by, I want them back. I'm just glad they don't have me by the cojones.

hahahaha
cajunas, def: often misspelled version of the Spanish word cojones.
Sorry about that.