The Modern day Sacred Truce

In one of my first classes in my master’s degree we were asked to write a paper on the influence of our industry, for me that was sports. I remember in my paper claiming that I believed that sports had the power to stop wars. The professor highlighted that part and noted that he would love to see proof of such thing. Well it turns out that in the 8^th century B.C. the city-states of Greece signed the Sacred Truce, a document that would end the war during the reformation of the Olympics. With the intensions of stopping the fighting in Beirut, even if it is just for a day, May El-Khalil is the modern embodiment of the Sacred Truce.

May El-Khalil explains in her TED video how running has been an inspiration for her through her life. The impact that her injury had in her life was monumental because it inspired her to dream big in life as well. She believed that a marathon could help bring people together even with their political and religious differences. She also discusses some of the obstacles she encountered while organizing the marathon. She mentions how at the time most of the country was unfamiliar with the term marathon. She solved this by visiting remote villages and even the president of Lebanon to help educate them on the sport. She also uses her personal story to empathize with others and helps them share their story. The marathon did not just help May El-Khalil overcome her injuries, it also help show the world the desire of the Lebanese people to live in peace. With this event, she exemplified how the Lebanese people could come together as one.

In conclusion, May El-Khalil found a way to share the values she had learned from being a runner. She used her injury as a motivation to help others and determination to put together a marathon. May El-Khalil is an inspiration to athletes around the globe. Her contributions to the people of Lebanon have made her a modern day hero, and she has paved the way for modern day Sacred Truces.

Cheating, it happens.

My last blog post discussed the issues the NFL has had in the past few years with players’ actions off the field. However, what about when these poor decisions make it on to the playing field? The NFL has struggle with cheating at the player and organization level. Quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots allegedly carried out the most recent act cheating. After the 2015 AFC game balls were found to be deflated, it is likely that the NFL and Brady will have a lot of explaining to do.

This is not the first time the NFL has found one of its players to be guilty of cheating. It is the first time that the league will have to deal with its most popular player cheating. Cheating in sports is not only reserved to the NFL. Take the recent PED scandal in the MLB. This included names of well-known players like Alex Rodriguez. Alex was found guilty by the league to have tampered with evidence related to the investigation of PED usage. The MLB was swift at handing down a suspension to Rodriguez and made an example out of him. Another example of cheating in sports is the story of the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox’s. the majority of the team was allegedly guilty of fixing the World Series in order to protest not having received their payment for the season. This became one of the most infamous stories of cheating in the world of sports. Many of the players believed to be involved were banned from the MLB for life.

In conclusion, I believe that sports are a true measure of the human spirit and its will. Someone once told me that in sports everyone cheats. To believe this is to tell myself that the human spirit is more willing to cheat in order to win. When we look at this issue in professional sports, we must also remember that the actions of our favorite team or athletes are a reflection of their fans and their city.

NFL struggles to be proactive

In the past two years the NFL has seen an alarming rise in off-the field issues involving its players. Some of the most notable ones are the Ray Rice elevator incident and Ray McDonald’s sexual assault cases. The NFL has worked in the past few years to eliminate the risk of concussions and the frequency of which they occur. Numerous changes to the rulebook have been added to protect players and to provide evidence that the league is working towards eliminating the issue. We can applaud the NFL in their efforts to lower to improve player safety, but sadly, we cannot say the same about its effort on maintaining player discipline off the field.

Last off season the league experience a string of domestic abuse including an incident involving running back Adrian Peterson and one of his children. The league and the commissioner, Roger Goodell, were under heavy criticism because of the poor way the league handled its cases of domestic abuse involving its players. This off-season Greg hardy will be returning to the football field as a Dallas Cowboy, but not without the league handing down a ten game suspension for his involvement on a domestic abuse case last year. The biggest problem the NFL had last year during the stretch of off the field issues was the way in which the league was handling their punishments for these players. The league was presented with an opportunity to be proactive this time around. The league handed him a 10 game suspension to essentially punish his actions, which were labeled “detrimental to the league”.

In the end, the NFL has done many things to curve its public perception on player safety and they have worked for the most part. Unfortunately, This change came only after public demand for a change. Now that the NFL faces a new issue that it must be taken care of I can’t help but wonder if they will ever be proactive about issues, which are essentially “detrimental to the league.

Welcome note.

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