Philosophy of Sport

Distinguishing the individual and the athlete: cheerleading, sexual assault and drink-driving

2012-01-05T01:39:00.000-08:00

A recent news story highlights the case of a 16 year old cheerleader who refused to chant the name of a player who had previously sexually assaulted her, and was subsequently expelled from the squad for doing so. After attempting to bring a compensatory claim against her school which failed, she was ordered to pay $45,000 in costs.

The court ruled:

"As a cheerleader, HS served as a mouthpiece through which [the school district] could disseminate speech – namely, support for its athletic teams. This act constituted substantial interference with the work of the school because, as a cheerleader, HS was at the basketball game for the purpose of cheering, a position she undertook voluntarily."

I'm not sure of the credibility of this story as I have no background knowledge on it but one of the most interesting aspects is the distinction between the role and responsibilities of being an athlete (if one can call cheerleading a sport) and the rights one has as a free individual.

On a similar note, Danny Care has been dropped from the England rugby team for being found guilty of drink-driving after a New Year's party. This again highlights the ambiguous distinction between a private and public life and the rights and responsibilities that come with each. Care was not on duty with the England team at the time and the matter was rightly dealt with by the police and law courts. However, the act was seen to be justification for his dismissal from national selection.

These stories provide us with a couple of interesting philosophical questions:

To what extent is one a free individual in sport?

What bearing should decisions made in one's private life have on one's public sporting life?

In Defense of Philosophy of Sport

2011-11-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

Some are skeptical that sport is worthy of the attention of philosophers. They may reject philosophyof sport because sport is an element of so-called “low” culture rather thanhigh culture.[1] Othersmay be concerned about the violence, anti-intellectualism, fascistoid hero worship,and morally problematic tribalism that can be found in sporting contexts. Andperhaps others simply find sport uninteresting as a context for doingphilosophy.

However, there aremany reasons why sport merits the attention of philosophers.

First, many of the foregoing reasons for rejectingphilosophy of sport are examples of the type of reflection upon sport done bypeople working in the field. Philosophers of sport engage the morally andsocially troubling aspects of this realm of human life. Given the centrality ofsport across numerous cultures, philosophers can provide a useful and importantcorrective to the excesses of sport and sporting culture. Fortunately, however,there are more hopeful reasons for engaging in philosophy of sport related to itsmore positive aspects, including the numerous connections that exist betweenmorality and sport. I'll have more to say on this in a future post.

Second, philosophical work done in the context of sport isrelevant to other areas of philosophy. It can illuminate issues in metaethics,normative ethical theory, philosophy of law, biomedical ethics, and issuesrelated to race, gender, and social justice.[2]

Finally, moral philosophers should not only be concernedwith a conceptual analysis of morality, seeking to understand the sources ofour obligations, and elucidating a sound normative ethical theory. They should,in the tradition of Aristotle, also be concerned with becoming virtuous.Philosophical reflection upon sport and a philosophical approach to it can helpus understand and engage in the process of moral development via thecultivation of virtue in our sporting lives which we may then transfer to therest of our lives.

For those readers who are able to attend, this year's London Lectures at the Royal Institute of Philosophy all deal with philosophy of sport. And for those unable to attend, at some point videos will be made available at the website of the Institute.

[1] For asustained argument against this view, see William J. Morgan, Why Sports Morally Matter (London:Routledge, 2006).

[2] Forexample, see Jan Boxill (ed.), SportsEthics: An Anthology Anthology (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003; WilliamMorgan, Ethics in Sport, 2d. ed.(Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2007).

CFA: Sport Studies Symposium

2011-10-28T06:18:00.001-07:00

Call for Abstracts
1st Annual Rockford College Sports Studies Symposium:
An interdisciplinary conference on the study of Sport.
Date: April 28, 2012
Rockford College
5050 E. State. St.
Rockford, IL 61108

Whether one is a participant, a casual spectator, a die-hard fan, or a critic, sport, in all its varieties and forms, play a significant role in the lives of most people through out the world. Sports and competitions have long been a part of human civilization and raise a wide range of important philosophical and ethical issues.
This symposium will bring together a panel of scholars to discuss philosophical themes or issues arising in the study of Sport. The focus of the panel will depend, in part, on the submitted abstracts. Each presenter on a panel will have 20 minutes for their presentation. This will be followed by 10-15 minutes for panelists to respond to each other and then 15 minutes or more for audience Q&A. There will also be a panel on the Rhetoric of Sport.

