Ethical Behavior of a Professional Athlete

So, it's been a great past week for me in the sports world. Last week, I shot my best round of golf twice, then later that evening I bowled my 3rd career 300 game during league. I was excited as it had been almost 2 full years since my last 300 game.

Anyways, back to the topic. In this post, I want to discuss the behavior of a single Major League Baseball player. His actions over the course of the summer have led him to being suspended for the rest of the season by the team and could possibly end his tenure with his current club. That player is Chicago Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley.

Within, the past couple of weeks, Bradley was suspended by the Cubs for "conduct detrimental to the team." The specifics of his actions are not stated. Bradley has been bouncing from team to team throughout his career in the majors. He has played with 8 different teams in his 13 seasons in the league. At every destination, has caused some sort of commotion, which has led to him being traded quite frequently. Bradley had went through anger management while playing with the Dodgers, but came unraveled during his 9 month tenure in Chicago.

This somewhat raises the question of whether the actions of professional athletes are tolerated. In this case, they were not. I think that some professional athletes get some "special" treatment, in that they can get away with certain actions because of their name. I think some teams let these negative actions slide because they feel they can't win or put fans in the stands without that athlete on the field or court.

I don't think that these actions should be tolerated. I think that the athlete should be reprimanded and learn from their negative behavior. However, the sports world is a business and it's all about making money and putting fans in the seats. Although Bradley was suspended, I feel that a short-term suspension may not be severe enough for him to learn. After the season, there will be a team willing to take the chance on a switch-hitting outfielder and that team may not be prepared for the "extra baggage" he may bring into the clubhouse.

History and Influence of Native Americans in Sports

Hey again, everyone. Over this past week during class, we have been discussing the history and evolution of sports and the roles of Native Americans in that process. The Native Americans have been somewhat overlooked when it comes to the history of today's sports. Although many of today's sports have come from Europeans, the Native Americans participated in many sports related activities even before the Europeans arrived here in America.

Some of the sports that the Native Americans participated included lacrosse, shinny (similar to field hockey), hoop-and-pole, double ball, and some more common ones such as swimming, racing, and bow and arrow contests. However, these last few are debatable on where the sport was actually created. Many believe the only true sport of the Native Americans that is still widely played today is lacrosse. Historians also feel that lacrosse is the only indigenous sport to North America. 

However, no matter where the sport was created, the Native Americans still produced some prominent athletes in various sports. The most notable athlete was Jim Thorpe, who won gold in the 1912 Olympics. I was unaware that Jim Thorpe was a Native American. Some other notables are Billy Mills, also an Olympic runner, Allie Reynolds pitched for the New York Yankees, and Notah Begay, who is a professional golfer and played alongside Tiger Woods at Stanford University. 

Along with the history of Native Americans and sports, another controversial issue today is the portrayal of Native Americans as mascots. This has created a big stir as many believe it is offensive to use Native Americans as mascots. Personally, and in most cases, I don't believe that the use of those mascots is completely offensive. 

I feel that the use of Native Americans recognizes and honors the Native Americans. I think that these mascots are effective in remembering the history of Native Americans. If these mascots weren't used would people forget about the Native Americans? Other than in school history classes, the Indians aren't a part of everyday life conversations. 

Although I mainly believe that the use of mascots is not offensive, there is a point where it can be pushed too far. For example, the use of Indian mascots that mock tribal dances. I think those can be seen as offensive in that they are not correctly used with the same meanings that the Native Americans had intended. Also, I feel that the name "Redskins" is highly offensive. I think that this a really racist term to use to describe Native Americans. My high school nickname actually is the Redskins. In high school, I never really thought about the term as being offensive and more as being proud and resembling the warrior-like qualities that the Native Americans possessed.  I think that many respect these qualities in the Native Americans but they can easily be portrayed with different mascot nicknames other than Redskins.

Intro

Hey everyone! My name is Ben Wuebbenhorst and I am from Wapakoneta, Ohio. I'm 22 years old and am starting my 5th year here at Bowling Green State University and can't believe my time here is almost up. I will be graduating in December through the College of Business with a dual degree in Finance and Accounting. I am nervous for that time to come, as I don't have a full-time job locked in and have no idea where I may end up. I would really like to find any sort of business related job within the field of sports but if that doesn't work, I'd like to do something with the stock market and investing. 

Also, this past summer I participated in study abroad program in France through the College of Business. I spent 8 weeks abroad and it was the greatest experience of my life. I traveled to 8 different countries and saw many things in that 8 weeks that most people don't in an entire lifetime. If you are an underclassman, I highly recommend you look into a study abroad program. Alright, enough about school. 

As far as regular life, I am an avid sports fan and will pretty much watch anything. First, I am a die hard Atlanta Braves fan. However, I have only had the opportunity to see them once at Turner Field in Atlanta back in 2006. They had played the Boston Red Sox, which featured many All-Stars. But one of the most interesting things was who the starting pitcher was for Boston, Jon Lester, who was making only his second career start in the majors. 

Although, I've been to only one game in Atlanta, I've been to several in Cincinnati over the years, seeing many of the great Braves pitchers, Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine. But the most recent game I was at was the best of them all. It was a great game throughout, starting with Griffey hitting homerun #599. It was a one run game into the bottom of the 9th, when the Reds scored a controversial run that led to the ejection of Bobby Cox, just adding to the record of ejections. Then in the 10th inning, Jay Bruce hit a walk-off homerun for the first homerun of his major league career. 

In addition to these, I've been to several different types of sporting events and have seen some very interesting feats and events. I also saw Sammy Sosa's 599th career homerun in Cincinnati. I'm a big fan of Morgan Pressel of the LPGA and saw her make a hole-in-one at the 2007 Jamie Farr Owen's Corning Classic. Last summer I was at the Los Angeles Sparks and Detroit Shock WNBA game when the brawl/fight broke out among the players and coaches. Also, my sister attended the University of Kentucky a couple years ago and went to a couple football games. One being against the 14th ranked Florida Gators and Tim Tebow. Kentucky was ranked #8 and was the game that the College Gameday crew attended. The other game was last year against the Georgia Bulldogs, featuring Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, two top draft picks last year. 

Outside of watching sports, I also like to participate in sports. I played baseball up until college, but the sport I'm most active in is bowling. I have a pretty deep history and list of accomplishments in bowling. I started bowling when I was 5 years old and continue to bowl today. I currently have bowled 2 perfect games and carry a 225 average. I bowled 4 years varsity on our high school bowling team, which we won the state championship my senior year. The state of Ohio had roughly 350 teams at that time, and it was our school's first team state championship title. Also, my senior year, through a series of tournaments, I bowled in a youth national tournament, where I competed against the best bowlers in the country for a chance to make Junior Team USA. 

My sophomore year here at BG, a friend and I started up the club bowling team here at BG. The first year, I managed to make one all-tournament team. Our team ended up finishing 7th at sectionals, only 200 pins from qualifying for nationals in only our first year! During the second season, I bowled the 2nd of my 300 games at a collegiate tournament. I went on to make two all-tournament teams, as well as being voted to 1st Team All-Conference. However, we only finished 10th at sectionals. I no longer bowl for the university and just compete in local leagues and tournaments in the area.

Although this class isn't required in my major, I am excited about learning what the class is all about. With a goal of one day working in sports, I hope this class will give me a deeper look into the history and philosophy of sports and help me achieve that dream job.