Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Fake or Fraud

I had an ethic professor who pushed the issue of integrity in sports. To push us, he asked about the ethic of deliberately fooling your opponent through a no look pass, or a play-action football play. He argued that we accepted it simply because it got desirable results.

I struggled as he spoke to really see his point. It wasn't just that getting a bounce pass into the post would be harder if you couldn't fake. You also run into a scary question, "How responsible am I for the conclusions others will make?" If a team knows the opponent will assume they are running the ball because of the formation they are in, is the team then obligated to run it? It seems that a good fake is part of the game, reminding the opponent to keep the eye on the ball and be prepared for the unpredictability of the game.

However, I just don't know how I feel watching the clip below. Perhaps you could argue the opponent could have known the rules and therefore stopped the play. Perhaps I'm only bothered because the players are fairly young in age.

However, I just can't imagine, if this was the game winning touchdown, that I would be able to sit in front of my locker feeling like we really got the best of our opponent. It wouldn't be so much and issue of skill or strategy, but of trickery. What do you think?




video clip HT: Justin Taylor

2 comments:

LivingProofYouth said...

After watching the video, that play rubs me the wrong way. There are lots of things that, while they aren't forbidden by the rulebook, aren't very honorable. I guess growing up playing sports, coaches not only talked to us about following the rules, but by playing the game the "right way." I feel like this was more than just a trick play, but rather it was a choice by an adult coach to make young boys on the other team look foolish on the play. I can't say if it was right or wrong, but I don't have a lot of respect for the coach that thought up the play and taught it to a bunch of impressionable young boys. But that's just my opinion.

danny2 said...

does this one sit easier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0UIdI8khMkw