Abstract Submission:
Submissions are welcome on any philosophical theme or issue arising in the study of Sport. Abstract should be 300-500 words. Send via email (as PDF) to sklein_at_rockford_dot_edu.
Deadline: January 6th, 2012
Notification of Acceptance: February 1st, 2012
If you have any questions, please contact Shawn Klein (Assistant Professor, Philosophy Department) at 815-226-4115 or sklein_at_rockford_dot_edu or Michael Perry (Assistant Professor, English Department) at 815-226-4098 or mperry_at_rockford_dot_edu.

Death to the scoreboard.

2011-10-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

"Death to the scoreboard."
Dean Hood, Eastern football's head coach, spoke that phrase to his players earlier this week in practice.
It's an odd phrase when it first rolls off the tongue.
But when taken into context the way Hood preached it to his team, those four words make perfect sense.
And maybe, just maybe, Hood is on to something.
"I told the guys if I had one wish, it would be to put that scoreboard to death," Hood said in an Ohio Valley Conference teleconference Tuesday. "Because that really shouldn't be the standard. The standard should be excellence. I think it's a much better thing to live by than the scoreboard because that will help them more in life, as a dad, as a husband, as an employee and as a neighbor."
What?

For more, see this link: http://www.easternprogress.com/sports/real-life-lessons-from-the-gridiron-1.2644728#.TqW0uHIbUaA

Hope, Socccer, and Haiti

2011-10-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

A nice story at CNN.com.

Are College Sports a Sham?

2011-09-14T06:21:00.000-07:00

Taylor Branch's article in The Atlantic Monthly argues that the NCAA denies the rights of athletes by treating them as students and not wage-earning, revenue-generating employees. Here is Frank DeFord's commentary. Is this the beginning of the end of the NCAA?

Sport for the Common Good

2011-09-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

Life After the NFL

2011-09-08T10:38:00.001-07:00

From cnn.com:

During the NFL lockout this year, some startling numbers came to light as many players were forced to consider what their lives would be like without football.
• The average NFL career is 3.52 seasons;
• The average age of retired NFL players is 28;
• Within five years of leaving the league, 75% of NFL players end up broke, divorced or unemployed;
• 65% of NFL players leave the game with permanent injuries;
• At least 20% of players reading this are clinically depressed;
• The average life expectancy for retired NFL players is 53-59 years.

Fantasy Football

2011-09-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

I've got a post over at Ethics for Everyone that may be of interest to readers of this blog:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ethics-everyone/201109/whats-wrong-fantasy-football

Philosophy and the Sports Fan

2011-09-02T05:13:00.001-07:00

Call for Abstracts: The Society for the Study of Philosophy and the Martial Arts

2011-08-30T06:03:00.001-07:00

The Society for the Study of Philosophy and the Martial Arts is seeking abstracts for papers to be given at our next meeting on the Group Program of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association to be held in Seattle, April 4-7 2012. Topics on any philosophical inquiry related to the martial arts are welcome. Past topics include Nonviolence and Martial Arts, Women and Self Defense, the Concept of Ki, Martial Virtue, What Is a Martial Art, and many more. Please send abstracts, inquiries about the Society to Joseph Lynch

The Sex Test

2011-08-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

For those of you in the UK who can access BBC iplayer, there is a really interesting programme on sex ('gender') tests in sport. Definitely worth a listen.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0132l7q/The_Sex_Test/

Viewpoint: Is professionalism bad for sport?

2011-08-11T01:49:00.000-07:00

Readers might be interested in this opinion piece from the BBC on professionalism in sport: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14462759

IAPS @ Central APA: Call for Abstracts

2011-07-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

The 2012 APA Central Division meeting will be held at the Palmer House Hilton hotel, Chicago, Illinois, Wednesday, February 15 to Saturday, February 18, 2012.

