Sports As a
Reflection of Society
Angela Lumpkin
University of Kansas
Three Goals of this Session
To analyze the importance of and possibly
challenge perceptions about the status of
sport in American society
To explore whether sports develop or reflect
character and other societal values
To examine the impact of commercialized
sports on values using several sociological
factors, including race and gender
To answer this question: Do sports
lead or reflect societal values?
A Cheating Culture Pervades
Society as It Condones
Cheating on tests,
income taxes, spouses,
and bosses
Lying to gain advantage
Stealing from employers
and others
Why: Personal benefit,
regardless of who may
be adversely affected.
The Pursuit of Fame and
Fortune in Society
The aspiration to get into the
most prestigious universities
The quest for power and status
by politicians
The greed of corporate
executives, lawyers, and
accountants
The emphasis is on “me
first,” self-promotion, and a
“winner-take-all” approach.
Bernard Madoff
Recent Examples of The Cheating Culture
2004 — Martha Stewart convicted of insider
trading and sent to prison
2005 — Bernie Ebbers, CEO of WorldCom,
convicted of accounting and securities fraud
2006 — Enron’s Kenneth Lay convicted of
securities fraud, conspiracy, insider trading,
and making false statements to auditors
2008 — Bernard Madoff arrested for financial
fraud in the largest Ponzi scheme ever
2009 — Rod Blagojevich, governor of Illinois,
ousted for his arrogant abuse of power
2009 — Former Senator Tom Daschle failed
to pay more than $128,000 in income taxes
Recent Examples of The Cheating Culture in Sports
2001 — George O’Leary resigned as the head
football coach at Notre Dame after it was found
he had lied on his resume.
2005 — Several baseball players lied to
Congress about their use of performanceenhancing drugs.
2007 — During their game, New England
Patriots Coach Bill Belichick directed his staff to
videotape the defensive signals of the New York
Jets
2008 — Helio Castroneves, a two-time winner
of the Indianapolis 500, indicted for income tax
evasion.
2009 — Florida State University received
several sanctions for a cheating scandal
involving 61 athletes in 10 sports.
Is there a pattern of
behavior that shows that
sports reflect societal
values?
Why Are Sports So Important
in the United States?
Enjoyable use of leisure time
Entertainment
Social bonding
Winning is rewarded
An enriching part of
education
Incessant promotion and
telecasting by the media
Praised for teaching
character and moral values
Sports as Entertainment
Can sports be defined as
athletic competitions
promoted through
extravagant presentations
for the purpose of
entertaining audiences in
person and electronically?
Do sport journalists describe
sports as entertainment in
ways that reflect people’s
cultural, economic, and
moral values?
Social Bonding while Cheering
for our Favorite Teams
Families schedule their lives and
budgets around sports.
Friends and families socialize in and
around sporting events
Tailgating at football games
Sports bars
Fantasy leagues
Winning Is Richly Rewarded
Sports Illustrated’s Richest Athletes in 2008
#1 Tiger Woods earned $127,902,706
#3 LeBron James earned $40,455,000
#6 Alex Rodriguez earned $35,000,000
#9 Peyton Manning earned $30,500,000
#11 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. earned $27,221,970
Winning in Sports Brings Status
and Monetary Rewards
Millions are seeking after the
elusive dream of “making it” as
an athlete.
National Championships for Young Athletes
Age Group
Gender
Sponsoring Organization
National Championship
6 years and
under
boys; girls
Callaway Golf (a golf
equipment company)
Callaway Junior World Golf Championship
8 years and
under
boys; girls
Amateur Athletic Union
Amateur Athletic Union Basketball National
Championships
8 years and
under
boys; girls
United States Tennis
Association
U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championships
8-11 years with
weight limits
boys
Pop Warner Football
Junior Pee Wee Pop Warner Super Bowl
8-11 years
girls
Pop Warner Cheer and Dance
Junior Pee Wee Cheer and Dance Championships
9 years and
under
boys; girls
Amateur Athletic Union
Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Swimming
Meet
9 years and
under
boys; girls
US Club Soccer
Youth World Series
9 years and
under
boys; girls
Youth Basketball of America
Youth Basketball of America National
Championships
9-12 years
boys; girls
Little League
Little League Baseball World Series
9-12 years
girls
Little League
Little League Softball World Series
10 years and
under
girls
Amateur Athletic Union
Amateur Athletic Union Girls Junior National
Volleyball Championships
10 years and
under
boys; girls
Babe Ruth League
Cal Ripken Baseball 10-Year-Old World Series
What Is the Likelihood of Becoming an
Olympic, Professional, Intercollegiate, or
Interscholastic Athlete?
