Athletes: Regular people, role models, or unreliable heroes? These are the questions that are being asked everyday now from recent bad behavior. So which one is it?
Sports has always been america's past time.We all have our favorite teams, and our favorite players. But, what happens when we expect athletes, whether it be professional or collegiate, to be more than the athlete? When we expect them to be a guiding light for not only ourselves, but our children?
I will be discussing a couple controversies. What it's like to be an athlete under all the pressure, and expectations. How athletes react to the added pressure, what it's like to be let down by an athletic role model, and finally what I expect myself and fellow athletes to act like in the public view.
This should be interesting! I know, as a swimmer, when Michael Phelps was caught with marijuana, the whole swimming community (including myself) was disappointed in him. However, I've never heard an athlete's side of the argument! I wonder if athletes think the expectations of society are unfair and unreasonable--after all they are humans, too.
ReplyDeleteThis will definitely be a good one to hear about. It seems like every week there's another athlete being scrutinized for doing something that doesn't fit the role model archetype. Although I think that athletes have been unfairly thrust into the role of being someone to look up to for children and adults alike, unfortunately this will never change and they must either conduct themselves better in public(unlike Tiger Woods or try to keep their personal business private(Derek Jeter seems to have success doing this).
ReplyDeleteI like the topic and think it will speak to a lot of us in the audience who follow sports and individual athletes. However, I worry that it might tread too much on the persuasive side of things. Let's take a look at your outline to make sure that you are sticking to informing us about athletes from the perspective you have chosen.
ReplyDeleteFor your persuasive speech later in the semester, feel free to build upon this speech and comment on how this topic affects society and our generation.
I consider myself a huge sports fan. That being said, I think it is wrong for us to consider athletes as role models. Far too often, they paint a bad picture for the youth of America who look up too them. I think it is time for people to realize that most athletes are nothing more than kids who can play sports really well.
ReplyDelete