If you would like to present a paper at a session sponsored by IAPS, email an abstract of 250 words or less to Mike Austin, mike.austinatsymbol.eku.edu.

Deadline for Abstracts: September 15, 2011.

Brain damage in sport

2011-07-20T03:11:00.001-07:00

The problem with ethics is that there is always a gap between what is the case (according to evidence) and what ought to be done about it.

As such, readers might be interested in a news story about former NFL player Dave Duerson who requested his brain be left for medical analysis in his suicide note. If it can be substantially evidenced that certain sports have a high likelihood of significant brain damage, then does it mean that such sports should be banned or drastically altered to reduce this likelihood?

Equally interesting, former Olympic Gold medalist James Cracknell has made a video about the importance of wearing cycling helmets after he suffered brain injury whilst cycling in Arizona. In it, he states that he is no longer James Cracknell as the accident altered his personality but implies that despite this is, this new existence is still preferable to death. Some obvious philosophical questions arise here about identity: if James Cracknell says he is no longer James Cracknell, then who is he? And would that mean that James Cracknell is the equivalent of dead anyway? In which case, wouldn't that undermine his point about the wearing of a cycle helmet?

New blog

2011-06-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a link for a new blog, "The Least Thing," which is run by Roger Pielke, Jr., a well known political scientist at Colorado. "A blog about the study of sport in society," as Pielke describes it, and I'm sure it may be of interest to some of the folks here.

Respect for Opponents and the Postgame Handshake

2011-04-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking some lately about the practice of shaking an opponent's hand after a game, and wondering whether--as Randolph Feezell and Craig Clifford put it in Sport and Character--"...at the end of the game, should we always, without exception, attempt to shake the hands of our opponents (p. 36)?"

My intuition is to say that there can be morally justified exceptions to this practice. For example, as a player I would think it would be justified to refrain from this practice if an opponent has clearly intentionally injured one of my teammates. Or if an opponent consistently displays deep disrespect for the game, officials, and her opponents, is there something disingenuous about shaking her hand after the game?

Or take a case that is less clear, but one that I've been thinking about lately for personal reasons. As a coach in youth sports, am I obligated to shake the hand of my opposing coach if he or she spends the entire game berating their own players, criticizing the referee, and engaging in other patters of disrespectful behavior?

The bottom line question is this: Is the respect that is communicated via the postgame handshake dependent in some sense on how an opponent conducts themselves, such that there are times when it is appropriate to refrain from this tradition? Thoughts, anyone?

Call for Papers

2011-03-28T12:56:00.001-07:00

International Association for the Philosophy of Sport in conjunction with the APA Eastern Division Meeting December 27-30, 2011, in Washington, D.C.

The International Association for the Philosophy of Sport invites the submission of papers to be considered for presentation at the 2011 American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meeting. Papers are welcome on any area of philosophy of sport from any theoretical approach. Presenters must be members of both APA and IAPS and pay regular conference registration fees. For more information on IAPS, go to http://www.iaps.net/. Papers should have an appropriate scope and length for a twenty-minute presentation.

To be considered, please submit a 500-800 word abstract of the paper by May 10, 2011. Abstracts should be submitted as attachments by e-mail [.doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf format] to joan.g.forry@vanderbilt.edu. Only those contributors who do not have access to e-mail should send a hard copy to Joan Grassbaugh Forry at the address below.

Submitting authors will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of their papers by May 30, 2011.

Dr. Joan Grassbaugh Forry

Vanderbilt University

111 Furman Hall

Nashville, TN 37240

GB athletes pull out of wheelchair marathon

2011-03-21T04:34:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/9381294.stm

30 January 2011

The final day of the World Paralympic Athletics Championships in Christchurch ended in chaos and confusion with top athletes refusing to race on a marathon course they describe as unsafe.

Here are a number of issues . . . .

• By not closing roads off to traffic, are organisers forcing athletes to participate in a different sport- more like an ‘extreme’ version of wheelchair marathon racing with the added task of having to dodge cars- more of an achievement to finish rather than a sporting contest?

• Athlete withdrawals devalue the competition, and winning becomes less of an achievement.

