Morality in Sports and Coaching

A detailed Summary of Morality in Sports and Coaching

"Morality: The motives, intentions, and actions of an individual as they are directed toward others and how these are judged by the greater society (Beller, Lumpkin, Stoll, 1999, p.205)."

Our morals are a simple set of rules and guidelines that help us make decisions throughout our lives, both big and small. These rules and guidelines are what set us apart from others and our actions that are the result of our morals are what make us unique from everyone else. Throughout history it has been these moral actions, which have helped us judge others around us and judge ourselves. It is from these moral actions which help in determining who is moral and who is immoral (CN, Sept. 1).

It is from this perspective that I examine two Hall of Fame basketball coaches and legends of their trade. Bobby Knight and Dean Smith have much in common, each have won national titles, coached players to the NBA, run clean and well-respected programs, and graduated more than ninety percent of their players. But for everything they have in common they also have something different about them and their styles. If you were to ask random people on the street about each of them independently, you would surely elicit some very different responses.

Bobby Knight has spent the past three decades as the head coach at Indiana University, during which time he has one three national titles and sent many very productive members into society. During this time he has also been the constant target of criticism and controversy. There are also two completely different Bobby Knight's that surface in the court of public opinion. One is of the man who helped raise some $5 million for his university's library and is the object of near fanatical devotion from his former player's and citizens throughout the state of Indiana. The other more prevalent view of Bobby Knight is that of and intimidating, temperamental, profane coach who regularly bullies referees, players and the media (Lupica, 1988, p.59). This begs the question, which one is the real Bobby Knight?

The most common images we see of Coach Smith is that of him embracing a player and making positive changes on the people around him, while the most common images of Coach Knight are those of his tossing the chair across the court, punting a basketball into the stands during a game and verbally abusing a player in front of millions of fans. These images and the actions they represent help paint a clearer picture of morality in sports and often the lack of morality. If it is as many people commonly say, a picture is worth a thousand words, then these images of Coach Smith and Coach Knight clearly tell the whole story in just one

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Approximate Word count = 970
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Sports