It's pro sports, anyone will look for an edge, morality and integrity on the field goes out the window, you play to win, there have been synonamous "dirty" players in all types of sports, but they still make a good living.

 

GO STEELERS.

I am originally from pittsburgh, so I am not really an eagles fan..... although I did want them to beat green bay (what the hell was brett favre thinking when he threw that interception)???

[QUOTE]Originally posted by liquid215
Lie, cheat & steal baby

 

It's not just football. Happens in any competitive activity. It's about a mix of pride, ego, adrenaline, emotion and ethics.

Sadly, it's not just pro-level competitive activities, either. I've seen this sort of behavior (or worse) as early as youth league sports.

 

Have you ever not claimed you did something at work you were supposed to do but didn't and then just hoped you could somehow actually do it or that nobody would notice?

C'omon be honest you have, even minor stuff like taking off early when the boss is on vacation...

Imagine that your day at work was televised. You'd have people asking 'Why does xxx always take breaks that are two minutes too long? where is his sense of morality?'

The truth is that when it comes to our jobs we'll always do the ocassional transgression. These guys just happen to have their workdays on TV for all to see. Yeah, it is wrong but most of this stuff is minor if you look at the big picture.

 

I may be somewhat lazy at work at times, but i still get my job done..... these guys get paid $300k a game (or more)(or less) to act like animals.

I love when a team is down by 30points and they luck into sacking the quarter back.....then dance like they won the game......

it is funny how they try to cheat even though there is instant replay to show them clearly that they did not catch it, etc.......... $50k fine for lying.

 

a good way to look at professional sports, or alot of competitive scenarios is this....

It's not about what ACTUALLY happens... its about whats called, and the interpretation by the referees or umpires at the time.

It's why sports like basketball and baseball always have so many frustrating incidences, because so much of the game is left up to the refs.

Baseball: You have balls and strikes, tags, catches, rulings etc. that are all soley the responsibility of the refs on the field at any given time. They refuse to use any form of instant replay to retain the "human" aspect of the game. Meanwhile you have teams like the Yanks with a $140M/yr salary hinging on an inconsistent strike zone.

Basketball: Probably the worse sport... blocking fouls/charging/hand checking etc. All these are judgement calls based on scenario and who is being called. People talk about Yao having to learn to handle the beatings like Shaq? To their credit they have done a little bit of instant replay interaction, but still, the worse sport.

Hockey: actually the sport that I believe to have the least amount of referee interference. There aren't a whole lot of calls, and hence a whole lot of judgement calls either. And, it's a sport where to some extent the players equilize themselves. A fair bit of instant replay is enstated. And fines are issued after the games for some plays.

Soccer/Football: Please... this sport is a buncha sissies... How can the world expect the US to enjoy watching a sport where the refs encourage floping and diving? It might be the world's most popular sport... but I don't believe it's because of the skill invovled as much as it's easy application to diverse economic societies.


Bottom line... whenever you pay a guy millions based on his abilities.. you are going to invite people to attempt cheat...

a better question might be... how have the games changed to adapt?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ash

Soccer/Football:

 

I hear you.... but I think a whole lot of unsportsmanlike conduct could also be cleared up by making the flopping or diving player sit out for 5 mins of game time. I think there are definitely things that can be done to clean up the game... and until then it's not for me. If things need to be changed to protect the players, then so be it, and at the same time... you gotta call the unsportsmanlike-conduct.

In hockey you can get nailed after the game for a fine for flopping or diving(Marty Turco last year in the playoffs last year was an excellent example of a dive). Do it in soccer too... play the game.. don't play the refs.

It's also hard to compare different sports... it's why I was trying to compare the sportsmanship/cheating aspect of it.

At the same time... I think that the coolest feature about soccer is the fact that the game clock is only in the ref's hands... I think what happens at the end of a basketball game is a crock of sh1t(fouls/timeouts etc). Takes the focus away from the actual gameplay and more onto the other things like clock management etc.

btw.. I used to ref soccer... true I never played it seriously, but it's not like I haven't been around it.

 

That unsporstmanship is what made me quit the game. And it wasn't even in the field. I went for some tryout at a pro team and after playing my heart out for a month I got cut beacuse my high school coach was part of the selection comitee and he decided that I "did not need the opportunity as much as this other guy because I already had been accepted to college". What a crock!

I too love that the clock is on the ref's hands. I never could stand those football games that get timeouts so that the commercials can come on... I also like that there is only three subs. It leaves the game more in the hands of the players, not like hokey where they play 5 minutes and rotate...

 

i love the fact that it costs $80 for a shitty ticket to almost any professional sport and the fact that I don't go to any of them.

I have no idea who would pay $450 (tickets, parking and shitty food) for a family of 4 to go see a basketball game.......

I was thinking at some point the salary's would be so high that the tickets would be too expensive, but apparently people are still buying tickets.....