The Negative Impacts Of Gamesmanship And Sportsmanship

This sports study will define the negative effects of “gamesmanship” that has been encouraging unethical and immoral behavior in modern sporting culture. The difference between gamesmanship and sportsmanship will define the defense in the ethical values that are utilized in sports. Gamesmanship offers the philosophy that “winning at any cost” is the goals of sporting events, which include, cheating, bending the rules, use performance-enhancing drugs, etc/ A lack of ethical and mortal behaviors in “sportsmanship” defines the traditional focus on following rules, developing talent and skills, and moral conduct on and of the field. In modern day sports, the increasing dominance of gamesmanship defines the negative trend of performance enhancing

In a moral context, it is important to understand the extension of unethical conduct on the field to the inevitable corruption of personal life that becomes part of societal interaction. This type of behavior can extend to sexual misconduct (rape, marital infidelity, etc.), violence, and criminal activity. In modern sporting culture, the popularity and great success of athletes tends to tempt tem into thinking that the game they play is also being played in their personal lives. This form of public personae affects the way they view lawful conduct and morality as a means to achieve success in family life, personal choices, and the management of their daily activities off the field. The public image dictates the way they interact with other people outside of their professional careers. More so, the promotion of immoral and unethical behaviors in sporting institutions set another precedent in which athletes are encouraged to behave through a gamesmanship model. The enculturation of corrupt business practices tend to create a culture of winning as the primary goal of attaining greater wealth and financial prosperity over the sportsmanship qualities that can increase the ethical and moral culture of athletic performance. These moral aspects of off-field behavior define the underlying extension of gamesmanship as a part of immoral behavior by professional athletes:

Fans might now that athletes on and of the field participate in all kinds of illegal and immoral activity, but overall perception of athletes representing goodness reigns as a supreme myth” (Whitt & Perlich, 2014,