The Responsibility Project

Liberty Mutual

Responsibility. What’s your policy?™

Blog: sports

‘Too Good’ to Play Baseball? Game Over

Posted on October 2, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (4)

A recent newspaper headline sounded more like a lesson in parenting: Why punish a kid for the crime of being too good? The kid, in this case, was 9-year-old Jericho Scott, who played summer baseball on a youth team in New Haven, Connecticut. Jericho’s “crime” is his pitching talent. But the prodigy pitcher himself was struck out—by adults. Read full article »
Fair Play: The Price of Victory?

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (0)

It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. But should sportsmanship be more important than winning, even at the Olympics? Yes, says the International Fair Play Committee, an organization that rewards altruistic athletes. But Fair Play has its problems: they get very few nominations and Olympic-sized questions of poor sportsmanship abound. Read full article »
Brain Doping: Is Grey Matter an Ethical Matter?

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (19)

When an athlete uses performance enhancement drugs, he or she is likely to be called unethical and dishonest. When a student or professor uses brain enhancement drugs, he or she is likely to be called smart and focused, but is chemically boosting your brain for an unfair advantage the same as chemically boosting your body for an edge? That’s the question at the center of a new debate about drugs and cheating. Read full article »
Game, Set, Match, Responsibility

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (3)

When a well-known athlete makes a startling public admission these days, it frequently involves a lapse of responsibility for personal gain. Recently, former tennis great Andrea Jaeger claimed she purposely allowed Martina Navratilova to beat her in the 1983 Wimbledon final because she had unfairly jeopardized her concentration before the match. Should Jaeger have dropped out and told the world why? Read full article »
Pro Sports: Game of Second Chances?

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (2)

Last year, famous names in pro sports like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Marion Jones became associated with words like compromise, cheating, hypocrisy and shame. Josh Hamilton’s story is different. He hit 28 home runs in the Home Run Derby after being banned from baseball because of his addiction to crack cocaine. Does every fallen sports hero deserve a second chance? Read full article »
Shot Through the Heart

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (9)

Like most competitive athletes, in-line speed-skater Corey Gahan hoped fierce determination and hard training would give him the edge he needed to fulfill his dream of becoming the best in his sport. But unlike most competitive athletes, Corey Gahan’s father insisted on supplying that winning edge, regularly injecting his son with steroids and human growth hormone, the same illegal substances at the heart of the ongoing major league baseball scandal. Read full article »