US population —
over 306 million
Just over 7 million
high school
athletes
Less than 500,000
college athletes
Approximately
10,000
professional
athletes
Less than 800
Olympic athletes
Athletes
7,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
500,000
1,000,000
10,000
800
0
1
Interscholastic
Intercollegiate
Professional
O lympic
Estimated Probability of Competing in Athletics beyond the
High School Interscholastic Level (NCAA, 2007)
Student-Athletes
Men's
Basketball
Women's
Basketball
Football
Baseball
Men's Ice
Hockey
Men's
Soccer
High School Student
Athletes
546,335
452,929
1,071,775
470,671
36,263
358,935
High School Senior
Student Athletes
156,096
129,408
306,221
134,477
10,361
102,553
NCAA Student
Athletes
16,571
15,096
61,252
28,767
3,973
19,793
NCAA Freshman
Roster Positions
4,735
4,313
17,501
8,219
1,135
5,655
NCAA Senior Student
Athletes
3,682
3,355
13,612
6,393
883
4,398
44
32
250
600
33
76
Percent High School
to NCAA
3.0%
3.3%
5.7%
6.1%
11.0%
5.5%
Percent NCAA to
Professional
1.2%
1.0%
1.8%
9.4%
3.7%
1.7%
Percent High School
to Professional
0.03%
0.02%
0.08%
0.45%
0.32%
0.07%
NCAA Student
Athletes Drafted
Do Sports Build Character?
Athletes potentially can learn
Respect for opponents, teammates, and
officials
Self-confidence
Self-discipline
Sportsmanship
Teamwork
Mental toughness
How to win and lose with class
Life skills and life lessons
Goals of Sports
Young
athletes:
Have fun
Learn
sports
skills
Learn life
lessons of
character
High school
athletes:
College
athletes:
Develop
sports skills Achieve their
potential in
Broaden
sports
educational
experiences Enrich
educational
Develop
experiences
character
“Going
professional in
something other
than sports”
Coaches and other Adults Can
Teach, model, shape,
and reinforce values like
honesty, respect, and
responsibility
Help athletes learn to
play by the letter and
spirit of the rules — the
epitome of
sportsmanship
Myths and Truths in Youth Sports (Farrey, 2008)
Myths
Myth…The best athletes are those who
work the hardest.
Myth…Early, focused skills training makes a
Tiger roar.
Myth…America is the world’s athletics
superpower.
Myth…Organized competition breeds
success.
Myth…Children want to win.
Myth…Athletic scholarships support
amateurism.
Myth…The poor benefit the most from
college sports.
Myth…Grade-school travel teams identify
future stars.
Myth…No national body coordinates
grassroots sports.
Myth…Children inevitably find their best
sport.
Myth…Money is pouring into youth sports.
Myth…Media coverage drives up
participation.
Myth…Grassroots hoops has gotten too
professional.
Myth…Playing sports builds character.
Truths
The truth is…The elite often have innate,
natural advantages.
The truth is…In golf, sometimes; in most sports,
no.
The truth is…We’re the fattest nation—and it all
starts in preschool.
The truth is…Unstructured play is often more
valuable.
The truth is…They do, but it means far more to
adults.
The truth is…The lure of a payoff turns
peewees into mini-pros.
The truth is…Rich kids are far likelier to get
roster spots.
The truth is…They reward early bloomers,
leaving the rest behind.
The truth is…The U.S. Olympic Committee is
supposed to.
The truth is…Most are never exposed to sports
they might excel at.
The truth is…It is, but not in the communities
that need it most.
The truth is…Kids play a game — then they
become fans.
The truth is…The problem is it lacks a
professional approach.
The truth is…It depends on who runs, and who
surrounds, the team.
Athletes Learn at an Early Age
The importance of doing whatever it takes
to help win, as they
Cheat to gain competitive advantages
Taunt their opponents and use other
gamesmanship ploys
Engage in harmful behaviors personally
and against opponents
Display poor sportsmanship
Are athletes who engage in such actions simply
displaying the values that characterize families,
peers, businesses, and society in general?
Did These Really Happen?
A T-ball coach
offered a player $25
if he would hit an
autistic teammate in
the face so that child
would not have to be
played in a play-off
game.
A father provided
steroids and human
growth hormones to
his 13-year old son
who was a worldranked inline speed
skater.
A mother
abandoned
her
daughter
alongside an
interstate
highway
after the
daughter did
not perform
to the
mother’s
expectations
in a soccer
game.
Justify Actions by Saying
 Everyone else does it.
 This is the way the
game is played.
 Do anything you can
get by with until the
official calls it.
 If you are not
cheating, then you are
not trying hard enough
to win.
Commercialized Sports Are often
Characterized by
Violence
Gambling
Drug abuse
Racial discrimination
Gender discrimination
Academic abuses
Recruiting abuses
Arms race
Tonya Harding’s
cronies injured
Nancy Kerrigan.
