It was brought to my attention that when judging an athlete we should only focus on their athletic performance and leave out their personal life (which goes a long way in judging character). Which leads me to think, is it possible to judge an athlete solely on their athletic prowess? Is it fair to judge an athlete not only on their athletic performances but also on their character?

Certainly we know a lot more about the personal life of Barry Bonds then Babe Ruth; we can thank modern media for this fact! Every day we are bombarded with the latest sports scandals. These scandals are seared into our memories like the alphabet. Associating a scandal with an athlete has become second nature. When it comes time to judge an athlete for greatness in their respective sport is it possible to remove ourselves from including their character into the equation? Do we want our greatest athletes to not only be great at their sport but also decent human beings? I know I would like to be able to tell my children that the athletes I followed were not only great at their sport but also great individuals. Maybe I am asking too much. However, it is nice to have a dream particularly as the New Year is so close.

Justin Mayer- Executive Director-ISPA

Tags: Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Dr. John Mayer, International Sports Professionals Association, International Sports Professionals Association-ISPA, ISPA, New Year, New Years, Sports, Sports and Media, Sports Careers, Sports Credentials, sports jobs, Sportsmanship, Tiger Woods

This entry was posted on Monday, December 28th, 2009 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.