Bahamut: Sports Bad Boys in the Public Eye

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

I'm an avid sports fan. I can watch pretty much anything that involves a ball, particularly rugby and cricket. I love sport because of the competitve effort in the quest for victory. And because it's fun.

What I don't like is opening my paper to see world renowned athletes been involved in one scandal after another. Last week was especially detrimental to the image of many sports as it's leading lights are exposed as cheats, either on the pitch or away from it. Manchester United football Wayne Rooney has been accussed of cheating on his wife, joining JohnTerry, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and half of the England team in being on the front page instead of the back. This in the same week infamous love rat Tiger Woods is preparing for the Ryder Cup and the barrage of abuse he will recieve at Celtic Manor. Boxer Ricky Hatton has been snapped snorting cocaine, and the worlds of cricket and rugby are in uproar over the match-fixing and Bloodgate saga's respectively. And don't even get me started on athletics.

All of these controversies and dramas have been exposed to us the public by the press, either through the constant pursuit of celebrity lives, contact with someone selling their shocking story, or sometimes specially set up 'stings' to catch perpetrators. This can be viewed as a valuable public information service, but many see it as an invasion of privacy and would rather 'let sleeping celebrities' lie. Stories are often blown out of proportion or turned into a witch-hunt, and can have huge reprecussions for all involved.

So my topic for debate is this: [b]Should celebrities be held responsible for their actions as role models, or are the media too intrusive into celebrity lives and should be restricted in their reporting? [/b]

I know where I stand on this: as an international sportsman, you should know better and be more responsible, not be so arrogant to consider yourself above the moral and ethical standards of society. The media is part and parcel of your profession and are totally within their rights to report stories like the above. Let's face it, these international superstars can often look desperate to get in the news when it suits them, such as selling their wedding photos to every rag going. If you don't want to be villified by the press and public, don't be doing naughty stuff. Simple eh?

I will leave you with the following quote from one of the media's favourite celebrity bad girls, Lindsay Lohan, upon her arrest for speeding under the influence of drink/drugs:

'I'm a celebrity, I can do what the f... I want!'

No you can't love. No you can't.

Matt Bahamut

[MarbleZone]

Topic approved, sorry for the delay.

[Blaze Pyro]

I hate it how the press follow celebrities and also how so many people care what this person they don't even know is doing.

There's not much that can be done but I think the celebrities should only be blamed for setting bad examples not for the newspapers trailing them around.

[Ghoulish]

i know everyone is entitled to privacy, but the real perception of "sport is personified through the players, they are roile models to children, even though their actions may not cause any real harm to fans, good behaviour is a small price to pay for millions of dollars isn't it?

[Uchiha Sasuke XII]

Yeah, I get it. I mean, celebrities are humans just like each one of us. We love, we [s]are idiots[/s] make mistakes and we certainly aren't perfect. (Refer to my stupid mistakes on my 1 on 1 against Laevatein) But the press and all force those poor chumps to be role models and never have even a private moment. That's why some people *coughmecough* like staying out of the limelight.

[Jaime Duferier]

I think... NO!
It is perverse and intruding, and if they want to live there lives, the media shouldn't bother them for views/readers. It is and invasion of privacy, which I think is probably against the law.

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

Wow, this thread has finally kicked into action, only took a month.

I agree that the press often make a mountain out of a molehill, and do try to expose people to sell copies. The girl who Wayne Rooney had a thing with has apparently been asked to appear on the next series of 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here', as long as she spills all on camera. (Insert puking smiley).

A lot of what the media is probably against the law, but then again a lot of what celebrities do is against the law (i.e. beating up DJ's and other random people, speeding/drink-driving, etc) but yet they always miraculously get off lightly.

Footballer Marlon King has recently been released from a short stay in prison after sexual harressmant and consequent assualt of the lady who dared rejected his advances. As to why he was out drinking in the first place: he was celebrating his wife's pregnancy!!! Beggers belief don't it?

I just think that the vast majority of celebrities are, unfortunately, complete and utter morons. The only people who exceed their stupidity are the people who buy mags like Heat and OK! and are the demand for all this rubbish.

[Catterjune]

The media is merely catering to what the masses want. The masses love to see a good celebrity scandal, so the media provides it. With more viewers, readers, listeners, whatever you wanna call them, the media can now charge higher for advertise space. They're just catering to what the public wants.

The big problem would be why do so many enjoy seeing and reading about celebrity scandals?

[Jaime Duferier]

one word=

SLOTH

we have grown lazy as a species. we read about things like this, not just because we want to, but because we have nothing better to do apart from ruin our heroes lives.

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

Guess what, I'm going to stick it to Wayne Rooney... again.

Wednesday - 'I want to leave Manchester United because I don't believe the current squad (of international stars and world's best yound talent) can match my ambitions (and because my missus is probably fed up of the gossip)...'

Friday - 'I am delighted to be signing a new contract (worth approximately £175,000 a week) with Manchester United. I never meant what I said, really I didn't. It was all taken out of context, or mis-translated, or...'

I don't support Manchester United (or football at all because it's such a bloody soap opera and is usually quite boring to watch anyway) but I think Rooney and his agent have pretty much blackmailed a hugh pay-rise out of the club. Way to treat your mates, your bosses, and your fans.

Debate expanded to discuss greed and lack of morals in sport.

[Uchiha Sasuke XII]

Humans are greedy, let's admit it. Once we get something, we keep trying to get more. So Rooney's little money incident is all human instinct. Face it, if someone offered that much money to any one of us, we'll definitely accept it. Aaaaand...Nani from Man Utd, Cristiano Ronaldo and others like diving for the win. Talk about fair play.

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

I just don't understand greed. I mean, what on earth can you actually [u]DO[/u] with £175,000 a week? There are only so many fast cars and holiday homes you can have. Ok I know you lose a lot of it to tax and agent fees, but then you can top it up again in sponsorship and image rights.

Diving - Is not punished sufficently in this country. Divers who act like their in such pain should recieve the same treatment as horses who've fallen down in a race and be put out of [s]their[/s] my bloomin misery.

I just laugh at pundit's holier-than-thou attitude to it, about 'how it's a foreign thing', and when you tell them that Gerrard, Owen, J.Cole, etc dive constantly, they just say 'well the foreigners get away with it so we're just trying to level the playing field'. Shut up.

This is why I've quit football and started playing rugby. You batter the hell out of each other for 80 minutes in a hard but fair manner, then shake hands with your opposite number afterwards and buy them a pint (of lemonade in my case ). I admit there are cheats and thugs in pro rugby as well, but not as wide-spread as in football (that reminds me I haven't laid into Joey Barton in all this).