lication for Ohio State University. In his recent blog entitled Sports and the American Way: Will we impeach Vick? Mohan focuses on the public’s reaction to Michael Vick’s dog fighting scandal and the reason for their reaction. My second post that I comment on is written by ESPN.com commentator J.A. Adande entitled O.J. and the Knicks, Standing on the Brink, Together Again. He focuses on the O.J. Simpson robbery scandal as well as the controversy arising with the New York Knicks franchise and how the media is profiting from it. I would like to start by saying I found your post to be very interesting. You bring forth a solid argument about how the media covers the latest news and how society interprets it. Also, you bring up two points that I would like to discuss.
First, you write that “frequently, fans are willing to overlook the DUIs, the assaults, and the drugs, so long as the athlete performs and the team wins. Other times, as in Vick's case, exceptional talent and spectacular playmaking are not enough to overcome such intense public disgust.
In my opinion
I feel as though when an athlete is convicted of DUI, assault, and drugs, it is the same public disgust as in the Vick case. Athletes are using their popularity to bend the rules of society and as a result they are tarnishing the name of the sport’s franchise as well as their own. However, you point out that fans overlook it. What is the difference? What makes Vick’s case different from any other athlete guilty of a legal offense?
Secondly, do you feel that Vick’s reputation is completely ruined because of him or could you also blame it partly on the media and how they covered the story?
Your post brings up an interesting topic of discussion about the role of the media. You use the words “Court Culture,” “the career maker,” “O.J. the job creator” in your post.
Do you feel that the media for the sports franchise is making an athlete’s personal life one of the important priorities to cover now? Also, with the media portraying such negative headlines and making a large amount of money from it, how are young sports fans supposed to take in all this information? Do you think the media should feel some sort of ethical responsibility because they realize that young children look up to these athletes and if they are reading about all the legal offenses, they may be influenced to do the same when they grow older?
I feel that Mohan’s post stirs an important discussion. Vick’s actions are clearly unethical because they portray animal cruelty. There is no benefit in this business. Consequently, the media has created a negative image for Vick in which he has a slim chance of
returning to his reputation as an all star football player. The media has such
a strong power to influence viewers’ perception about athletes in a certain direction. However, I feel that the comment of fans overlooking DUIs, assaults, and drugs is debatable. I feel that athletes at times abuse their fame by breaking the law. I realize that athletes are “normal” individuals, but they should be more cautious of their actions because they are in the public eye. Breaking the law is unacceptable. What I do not understand is why Vick’s reputation has been completely tarnished but other athletes, such as Leonard Little who killed a women, are not being persecuted in the same manner. Unlawful actions are all similar because they do not send a positive message to the public. Therefore, no illegal offense should be overlooked because the sports franchise will no longer be viewed as an industry of elite talent in the future.
As for Adande’s post, I agree with his point that the media makes a fortune from publicizing the athletes’ mistakes. An important point that Adande makes is "that's the irony of Simpson's getting arrested because he's angry about people profiting off his "[stuff]." All he's doing is driving up ratings and creating more money for the real O.J. industry.” The media needs to find the best way to make money, and by covering stories of athletes breaking the law, fans are willing to listen. Money plays a huge factor in the media, and if they have to cover unethical stories to make the money then they will cover the story. The problem I see with the media is the viewers’ hearing and reading the stories. These are not actions that people, especially the youth, should view because it gives them motivation to do the same. Eventually, if there is so much coverage on athletes misbehaving, I believe that the sports industry’s marketability will not be as strong. I think there are two people to blame and that is that athlete for not following the laws and the media for reporting heavily on the misbehavior.
