WEEK2.1DQ

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS THOROUGHLY

USE SCHOLARLY SOURCES

STRICT APA FORMAT

USE RUBRIC AS A GUIDE

“Winning isn’t everything.. . . it’s the only thing.”

This oft-quoted phrase, attributed to both Henry (Red) Sanders, coach of the UCLA Bruins and
Vince Lombardi, coach of the Green Bay Packers, sums up the fervor with which fans, athletes,
coaches, parents, and others approach sport.

Many individuals believe that the goal of sports is to win, no matter what that costs. Others
believe that other aspects of sports should be the focus, such as effort and teamwork. While
sports contests are designed to determine who wins, it is important to concentrate on the
process by which the winning takes place. Yes, winning is important, but so is the process,
particularly if participants wish to act ethically. Sport administrators are often caught in the
middle when it comes to this debate over winning versus sportsmanship. This is a debate that
can get quite heated when a drive to win a game or a season or a big event appears to be in
jeopardy over less-tangible concerns such as fairness or safety. As a sport administrator, you
will need to understand your responsibility for the actions of others, the rights of all you serve,
as well as concepts such as sportsmanship, gamesmanship, and fair play.

“I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating.“ —Sophocles

The phrase “foul ball” took on a different connotation at the 2015 Little League World Series
when a girls’ softball team from Snohomish, Washington, was accused of cheating in a playoff
game. Interestingly, the team allegedly cheated to lose, not win, but the intention was likely to
set up a better situation for the next round of play by allowing an inferior team to be their next
opponent. The Snohomish team was ordered to play an additional game with its rival, a team
from Iowa, and lost, thus being eliminated from the series (Mather, 2015).

The United States is, of course, not the only nation to have scandals erupt over cheating.
Research reveals scandals from other nations across the world, from a German man posing as
a woman in the 1936 Berlin Olympics high jump to a Puerto Rican 400-meter relay racer
substituting her identical twin sister to run in the 1984 Los Angeles games after she was injured
(Klein, 2012).

Cheating, then, is a universal breach of ethics common in sports. Not only is the practice
universal, but in all of these instances there were likely opportunities for a leader to prevent
these occurrences had these individuals been able to analyze the dilemmas and apply values
consistently. As a sport administrator, you will not be able to avoid ethical dilemmas
completely. Decisions can be made in a more informed, reasoned way when you have a deep
understanding of different models that you can rely on as a basis

1. Klein, C. (2012). Shortcuts to the Gold: 9 cheaters in Olympic history. Retrieved from
history.com

2. Mather, V. (2015, August 18). Little League softball scandal ends in elimination for the
accused. Retrieved from nytimes.com

> Use the Weekly Learning Materials to video to help you with this Discussion.

Instructions

For this Discussion, conduct online research to select one article on an ethical dilemma
involving cheating, and one article on winning in sport. Your example should not be related to
the “Big 4” U.S. sports: football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. Rather, you should reach
beyond to seek an article on an international sport and/or a lesser known sport in the United
States or an international sport not always featured predominantly in the media.

By Tuesday, 11:59 p.m. ET:

Post a brief description of the article and provide the citation. In this situation, how did
perspectives on the importance of winning influence the outcome of the situation and ethical
decision making? Describe an ethical theory from your Learning Materials and explain how it
applies to the situation in the article. Explain the ethical dilemma or dilemmas involved
including the values in conflict. Finally, explain your own perspective on the importance of
winning, the ramifications of cheating and how this perspective might influence your ethical
decision making.

Instructor Name: Point Value: 30

Student Name:

CATEGORY Excellent (12–11 points) Good (10–9 points) Fair (8–7 points) Poor (6–1 points) Did Not Complete (0 points) # of points

Content Quality

40% of total Discussion

grade

Student participated in the

Discussion about the presented

topic with detailed, relevant,

supported initial posts and

responses. Student enhanced

points with examples and

questions that helped further

discussion. Discussion is well

organized, uses scholarly tone,

follows APA style, uses original

writing and proper paraphrasing,

contains very few or no writing

and/or spelling errors, and is fully

consistent with graduate-level

writing style. Discussion contains

multiple, appropriate and

exemplary sources

expected/required for the

assignment.

Student participated in the

Discussion about the presented

topic with detailed, relevant,

supported initial posts and

responses. Discussion is mostly

consistent with graduate level

writing style. Discussion may have

some small or infrequent

organization, scholarly tone, or

APA style issues, and/or may

contain a few writing and spelling

errors, and/or somewhat less than

the expected number of or type of

sources.

Student participated in the

Discussion about the presented

topic with adequate content but

the content lacked either detail,

relevancy, or support. Discussion

is somewhat below graduate level

writing style, with multiple smaller

or a few major problems.

Discussion may be lacking in

organization, scholarly tone, APA

style, and/or contain many writing

and/or spelling errors, or shows

moderate reliance on quoting vs.

original writing and paraphrasing.

Discussion may contain inferior

resources (number or quality).

Content of student’s post and

responses was not clear, relevant,

or supported. Discussion is well

below graduate level writing style

expectations for organization,

scholarly tone, APA style, and

writing, or relies excessively on

quoting. Discussion may contain

few or no quality resources.

Student did not submit a post or

response.

CATEGORY Excellent (12–11 points) Good (10–9 points) Fair (8–7 points) Poor (6–1 points) Did Not Complete (0 points) # of points

Engagement

40% of total Discussion

grade

Student participated actively as

evidenced by strong reflective

thought in both the initial post and

in responses to classmates’ posts.

Student response participation

exceeded the stated minimum

requirements.

Student participated actively as

evidenced by strong reflective

thought in both the initial post and

in responses to classmates’

posts.Student responses

contributed to classmates’

experience.

Student participated somewhat

actively as evidenced by posts

and responses that were adequate

but lacking strong reflective

thought.

Student did not participate actively

as evidenced by little reflective

thought in initial posts and

responses.

Student did not submit a post or

response.

CATEGORY Excellent (6 points) Good (5 points) Fair (4 points) Poor (3–1 points) Did Not Complete (0 points) # of points

Timeliness

20% of total Discussion

grade

All postings were made in time for

others to read and

respond.

Almost all postings were made in

time for others to read and

respond.

Most postings were made in time

for others to read and respond.

Few postings were made in time

for others to read and respond.

Student did not submit a post or

response.

Final Point Total: 0

Feedback

KIN 606: Ethical Decision Making in Sport – Discussion Rubric Weeks 1–7