V
I
O
L
E
N
C
E
Mitch Cozad, backup
punter at Northern
Colorado, convicted of
assault for stabbing
his rival’s kicking leg.
A Massachusetts judge sentenced Thomas
Junta to 6-10 years in state prison for the
beating death of Michael Costin, in a fight
after a youth hockey practice in which the
sons of both men participated.
Gambling
Former
MLB player
Pete Rose
Former
NBA referee
Tim Donaghy
College basketball has been plagued with
point-shaving scandals beginning in 1951 with
33 players from 7 colleges, in 1961 with 37
players from 22 colleges, Boston College in the
1970s, Tulane University in the 1980s, and
Arizona State University and Northwestern
University in the 1990s.
Performance-Enhancing
Drugs
Baseball players like
Barry Bonds
Marion Jones
stripped of
Olympic
medals and
sentenced to
prison
Racial Discrimination against African
Americans in Sports
Were subjected to racial taunts, discriminatory
treatment, exclusion, and bigotry
Exceptional athletically and academically, a few
males were the first to integrate sports.
William Lewis,
Moses Walker, who
who played
played catcher for
center-rush for
Oberlin College and
Harvard
the University of
University, was
Michigan in 1881the first named an
1883, was the first to
play at a Caucasian
All-American in
institution.
1892 and 1893.
Continued Racial
Discrimination
Historically Black colleges and
John McClendon universities and segregated leagues
Subjected to: withheld from games;
violence; exclusion with “gentleman’s
agreements;” stacking; and quotas
Oklahoma State’s Wilbanks Smith viciously hit
Drake’s Johnny Bright in the face with his fist.
All-American
Paul Robeson
Confronting Racial
Discrimination
Jesse Owens
Alice Coachman
Bill Garrett
Succeeding against
unbelievable odds
The watershed event
of the 1966 NCAA
men’s basketball
championship game
Athletes fighting for
their rights, such as
through boycotts and
demanding equitable
treatment
Academic Exploitation of African
Americans in Sports
Dexter Manley
Post-World War II, they were
recruited mostly for their athletic
skills.
Segregated schools, non-collegepreparatory curricula, and socioeconomic factors led to poor
academic preparation for college.
Many majored in eligibility rather
than obtained college degrees.
 Of the 74 recipients since 1935, 27 have been
African Americans (Archie Griffin counted
twice); Ernie Davis (Syracuse) was first (1961).
 By decades, there were 3 African Americans in
the 1960s, 7 in the 1970s, 8 in the 1980s, 7 in
the 1990s, and 2 since 2000.
 Twenty-one (or 78%) of the African American
winners were running backs. Out of the 47
Caucasians, 24 were quarterbacks; 3 of the
African Americans played this position.
An analysis of the recipients of the Heisman Trophy
suggests these conclusions:
African American football players were denied
opportunities to compete at the highest competitive level
between 1935 and 1960 or were deemed undeserving of
this recognition.
An African American who played running back had a
much greater chance of being selected for this honor.
During the 1970s through 1990s, the best college
football player was most likely an African American.
Heisman
Trophy
Relative to the Heisman
Trophy, was football
leading or reflecting
society?
College Basketball Players of the Year
Males
1966—Associated
Press
1969—Naismith
1977—Wooden
Females
1981—Wade
1983—Naismith
2004—Wooden
African American
males have been
selected for one or
more of these
awards over 81% of
the 43 years.
African American
females have
received at least
one of these awards
in all but five years
since 1981.
Once given equal
opportunities, African
American males and females
began to dominate college
basketball.
Gender Discrimination in Sports
Historically, since sports have
been the domain of male,
females were largely excluded.
Basketball — thought to be too
vigorous for the “weaker sex”
Courts divided into thirds
from 1899-1938
Half-court games until 1970
in colleges
The last sanctioned high school half-court
game was played in 1995 in Oklahoma.
Alternative Sports for Females
Play days and sports days prevented the
commercialized abuses of men’s athletics.
In 1923, the Women’s Division of the National
Amateur Athletic Federation opposed
international competition, favored play days for
girls and women, and advocated for “a sport for
every girl, and every girl in a sport.”
Expanded Opportunities in Sports
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for
Women beginning in 1971, and the
organizations it replaced, set standards and
policies for women’s athletics and offered
national championships until 1982 when the
NCAA took over women’s championships.
1976 — NJCAA
began national
championships for
females.
1980 — NAIA began
national
championships for
females.
