It might seem as though sports ethicists spend a great deal of energy finger-wagging and condemning actions in sport, labeling them unsportsmanlike, immoral, odious, etc. In part, this is where the interesting intellectual work happens and where many subtleties and…
It’s not often that you can distill an accurate “big picture” view of a person’s character from a single comment. A close friend asserts he knew all he needed to know of Bill Clinton upon hearing his “I never inhaled”…
In most walks of life, it’s easy to explain why an immoral action is immoral. You catch someone stealing your purse and you might say, “You should not do that. I have a right to my property, it’s against the…
No doubt, part of the ethical depravity of the intentional loss relates to the fact that it’s being done deceptively. The badminton player behaves as though the birdie is going out of bounds only to act surprised when it lands…
Determining the ethics of intentionally losing a game to gain something greater in the future—known as “tanking” or “throwing the game”—seems like a no-brainer in that the practice is just wrong. Though…deciphering the logic of this conclusion actually does require…
This week I’m going to attend our school’s annual Dance Performance Concert. If it’s anything like the past 13 years, it will yet again inspire like no other event I attend at our exceptionally inspiring school. I’d like to share…
One of my favorite diversions during the Winter Olympics involves tracking the popular opinion of curling. The overriding conception seems to be that it’s just plain silly. A New York Post article deems curling the “weirdest” Olympic sport and an episode…
During the Olympics, we find ourselves watching sports we haven’t watched for four years, or maybe eight (or…ever?). We’re emotionally moved by strangers we’ve never heard of from places we’ve never been. While this is a visceral experience, there’s a…
As I bring my boys to school in the morning, Jake (age 3) often sprints ahead and, as his younger brother Knox and I arrive at the door, he announces, “I won!” To this, I recently responded, “Not quite, Jake. …
Attend any high school basketball game, and you’re likely to experience the following cultural phenomenon: following a shot by a young player that misses the rim and backboard altogether, a considerable portion of the crowd—children and adults alike—join together with…
