The media look for an athlete’s strengths and weaknesses, things that make them unique such as their individual elements and cultural influences.
The media have turned many sports men and women into celebrities. They attract attention for sponsors and advertisers.
Some athletes may feel that they need to go a little bit further or try harder to be better than other athletes who may have a lot of sponsorship offers etc and feel they need to boost their performance level in order to become one of these role models yet go the wrong way about it. Some feel forced to take drugs in order to enhance their performance. This does not set a good example to children on any other fans especially when it is found out by the press etc. It sets out the totally wrong sort of behaviour and may even lead to disqualification for a long period of time for that athlete or even a bad time for the team also and will not help that team with publicity and the funding side of things. Professional athletes should set out a positive image to their fans and should show the right sort of attitude to have. Athlete’s attitudes change due to all the fame and then turn to drugs for stupid reasons to get more noticed and to maintain their high status. They unfortunately then become a massive let down to many people and a big disgrace. When athletes start playing for the money and fame, they forget about the pure enjoyment of the sport of which was why they started in the first place. The media can show an athlete to turn from a hero to a zero. Athletes forget about the rules of the sport and start using and abusing performance enhancing substances. Their performance on and off the pitch is watched by all and have hardly any privacy. They take drugs for social reasons and then performance enhancers for training improvements and to gain a better and higher level of skill and performance during competition. There are many different drugs that are banned including stimulants which help speed up an athlete’s reaction time, narcotic analgesics which kill pain, anabolic agents which increase muscle size, Polypeptide hormones which are similar to anabolic steroids and EPO and diuretics which help athlete’s weight loss. Also beta blockers which lowers heart rate, corticosteroids help reduce pain, alcohol and marijuana both calm nerves, these are also restricted substances for sports performers along with blood doping. Drug tests can be taken at any time and by refusing to give urine sample is just as serious as failing a drug test as it shows you have something to hide. Many athletes have been found and accused of taking illegal substances. Some of these athletes are Athletic Ben Johnson found guilty of taking steroids, Edgar Davids a footballer who took nandrolone was also found positive. Another incident of drug testing was when footballer Rio Ferdinand ‘accidentally’ missed his test and later on, the media got hold of information containing his latest phone calls made on his mobile which were to a private doctor around the time of his test which he did not turn up for. I think it would be a lot easier to stand up to what they may have done as the truth would be found in the end and that they look just as guilty for avoiding the tests. Drug taking has many side effects. They can make a person have various mood swings, become addicted to drugs, get liver, heart and kidney problems, higher, lower blood pressure, infertility, cancer, depression and many more. Some athletes take drugs when socializing in clubs, in the home just for the enjoyment side of it and then some take them to enhance performance on the field in order to reach a goal.
Fans look at professional athletes as role models and some one to imitate. Every one likes to develop and follow some one else’s lead in order to succeed in something or develop new skills. Professional sports people gain support from their fans who come to watch them perform and even buy things advertised by them so it is important that the athletes shows great respect to all, abide by all rules, wear appropriate clothing while in the eye of the press and fans, and also to have appropriate manners. If fans see any athlete taking drugs, treating any other team member, coach, official, other clubs with disrespect, they start to look at the athlete in diverse way as they are not then the role model they first thought they were. This can lead to a reduced level of publicity, sponsors and an increased level of bad publicity. If team members don’t work together and try to be better than another team member, their team cohesion will fade and success will decline. If fans see their favourite team being beaten, miss hap from their favourite player, some react and start shouting abuse. For example when David Beckham missed a free kick for Manchester United and a supporter started shouting foul things about the health of his baby. David then made a rude gesture. Behaviour like this is bad yet he reacted in the only way he felt was appropriate. The whole world turned against him all down to a missed free kick and a rude gesture. He could have made things a little easier for himself by trying to ignore comments from the crowd and preparing him self for any other comments and questions he may have been asked afterwards explaining that no one is perfect and not everyone can get a goal on target every attempt. Mistakes do happen and people have to move past them in order to improve in the future. Encouragement and motivation should be shown from all players and athletes to help gain confidence and self esteem and also to improve their overall and future performance. If an athlete acts in a racist or an ill mannered way, they are not going to get the support from their fans that they want. This can be a great disadvantage as it could prevent the team working together, reaching a certain level and selection from managers. Many football players get aggressive on the field while playing, if things don’t work the way they planned etc. Many free kicks and penalties are given for players tripping up the opposition and many incidents break into fights. Spectator aggression revolves around the sport aggression. Van Nistelrooy gave away a free kick for a deliberate handball. The Manchester United captain Roy Keane and his repeat performance of harassing the referee’s. This is not setting a good example to his team members or any one watching.
Another example is killing the ball in rugby. Neil Back purposely held onto ball to prevent opposition getting the rugby ball. An Australian scrum half purposely stood on Matt Dawson’s foot during feeding the scrum causing a fight between both teams.
The sporting world needs non aggressive role models for young athletes. Remove negative reinforcements in order to provoke aggressive play. Workshops should be organised for coaches, athletes, parents and referees. To take charge of spectator aggression, alcohol should be strictly banned, families should be allowed to attend, treat all opposition and fans as equals no matter their age, gender, sex, race and ability, point out when the media may build up the tension in which making it a lot worse so hold media responsible.
Children pick up a lot of bad habits of what the media zoom in on at a match, which they think make great stories, professional athletes mouthing obscenities in reaction to an official's call etc. If athletes cannot behave while in the eye of fans and press, then maybe they should not be professional athletes at all.