• There are issues of fairness to athletes who have prepared for a contest under a specific set of terms and conditions to be given a new set of parameters and tests that arguably are not related to their sport.

• Compromising athlete safety and the de-valuing of a world championship event may also discourage potential sponsors or spectators from investing in the sport.

The Bigger Picture . . .

There is a popular belief that the Olympic games and the Paralympic games run equally beside each other. However, in many ways this is a misconception.

Separate but Equal?

For practical reasons, the Olympic Games and the Paralympics cannot be incorporated as one event. For instance, stadiums have certain capacities and cannot cater of spectators for both games. Additional problems include the necessary technological modifications in facilities and equipment and the unrealistic time scale that both games would require. For this reason the games are held separately whereby the Paralympic games run two weeks after the Olympics. Arguably this timescale subtracts the focus from the Paralympic games as an after-thought. A possible alternative is to hold the Paralympic games as its own event in a separate year.

Recent literature has also explored idea’s that separate cannot be equal. This is evident, for example, in the categorisation of events according to gender (baseball, softball, synchronized swimming, boxing). Nevertheless, there are also strong arguments for the view that maintaining the Paralympics will lead to a reduction in the inequalities between able bodied and disabled bodied competition.

Athlete Whereabouts & Professional Sport Unions

2011-03-09T06:03:00.000-08:00

At the recent European Professional Sportspeople’s forum, FIFPro, the worldwide representative organisation that promotes the interests of over 50,000 footballers from 43 member unions raised their concerns over the current system of whereabouts.

• The main issue discussed was whether professional sportsmen and women are to be viewed primarily as employees and so subject first and foremost to European and National employment laws,
OR
• Due to the ‘specificity of sport’ they should be subject to governing body rules rather than general extra-judicial procedures implemented by WADA and IF’s.

Whilst vehemently taking an anti-doping stance, FIFPro raised the following concerns regarding the whereabouts system.

• The current system does not sufficiently consider the agency and liberties of athletes as human beings, often neglecting their fundamental rights as sportspeople. Interpreting full-time athletes as employees within sport suggests that testing outside of competition or training exploits a competitor’s privacy and rights as an individual.

• Implementation of the whereabouts system is not universal and is therefore not applied equally to all athletes.

• The outcome of failing to attend three doping tests creates the same punishment as a test that produces positive results. It could be argued that ‘strict liability’ produces too broad a spectrum for implementation of punishment and doesn’t cater for individual or specific cases.

• Current anti-doping laws shape sport, whereas it should realistically be reversed. Training and competition needs should take precedence over restrictions to an athlete’s training programme that may be the result of the whereabouts system.

• It can be argued that the punishment (up to 2 year ban) is too strict, especially when we consider that an athlete may be banned on the basis that they have demonstrated forgetfulness or disorganisation etc as opposed to a failed drugs test.

• For those that are part of a team sport, doping tests and the whereabouts system should be incorporated into training regimes as such demands already provide sufficient information on whereabouts.

Go to http://www.fifpro.org/ to see an example of how some athlete groups are starting to respond to governance issue in their sport

Graduate Study in the Philosophy of Sport

2011-03-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

Philosophy of sport is alive and well, with numerous scholarly associations and individuals working in the field. And yet for those who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in the field, it can be difficult to ascertain where to go and who the potential graduate advisors/supervisors might be. After all, it's not like there are "Philosophy of Sport" departments, and many philosophers of sport aren't housed in philosophy departments. This can make the search difficult.

I asked this once a couple of years ago, but am doing so again here for the sake of such potential students and for the sake of the field. In the comments, tell us about philosophers of sport who work in graduate programs that are accepting students for this type of work. Thanks!

IAPS 2011 Conference Website

2011-03-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

For more information, see the link. Here's a bit from the site:

The 2011 conference promises to be a special one, as it signifies a homecoming for IAPS. The first full conference of the then Philosophical Society for the Study of Sport (PSSS) was hosted at Brockport in November of 1973. In addition, many PSSS and IAPS scholars, including some past presidents, have taught at the College and/or presented papers for its annual Sport Philosophy Lecture. At the head of this list is Dr. Warren P. Fraleigh, one of the Association’s founders, who will be honored during the 2011 conference.
We are also looking forward to honoring Dr. Jim Parry, who will deliver the 2011 Distinguished Scholar Lecture during the conference, and Dr. Cesar R. Torres, who will give his Presidential Address after completing his two-year term as IAPS President. We also anticipate an outstanding program of academic presentations and panels to be offered by IAPS members from around the world, including a keynote address by Dr. J. S. Russell.

