Reaction to Ethical Issue Presentation: Legarrette Blount

On Monday Dustin gave an Ethical Issue Presentation on Oregon Running Back Legarrette Blounte. I thought he gave a really good presentation on the subject, but just wanted to reflect on a few things that were brought up during the discussion.

My initial reaction to the incident was for Blounte to be suspended indefinitely, that way Head Coach Chip Kelly could discuss his status with the University and NCAA before reaching a decision. When he decided to suspend him for the year I wasn't surprised, because I thought the punishment fit the crime. What Blounte did was inexcusable and Kelly's decision was completely within reason. Of course, Blounte has recently been reinstated by Kelly because he had met certain academic, among other things, requirements. A lot of people found this to be unfair and that Kelly should stick with the punishment he administered the first time. I however tend to agree with Kelly. If Kelly gave Blounte a list of requirements that would get him back on the field, and Blounte met them than why shouldn't he be allowed to compete? I think that some people feel Kelly went soft on Blounte but I believe that the punishment still taught him a valuable lesson and he probably deserves a second chance.

The other issue that I wanted to address is something that came up during the class discussion. I'm not sure who made the point, but someone stated that the University of Oregon should give Blount another chance because suspending him was ruining his future in the NFL. I completely disagree with that idea. As a collegiate athlete your required to behave yourself and stay out of trouble, its not the university's job to do that for you. As an athlete if you can't keep yourself out of trouble its not the university's fault if your draft status takes a hit. The university is their to help make you better as an athlete and a person, but they don't have any responsibility for your future. If I got caught cheating as a student, no one would be demanding the university give me a second chance because they're ruining my future.

In the end I think that Kelly and the University acted appropriately, in both suspending and reinstating Blounte. And I also feel that the its the responsibility of the athlete to keep themselves in a position to play, not the university, in order to compete for a chance at the next level.

Reaction to Ethical Issue: Should the media be allowed into the personal lives of athletes?

On Monday Nick and Shaun gave a presentation on the issue of media intruding into the personal lives of athletes. I thought they did a really good job of educating the class about the issue and providing some very good examples, where the media had effected the lives of professional athletes (Alex Rodriguez, Sean Avery).

When I think about the issue I only see an ethical dilemma, but not a legal issue. Although intruding into the personal lives of athletes seems like a unethical thing to do their is currently no laws to prevent the media from doing so. When an athlete is at a game, or out in public, they're fair game to the media frenzy of paparazzi's. The only legal issue that presents itself is when members of the media break the law in order to get a picture. Things like trespassing, breaking and entering, or harassing. If athletes want their privacy than they probably picked the wrong profession.

I think its unfortunate that the media has the ability, and the right, to intrude into the lives of professional athletes but I believe that its a burden that comes with the territory, so to speak. As long as the public is interested with the lives of athletes the media will continue to poke and prod into their personal lives.

Record Setting Weekend

In a weekend that seemed to be relatively uneventful, except for the 9th inning rally by those damn Yankees, a lot of players managed to earn their place in the record books.

Starting in Tennessee Chris Johnson set the franchise record for rushing yards in a single game with 228. Johnson had TD runs of 89 and 52 yards, while Jags RB Maurice-Jones Drew had TD runs of 79 and 80 yards, and the two combined to set an NFL record for 4 rushing TD of more than 50 yards in one game. The first time in NFL history

Heading further North to Giants Stadium, where the Jets and Dolphins played on Sunday, two more records were broken. My boy Teddy, Ball Game, Ginn Jr. ran his way into the NFL record books with 2 kickoff returns for TD's in the 3rd quarter. Ginn became the first player in NFL history with 2 TD's returns, of any kind, for at least 100 yards. Ginn is also 2nd in NFL history for return yards in a single game with 299. Jason Taylor also set the NFL record for fumble recoveries returned for a TD in a career, with 6.

Back to that Phils and Yankees series. Alex Rodriguez is now tied for the most RBI's in Yankee history, for a single postseason, with 15. Odds are, A rod will break that mark before the series is over. He is also only 4 RBI's behind the MLB record for RBI's in a single postseason, set by Sandy Alomar Jr.in 1997. Two other players have since reached the feet.

I could be missing a few records from the weekend, but those are the ones that I can recall from memory, and by watching Sportcenter this morning. Since we talk about the history of sport in this class, I thought it was fitting to make note of some record setting accomplishments from the weekend.