Breakfast@65 West Panel Advocates More Attention to Sportsmanship, Ethics

By Richard A. Barry, member, Communications and Public Affairs Committees

Chicago—October 2, 2007-- Gone are days when athletes ran for their country and the love of the sport—today they run for the love of money.

That was the consensus around the “Breakfast@65West” table today when three top sports experts shared their insights into “Sports and Ethics: Will the Twain Ever Meet?”

Commenting on memorable scenes from a film clip he rolled of “Chariots of Fire,” the 1981 classic that memorialized athletes competing in the 1924 Paris Olympics, Fred Mitchell, the Chicago Tribune’s experienced sports writer and columnist explained, “that was a time when participants ran for their country and the spirit of the sport—not for the love of money.”

“Everyone needs to realize that today, sports is big business. The best we can hope for is that owners, managers and players have some concern about the glory of the sport,” Mitchell said.  

Mitchell was joined at the podium by Peggy Kusinski, NBC5’s award-winning sports reporter,  former ESPN anchor and producer of several Olympic telecasts and Dr. Ben Shields, of Northwestern University, co-author of The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace and an international expert on sports marketing, branding and new media technology.

“Although we still try and live by the old rules of Olympic sportsmanship and winning for one’s  country, today sports is mostly all about big business,” said Kusinski.  

“Today’s athletes are selfish. It’s all about money and this attitude extends not only to the players but to the coaches, GMs and owners. Everyone is interested in seeing how much money they can make from athletics,” she said.  

Kusinski noted that this phenomena is not new.

“In his day, George “Papa Bear” Halas was known to run some remarkable plays at old Wrigley Field. And George Allen often ran practices built around erroneous plays with the wrong players in the hopes that competitive spies would be watching,” she said.

Kusinski conceded that there are some bright spots. “Dick Butkus, the Chicago Bears Hall of Famer, has a wonderful “Stay Clean” program that encourages young people to avoid steroid use,” she said.

“But today, there’s rightful skepticism whether the NFL has picked up this spirit. And what of baseball’s commissioner, Bud Selig, who apparently turned a blind eye and didn’t ask tough questions about steroid use when all the players and coaches knew what was happening?” she asked.

“Baseball’s history is littered with tales of spitballs and cork bats but it’s much more notorious today when steroids and performance enhancing drugs are used by athletes,” said Mitchell, himself a former high school football and track coach and an NCAA kick-scoring record holder who has covered Superbowls, World Series, NBA finals and the Olympics.

“Parents need to emphasize to their children that there’s much more to sports than hitting the ball, making the jump shot or running a touchdown. They need to teach their kids that branding athletics as we do today is just a way to make money, secure endorsements and a way of life for a very brief time—but it’s not real,” he said.

“Does a 10-year-old really need a private skating coach?” asked Kusinski, herself the parent of five-year-old twins. “I think not,” she asserted.

“Today’s sports mentality is systemic,” explained Shields. “Parents who provide their five to seven year old kids with private coaches just to compete in youth sports so they can get into the right high school, earn a college scholarship and win a professional sports contract are just as guilty. But where are the role models for kids, if it’s all about multi-media and big buck contracts? ” he asked.

“Consider that the average NFL player’s game life is 2.5 years. With 30 teams in play, that’s a very, very small population. The chances are slim to none that your child will make the super star level,” he said.

Panelists agreed that Tiger Woods is a wonderful exception to the rule, however.

“Earl Woods saw his son’s potential and spent time nurturing not only Tiger’s golf skills but also taught him to be a person who cares about the sport and about his fellow players,” said Shields.

“ The ‘teaching window’ that Earl used to demonstrate to Tiger that golf was a true sport now shows in the champion’s whole life,” he said.

Calling for a reality check, Kusinski noted that professional sports teams sometimes are to blame for creating today’s selfish athletes because they often “ take too much care and feeding of their charges.”

The NFL, she explained, has extensive rookie training programs that take players by the hand,  mentor them, teach them how to dress, what to say, where to go and explain the dangers of groupies and other hangers on as they travel about the country.

“But there’s something called the rules of life and common sense that needs to come into play,” she said.

“Major teams need to step up. NFL, MLB and NBA managers and owners need to get their act together or else they will wind up like the sport of boxing,” warned Shields. “Corruption, gambling and severe injuries have reduced boxing’s reputation as a respected sport,” he said.

Prodded by moderator Chris Robling, himself a former broadcaster who is now a public affairs consultant, panelists agreed that the media is to blame for placing athletes on pedestals.

“Media is culpable because the high impact images, highlight films, slam dunks and extensive reporting of  many questionable issues such as cheating, steroid use and poor sportsmanship all play into society. Pretty soon some people believe that this is the way life is to be played,” Mitchell said.

 “It’s good to remember that much of what you see on television is sponsored by teams. For example, major league baseball play-by-play and color announcers are employees of teams-- not broadcast organizations. That’s a big change and one that can call into question journalistic impartiality,” Mitchell said.

Kusinski was quick to point out to the “Breakfast@65West” audience that her employer was NBC5-- not the Chicago Bears or other NFL teams that she covers regularly.

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