International Association for the Philosophy of Sport CFP

2011-02-22T06:48:00.000-08:00

2011 IAPS Conference - Second Call for Papers
www.iaps.net

The International Association for the Philosophy of Sport invites the submission of abstracts to be considered for presentation at the 39th annual 2011 IAPS meeting. The conference will be held September 8-11, 2011 in Rochester, New York (USA).

Abstracts are welcome on any area of philosophy of sport, including metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, and ethics, and from any theoretical approach, including analytic philosophy and critical theory. While IAPS recognizes, values, and encourages interdisciplinary approaches and methodologies, acceptance is contingent on the philosophical content of the project. Emerging scholars are encouraged to submit works in progress.

A Program Committee of three IAPS peers will review abstracts. Contributors will be notified about the status of their abstracts by May 16, 2011

Proposals for round table and panel discussions, including a tentative list of participants, are also welcome and should follow the same format as paper abstracts.

R. SCOTT KRETCHMAR STUDENT ESSAY AWARD

IAPS is proud to announce the “R. Scott Kretchmar Student Essay Award.” Interested undergraduate and graduate students should submit a full paper by June 15, 2011 (in addition to an abstract, see below). A separate announcement is posted at the IAPS website.

GUIDELINES

Abstracts should be 300-500 words long, in English, and must be received by April 1, 2011. Please, follow the following instructions (incomplete proposals will be returned). Provide:

Name, E-mail, current position, and employer
Title of Program
Key Words (three to five)
Primary Content Area/s (choose no more than 2)

Ethics d. Epistemology g. Applied
Metaphysics e. Phenomenology h. History
Aesthetics f. Comparative i. Other (explain)

Indicate special Audio-Visual requirements (computer & projector will be provided)

The preferred mode of submission is by e-mail.

Please send the abstract blind-review ready as an attachment, preferably in Word, to the Conference Chair at: jilunda@linfield.edu

Contributors who lack access to e-mail may send a hard copy instead to the following address:

Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza

IAPS Conference Chair

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Linfield College

900 SE Baker St., Unit 580

McMinnville, OR 97128 (USA)

Please distribute to interested parties.

Further inquiry into luge death from Vancouver 2010

2011-02-14T12:11:00.000-08:00

As Vancouver celebrates its one year anniversary since hosting the Winter Games, allegations have arose surrounding accountability and blame for the Georgian luger Nodar Kumariatashvili's tragic death. CBC's the Fifth Estate produced an interesting investigation into the case and is worthy of a gander.

www.cbc.ca/fifth/2010-2011/deathattheolympics/

Philosophy of Sport one of 50 Best Blogs

2011-01-27T14:06:00.000-08:00

At least, that's what someone at Zen College Life says.

Perhaps I'm just being defensive, but I don't think this blog is "male-dominated". I guess one could conclude this by looking at the list of contributors, as by my count 15 out of 23 contributors are male. Regardless, if any non-male philosophers of sport are interested in contributing, and for that matter people from places outside of the U.S. and Canada, let me know.

Great play doesn't equal great character

2011-01-27T07:21:00.000-08:00

I grew up in Kansas City, and thought this recent column would be of interest to readers here:

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/01/23/2604840/great-play-doesnt-mean-great-character.html

I have no idea what kind of person Ben Roethlisberger is now, but setting that aside, I think Mellinger is right about how fans often respond to these types of situations.

Yet more (un)acceptable sexism...

