The article is titled I Say Forbidden Things About Sports, and he does! Here are the six actual benefits:
- To promote physical fitness and healthy living
- To celebrate the values of sportsmanship and fair play—because these will make athletes better human beings, better citizens, and better participants in their communities.
- To teach the benefits of unselfish teamwork and counter the intense promotion of selfish individual behavior in society.
- To show youngsters how to deal with defeat and setbacks (as well as winning)—because they will face these again and again in life.
- To bond together a community—both among fans and between opponents by the goodwill created via fair competitions.
- To instill valuable life habits of discipline, hard work, courage, and persistence.
Instead, notes Gioia, the young athletes are taught that:
- Winning is more important than anything.
- There’s no value in losing. Losers get the ridicule and mockery they deserve.
- Maybe you need to play on a team, but rewards will depend on your success and fame as an individual—so always look out for your own selfish interests.
- Healthy living is okay, but don’t let it keep you from clubbing and late-night partying—because those are the perks of the athlete’s life.
- Cheating will enhance all these beneifts (sic!) — just don’t get caught.
How very true. To take NBA, an American sport with which I am the most familiar, you can see it in the large swings in score when the losing team snaps and realizes they can’t win the game and therefore they don’t even try.
Do read the whole thing.