When Purdue tips off at Assembly Hall in Bloomington Indiana Tuesday night, Coach Kelvin Sampson could be coaching his last game for the Hoosiers. Sampson is currently under investigation for alleged recruiting violations but more importantly for lying to IU AND NCAA investigators about the alleged violations.
Whether it is recruiting violations, filming your competition to get an advantage, or taking steroids to hit a ball better, it seems that you can’t turn on Sports Center without hearing about someone else lying or covering up some misdeed. So have sports entered an era of cheating? Or is it because with 24 hour news, talk radio, blogging etc we hear more about this stuff? Does it matter? Are we sending a message to the next generation of athletes and fans that it is ok to get a competitive edge no matter the cost? Or is this just a bi-product of big egos, big time TV, and even bigger corporate money?
Let me know your thoughts!
4 responses so far ↓
1 Kelly H. // Feb 19, 2008 at 6:57 am
Chris- great post. I too am alarmed by this rampant cheating. Unfortunately, I think it all stems from the mighty dollar. The amount of money flowing through professional and collegiate programs is astonishing, and those that win guarantee their % of the $$. As long as $$ is part of the equation, folks will cut corners to grab their share. That being said, I’ll be at the boys high school sectional Friday -Carmel vs Zionsville. If you are a fan of sports, there is nothing that compares to High School Sectional Basketball in Indiana, as it seems to be the last bastion of true competition.
2 admin // Feb 19, 2008 at 8:10 am
I think you are right $$ plays a huge role and unfortunately more and more people are getting caught up in it. I just don’t want to see it become the norm in sports where people become immune to it, as is already happening with the steroids issue. I might have to make a trip to that game on Friday - still remember heading to New Castle a few years ago - Indiana basketball experience for sure!
3 Eric Prugh // Feb 19, 2008 at 8:13 am
I think the scrutiny that the “cheaters” face when they get caught is decent punishment to drive home the fact that cheating isn’t an acceptable practice. The media has a lot to do with how this is construed to the public eye, as all we see is the negative, eye-catching story that will get people talking. It seems like we hear less and less about the feel-good stories of perseverance. For all the people that are cheating, there are about 99.9% of the athletes in sports who are NOT cheating. Why do we always forget this?
4 eprugh.com » Sports: Drawing a line // Feb 19, 2008 at 8:15 pm
[…] in the blogosphere. As I work on getting my name, thoughts, and opinions out there, I came across Lucas On Sports and a post about cheating in sports. So I began to think: What is the problem with sports? The […]
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