Therefore, I fearlessly predict that this new cause will soon take its rightful place among such worthy liberal missions as promoting gay marriages, adopting the Kyoto Accord, and banning red meat.
"Michael Josephson"
Always picked last....
The only reason I see sports not building character is the coaches. They set the tone for the team. I've seen too many coaches let bad, obnoxious and unsportsman like behavior go without dealing with it.
Ooops, and refs, too. They have to make the calls equitably for BOTH teams. When refs give away the game because of calling either calling everything on one team or nothing on the other, it cuts into the character building. I watched a game where the other team so deliberately injured one player that he HAD to leave the field because he could hardly stand. They were not called on any of it.
As for "corporate villains", it is not likely- to get to these corporate echelons requires an IQ above and beyond that found in an athlete. Exceptions are possible, but rare.
If he only interviewed the kids, how does he know what the coaches told them? So-and-so told me such-and-such is not a very scientific methodology.
And if he only interviewed athletes, on what basis does he claim they cheat more than those who don't play sports?
True, but "Role models" like Koby Bryant, Magic Johnson, Michael Irvin,... have done more to destroy the task of building the character of young athletes than any liberal could ever do.
The foul nursery of eeevil capitalists! Yes!
Gee, no kidding.
OK, who funds these clowns and what's their agenda?
Competitive sports not only build character but also reveal it.
Pay attention to how an athlete behaves during the competition and after it. Do they gloat, trash talk or sulk? Or do they compete fiercely and respect their opponent during and after the competition?
I'm quite sure that those athletes who associate with the "C Word" reveal a lot more class, integrity and honesty as they compete.
Michael Josephson.
Try visiting charactercounts.org, if you would like to learn more. He was part of the Bush-Cheney transition team.
The headline is misleading. Sports does help build character. Big-time scholastic sports programs and their coaches and boosters do not.
Having coached rec council sports when my kids were younger (10-12 years ago) ago, my perspective a bit different from yours. I saw way too much evidence of parents living their lives through their kids, or putting undue pressure on the kids to succeed, or (the worst, imo) the ridiculous yelling at players/coaches/refs when things don't go their way. It is pervasive, and to think that the kids don't walk away with negative lessons learned is crazy.
I don't know where you live, but I'm in the so-called People's Republic of Maryland, and high school sports are bigger than ever here. More county schools using more taxpayer money to build stadiums with lights, so they can charge admission. I'm not seeing anyone trying to kill off the moneymakers.
Still, sometimes you get coaches and or parents who are most crude, and they teach that.
One year my twins were playing soccer -- maybe 13-14 year olds. There was a player -- the son of the coach -- on the other team who throughout the game was taking cheap shots -- late hits on the goalie, trips, kicking the player and not the ball. The kid was mean, and whenever the kid-refs would call anything the bad player's father would bark there ears off, and no excuses for language.
I talked to my bigger twin who was playing fullback. Geesh, I said, we've got to do something about that kid before he hurts someone. There was a play were the goalie was drawn out and my son had to cover the goal. The meanie drove right into him and plowed him down. He got up, stepped right to the meanie, and walloped him in the gut. The other coach went ballistic, but the crowd had already started clapping, and my son got a yellow card.
When my son came off, I shook his hand. Good job, I said. The bullies got the message.
This just in:
Survey: Church-going Does Not Build Character
"Conventional wisdom holds that church-going builds character, but a new survey suggests church-goers steal more money out of the collection trays than people who don't go to church."
Of course there will be cheating in sports - there's more opportunity to cheat, because there's more competition. That doesn't therefore mean that sports, and church-going, don't build character.
The problem sports is someone HAS to win.
I was a scholarship student and football player for a tony, very liberal private school (K-12). When I went to my 30th anniversary reunion about 5 years ago, I found out they had stopped football the year after I left. (I wasn't THAT good).
I told the Alumni rep that this was the last time I would contribute to the scholarship fund. As much as I appreciate my education, I will not support the training of Euro-weeny socialist soccer players.