2011-01-24T05:42:00.000-08:00

I never thought I'd be publicising so much about ethical issues concerning sex and gender but there seem to be so many. Here's another story about disparaging remarks made by Sky Sports presenters about a female line-judge and the offside rule.

http://www.sportsister.com/2011/01/24/sky-sports-presenters-question-if-a-female-referee-knew-the-offside-rule/

Controversy pushes girl off coed hockey team

2011-01-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

An article in the Toronto Star details the struggles of 12 year old Kayla Watkin to play hockey. The only girl on a co-ed team, Watkins was asked to agree to restrictions on her ice team or agree to improve her skills. Instead, she did the only thing she thought she could: She quit.

Notable is the fact that the team, the Toronto Ice Dogs PeeWee “A” club, is the lowest level of competitive play, intended to be inclusive of all levels and abilities. Except for girls, I guess....As usual female athletes need to be better than male just to play the game. That isn't fair.

Justice and College Athletics

2011-01-10T05:28:00.001-08:00

A recent column addresses this issue: http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/09/greene.pay.college.athletes/index.html?hpt=C2

Ladies Football League?

2010-12-27T09:33:00.001-08:00

Although I'm a Brit, I do enjoy watching American Football and have wondered about the possibility of having the opportunity to play it myself one day; but not if this is the outcome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukV86PAXKGA

No, the L doesn't stand for 'Ladies' but rather 'Lingerie'. Can someone tell me if this is really serious or someone's (I am presuming a man here) idea of a joke? Indeed, when one of the rules is that all players must wear low cut bra and short briefs, one wonders whether there is any point in having the helmets and shoulder pads if the rest of the body is open for contact.

The controversy raised from the clothing regulations for beach volleyball is one thing but this really takes the biscuit.

For me the issue is about the part that clothing plays in sport. Surely it should be for the benefit of the player not for the benefit of the spectators. If someone asked me to play rugby in similar attire I certainly wouldn't think that they are interested in my athletic skill and ability. And on the basis that these women are selected for their physique not their ability to play football, it makes a mockery of the game itself. And reflects a sad state of affairs if this is the only way that women's sport becomes viable as entertainment.

"a bunch of women are threatening to break a men's record"

2010-12-19T19:13:00.000-08:00

After win No. 88 in a row was in the books, Geno Auriemma finally let loose: He thinks some people are rooting against his record-setting players because of their gender.

Auriemma

"I just know there wouldn't be this many people in the room if we were chasing a woman's record," the Connecticut coach said Sunday near the end of his postgame news conference. "The reason everybody is having a heart attack the last four or five days is a bunch of women are threatening to break a men's record, and everybody is all up in arms about it."
For the rest of the story, go here.

I am hopeful that they will break the record, and receive the abundance of recognition and praise they deserve for their sustained display of excellence.

Philosophy of Sport in Non-English-Speaking Countries

2010-12-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

The new issue of the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport contains a special section on this topic. The following countries/regions of the world are covered: Nordic countries, Japan, Chinese-speaking regions, Slavonic countries, Germany, and Latin America. This is an excellent opportunity for understanding where the discipline has come from, where it is, and where it might be headed in these parts of the world.

Football, Fame, and Fortune

2010-11-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

This paper was just published in the online journal, The Other Journal, and is available here:
http://bit.ly/eucRRX

Here's a short excerpt:

The external goods that are available through participating in football (and many other practices) include fame, fortune, status, social influence, and power. Football players at the professional level often acquire a fortune and some achieve a significant amount of fame. These goods are external to football because one could play football and even achieve excellence in the sport without receiving any of these goods. In fact, in the past this was true of many of the great players who excelled prior to the escalation of salaries and media coverage of the sport. They experienced football’s internal goods but not the external ones. This shows that the external goods are not essential to football.

What is the significance of the difference between the internal and external goods when considering the relationship between football and celebrity? As I will demonstrate, in football (as well as many other sports), the pursuit of the external goods by individual players can undermine the pursuit of the internal goods of the sport, some of which are grounded in a Christian understanding of the nature of God.

What's wrong with a potential NFL lockout?