Title IX and Beyond
Title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972
“…many Americans seemed to believe
that new times required new laws, and
most were unwilling to admit that the
hundred-year-old equal protection clause
afforded far greater protection that Title
IX, perhaps because such an admission
would indicate that the country and the
courts had been violating the Constitution
for more than a century. In the final
analysis, however, Title IX gave women
no new rights, but it inspired them to take
advantage of those they already had.”*(*Fields, p. 161)
Participation Numbers by Gender in Interscholastic Sports
3,021,807
2006-2007
4,321,103
2,806,998
2001-2002
3,960,517
1,940,801
1991-1992
3,429,853
1,810,671
1981-1982
3,409,081
817,073
1972-1973
3,770,621
294,015
1971-1972
3,666,917
0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
Boys
2,500,000
Girls
3,000,000
3,500,000
4,000,000
4,500,000
Number of Athletes by Gender and Governing Organization in
2006
250,000
218,330
200,000
161,572
150,000
100,000
50,000
31,391
30,656
20,556
18,188
0
NJCAA
NAIA
Males
Females
NCAA
Females in Intercollegiate Athletics in NCAA
Institutions (Acosta & Carpenter, 2008)
Year
Average Number
of Sports for
Females
Female Head
Coaches of
Women’s Teams
Female Head
Administrators of
Women’s Programs
1972
not available
Over 90%
Over 90%
1978
5.61
58.2%
not available
1982
6.59
52.4%
not available
1986
7.15
50.6%
15.2%
1990
7.24
47.3%
15.9%
1992
7.09
48.3%
16.8%
1996
7.53
47.7%
18.5%
2000
8.14
45.6%
17.8%
2004
8.32
44.1%
18.5%
2006
8.45
42.4%
18.6%
2008
8.65
42.8%
21.3%
Comparison of Financial Support for Males and Females in
Intercollegiate Athletics in 2006
$1,200,000,000
$1,000,000,000
$1,111,276,301
$902,623,678
$893,048,748
$800,000,000
$600,000,000
$513,028,564
$400,000,000
$200,000,000
$104,242,516
$52,385,535
$Grants-in-Aid
Operating Expenses
Males
Females
Recruiting Expenses
Threats to Academic Integrity
Some athletes masquerade as students
while chasing the elusive dream of playing
at the next level.
Lies, dishonesty, and deceit have been
used to keep athletes academically
eligible.
University of Georgia (1981)
University of Minnesota (1999)
University of Tennessee (2000)
In Recruiting, Some
Coaches
Creatively violate recruiting rules to gain
competitive advantages.
Engage in cheating and lying to get the
“blue chip” recruits.
Choose to cheat because of the pressures
to win.
The Paradox of the
Arms Race
Bob Stoops
Oklahoma
football
coach
Entice recruits
with the biggest
and best
facilities
Pay winning
coaches
millions
Zero Sum Game
Moral Justifications Used to Defend
Unethical Actions in Sport and Society
Try to make it seem that the unethical action is
really ethical, such as by claiming there is no
rule against it, no one will ever know, or
everyone else does it.
State that the action is not really unethical
since no one was really harmed or no foul was
called or penalty assessed.
Argue that while a rule was violated, the
situation along with the amount of good
accomplished overshadowed the small amount
of harm; that is, the end justifies the means.
Sports Reflecting Societal Values
Influence
of money
Unethical
behaviors
Winning at all costs
Sports Are a Reflection of
Societal Values
While sports have been praised for leading
positive societal changes, such as reducing
discriminatory treatment of African
Americans, today sports reflect society’s
cheating culture.
Commercialized sports, especially as
popularized by the media, entertain
Americans, many of whom are obsessed by
winning and cheer for athletes and coaches
who do whatever it takes to win.
Questions or
Comments?
Angela Lumpkin
Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise
Sciences
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045-7567
E-mail: alumpkin@ku.edu
Telephone: 785-864-0778
Thank-you for attending!
References
Acosta, V. R., & Carpenter, L. J. (2008). Women
in intercollegiate sport. A longitudinal, national
study thirty one year update. Retrieved
November 15, 2008, from
www.acostacarpenter.org
Farrey, T. (2008). Game on: The all-American
race to make champions of our children. New
York: ESPN Books.
Fields, S. K. (2005). Female gladiators: Gender,
law, and contact sport in America. Urbana, IL:
University of Illinois Press.
References
Frank, R. (2004). Challenging the myth: A
review of the links among college athletic
success, student quality, and donations (pp. 136). Miami, FL: Knight Commission on
Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved December 1,
2008, from
www.knightfoundation.org/dotAsset/131763.pdf
Lumpkin, A. (in press). Critical events: Historical
overview of minorities (men and women) in
college sports. In D. Brooks & R. Althouse
(Eds.). Racism in college athletics (3rd ed).
Morgantown, WVA: Fitness Information
Technology, Inc.
References
Lumpkin, A. (in press). Modern sport ethics: A
reference handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABCCLIO.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2007).
Estimated probability of competing in athletics
beyond the high school interscholastic level.
Retrieved January 5, 2009, from
www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=279