Celebrity culture in the United States has spiraled out of control. Focusing more closely on athletics, Americans worship and idolize athletes in the arena, on the field, on the racecourse, or in the Stadium. American society makes these competitors into role models by adoring their physical talents and scrutinizing their decisions both on and off the field. They feel the need to pry into the personal lives of these athletes. Americans want to know what athletes wear, who they date, what they drink, etc. But the worst part of this idolatry is that society loves to see the heroes fall. Whenever one of these athletes make a poor decision or makes a mistake, every newspaper, tabloid, and magazine has a feature on that competitor the next day. In addition, there is a profession in which people get paid based on taking compromising pictures of these athletes.
One example of this ridiculous athletes scrutiny is highlighted by the large amount of publicity that follows poor decisions made on the field. For instance, at the end of 2009, after the Patriots played the Bills, Tom Brady faced criticism for his poor decision. Although his team won the game, Brady still faced censure for over a week following the game. Articles stated that he was uncreative with his play calls, made poor decisions, choked under pressure, etc. Apparently, “everybody’s a critic.” Obviously, there is something to playing professional sports that makes it challenging. When playing a game, a match, a race, etc. everything occurs so quickly that mistakes can easily occur whether its making a poor call during a football game, starting a sprint to fast in a race, etc. A competitor makes such a large amount of decisions in the matter of a split second that it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize.
Another highly publicized example is Tiger Woods and his recent scandal in November 2009. This is not defending his choices, but merely stating that who is anyone to judge how Tiger Woods lives his life. At first glance, Tiger Woods crashed his car and rumors of an argument with his wife circulated the web. A few days later, rumors of infidelity spread though the internet, and then finally it was confirmed. Every newspaper, magazine, and tabloid had articles featuring Tiger Woods’ infidelity with lists of the women he had sex with, interviews with his sex partners, and details of how Woods would commit his acts of disloyalty. Despite Woods’ efforts to conceal his mistakes, the media continued to press him until the story finally came out. After this story came about people began to scrutinize his behavior on the golf course. The poor decisions he made in his personal life did not affect his vulgar language on the golf course. He had poor sportsmanship before his infidelities became public, but his vulgar language only became an issue once his loyalty came into question. In any case, it has been two months and new stories about Woods’ scandal are still in the newspapers.
It’s remarkable how quickly rumors spread, how penetrating the media can be, and how quickly people are to judge. These athletes are only human. It is human nature to make mistakes. A human cannot grow and mature without mistakes. Why else would we always create a delete button or an eraser? Mistakes are inevitable, so who is anyone to judge someone else? In the Bible, didn’t Jesus say, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?” I think the questions that America needs to ask itself are, “When is enough, enough? When should someone’s private life remain private?” There should be a line somewhere, shouldn’t there?
Rachael Louie
Social Foundations of Coaching
ND 2010