2010-11-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

According to the organization American Rights at Work, plenty. I received the following in an email today from this organization:

"The NFL is preparing a 'lock out' next season unless football players agree to its demands.
If there's no football season, it would impact 150,000 jobs – and cause more than $140 million in lost revenue – in each and every city with an NFL team.
Local economies will be devastated. All because of the NFL's greed.
It's easy to see how crushing a lockout would be... Picture a 60,000-seat football stadium... EMPTY. Now picture all the bars, restaurants, hotels, t-shirt shops, hot dog carts surrounding the stadium... CLOSED. And all of the stadium's janitors, vendors, and support staff... OUT OF WORK.
But the NFL and team owners don't care, because they'll still make billions. They've already signed TV contracts that will pay out even if the season is canceled.
The NFL owners' greed is unbelievable. In ditching an agreement that was working just fine, the owners actually want players to make absurd, unjustified concessions around wages and benefits – like taking away ALL healthcare benefits from players and their families.
It's only fair that NFL owners pick up the tab for these health costs when players risk their lives for the game. An average football player's career lasts only three and a half seasons – but the injuries they face on the job aren't short-lived at all. Tackles, hits, and blocks result in intense physical trauma, impacting players' health, well-being, and medical expenses far into retirement."

One area of disagreement I have with this is that the greed of the players is not addressed. Surely it isn't only the greed of the owners in play here? However, it does seem to me that one of the wrong-making properties of a lockout is the negative economic impact in each city with an NFL team. And it does seem that healthcare benefits are obligatory, given that most players don't have long careers, with some not adequately prepared for life after football (for more on this, see Racing the Sunset, by Scott Tinley). Even though one might argue that the players make more than enough money to cover health care expenses, I still think that healthcare benefits should be offered by the owners, perhaps as a matter of principle.

Moreover, I believe that the wealthy, which includes the owners and players, have an obligation to those whose livelihood depends on the season happening. Whatever responsibilities there are for promoting the common good, it arguably includes avoiding a lockout, in part because of the negative impact of this on the lives of other human beings.

Transgender in Sport

2010-11-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

ESPN.com reported today that Kye Allums, a female to male transgender, will be referred to as a "male member of George Washington's women's basketball team." This story raises interesting questions about transgender athletes and about gender and sport issues in general.

The link to the story can be found here: Transgender Kye Allums to play for GW

Should scrums be banned in rugby?

2010-11-03T04:11:00.000-07:00

Academics at the University of Bath are currently conducting research into the biomechanical forces inherent in the rugby scrum. The rationale behind this investigation stems from a premise that the welfare of players should take precedence over all else.

The debate over whether the scrum in rugby is a safe and necessary part of the game is a perennial one which seems to polarise opinion as can be seen in the comments on The Guardian's article on this. You will get veracious advocates maintaining that one of the key values of rugby compared to the majority of other sports is that it provides an avenue for all body shapes and sizes to perform. Others will state that the front row is a highly technical part of the game that requires important mental tenacity and skills that should remain. Yet the critics point to the serious injuries and long term damage that result from the impact of antagonistic forces on the neck and spine. This is reinforced by the announced retirement of England prop, Phil Vickery, who after several neck operations was advised by doctors that if he continued to play he would do himself even more permanent damage.

There are many philosophical questions that arise from this discussion. First, how much should risk and danger be eliminated from our lives? Do we take a paternalistic stance and limit the type of activities that people can freely choose to participate in? Or do we take a libertarian approach and say that if people want to do dangerous things to themselves, even if it might cause them injury or even death, then we should let them do so?

I'm always inclined to take a libertarian approach to these types of things (although there are some issues surrounding the free choice of children and other vulnerable individuals) but the case of the tight-head prop forward is slightly more complicated than the case of the lone base-jumper. This stems around the notion of 'free choice'. It is given that there are players who relish each and every scrum as the opportunity to dominate their opposing player and provide an effective platform for the rest of the team. However, as every team knows, these types of front row players, and props in particular are hard to come by. Conduct a poll asking players what position they would ideally play and I suspect back-row and centre will come out on top. Prop forward would be at the bottom. The reasons for this are two-fold. First, it is a technical position that requires immense concentration in order to avoid discomfort at best and serious neck injury at worse. When I started playing rugby (at University) I had no idea what the positions meant and found myself put in at prop having had very limited training. My first match against Cambridge University saw me leave the pitch with three broken ribs. As soon as I recovered I moved to fly-half.

The second reason is that because of the bound nature of the position in the scrum, props (and this is certainly the case at lower levels) often don't get to appreciate the most valued and essential features of the game, that is; running, passing and tackling. By the time a front row player has extracted herself from the scrum, the ball is over the other side of the pitch and then the whistle is blown for another scrum. At the lower echelons of the game where the basic skills are weaker, front row players find themselves going from one scrum to the next with little opportunity to take part in the rest of the game. This might be accepted by the few players who feel their scrummaging skills are about all they can offer to their team but for all other players who want the opportunity to run with the ball, it is not surprising that there is often a dearth of front row forwards.

This returns us to the problem with the notion of 'free choice'. If prop forwards are difficult to find and few players openly express a desire to play there, and yet the laws of the game state that a contested scrum is a key part of the game, players may find themselves being reluctantly cajoled into playing there out of a fear of letting their team down.

A few years ago, the Premiership team Clifton was deducted points and relegated for being unable to field a front row. When this is the outcome, it would be unsurprising that players find themselves pressurised to play in these positions. And this is hardly 'free choice' is it? Yes, one could take a Sartrean position and say that the player always has a choice (The French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre said that if a man held a gun to your head saying 'Your money or your life', you still had a free choice!) but we need to recognise that the pressures that players feel from being part of a team mean that they might acquiesce to things that they wouldn't do if they didn't feel these social pressures.

So what is the answer to this conundrum then? I would argue that the research conducted by the University of Bath has to be supported by a philosophical investigation into the values and aims of rugby. The results of a biomechanical analysis will offer no insight into what ought to be done. Even if it were concluded that the forces that players were subject to were great enough to cause injury, then it doesn't provide any advice as to whether this means they should be removed. The inherent risks involved in many things doesn't mean that they are banned (e.g. alcohol, cigarettes, horse riding, boxing...).

So the answer to this is to decide what it is that is fundamentally important to the game of rugby. What makes it a worthwhile and valuable sport and social activity? And do we wish to eliminate risk or manage it in other ways (e.g. better training for players, coaches and referees)? These are the questions that will really provide an answer to the place of the scrum in rugby.

N.B. There is a new book coming out in December on Ethical Issues in Sports Coaching, of which I have co-authored a chapter on Coaching Dangerous Sports.

Dombrowski's Contemporary Athletics and Ancient Greek Ideals

2010-10-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

I am currently working my way through Daniel Dombrowski's recent book, Contemporary Athletics and Ancient Greek Ideals (U Chicago Pr 2009). I have finished his chapter on Weiss and am now reading the chapter on Huizinga. His other major chapter discusses Feezell. I would be interested in hearing what others have to say about the book, either here or off-blog. thanks.
Jim

Should we watch football?

2010-10-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

Article in yesterday's NY Times asking that question: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/weekinreview/24sokolove.html

An excerpt:

There are some who believe that taking physical risks in pursuit of a communal goal — and even watching people take risks — has its benefits. “We learn from dangerous activities,” said W. David Solomon, a philosophy professor at Notre Dame and director of its Center for Ethics and Culture. “In life, there are clearly focused goals, with real threats. The best games mirror that. We don’t need to feel bad about not turning away from a game in which serious injuries occur. There are worse things about me than that I enjoy a game that has violence in it. I don’t celebrate injuries or hope for them to happen. That would be a different issue. That’s moral perversion.”

Sean D. Kelly, the chairman of Harvard’s philosophy department, has a book coming out in January, co-authored with the philosopher Hubert Dreyfus of the University of California, Berkeley, that argues for the value of sports in a secular society. “You can experience a kind of spontaneous joy in watching someone perform an extraordinary athletic feat,” he said when we talked last week. “It’s life-affirming. It can expand our sense of what individuals are capable of.”

He believes that it is fine to watch football as long as the gravest injuries are a “side effect” of the game, rather than essential to whatever is good about the game and worth watching.

But what if that’s not the case? What if the brain injuries are so endemic — so resistant to changes in the rules and improvements in equipment — that the more we learn the more menacing the sport will seem? Where will football, and its fans, go from there?