(What follows is the prologue from legendary sports law figure Herb Appenzeller’s book Ethical Behavior in Sport. Among the chapters in the book are The Sport Administrator, Coaching Issues, Financial Issues, Disability and Discrimination in Sport, Medical Issues, Legal Issues, Hazing, Violence in Sport and Child Abuse, Parents and Booster Clubs, Equipment and Facilities, and Sportsmanship. Those interested in acquiring the book either for the classroom or personal use should visit: http://www.cap-press.com/books/isbn/9781594604218/Ethical+Behavior+in+Sport)
“The most personal experiences are the most universal.” – David Bills,
Pastor
After seven decades as a teacher, coach, administrator and author, R.H. Jordan put the role of sports in its correct position in 1928 when he wrote:
“If one wishes to know the soundness or weakness of a school, he or she should examine the athletic program of the school. This is the touchstone. No other will do as well. If there is dishonesty, weakness, selfishness, hypocrisy, the story will be told in athletics. If there is truth, honor, courage, self-control, these will be manifested in the games.”
It has been written that “ethics in sport” has seen the most growth and activity of any area today. There are numerous research studies in philosophy and social science that deal with ethical behavior in sport. Philosophers and social scientists produce a wealth of material on the topic.
Some writers point out that ethics is the study of human conduct with an emphasis on what is right and wrong. In many texts, the words fair play and morality stand out and references are made to morality, justice, righteousness and virtue. Emphasis on ethical behavior in sport evolves around basic principles of right action in a particular profession.
As a participant in sport on the high school and collegiate level, a coach on both levels, a sport administrator for 40 years, and an author on sport management and law, I have a special purpose for Ethical Behavior in Sport. Quintilian, a Roman educator, wrote centuries ago that “education is not what you are able to remember, but the things you cannot forget.”This book is about the things I cannot forget after 70 years in the sport industry.
The book is different from other books that deal with the important issues of ethics in sport. It was designed that way and uses meaningful experiences from on-the-job experiences of the author starting with my first varsity high school football game in which I was a part of bigotry and harassment never before experienced. The book uses anecdotes and is filled with personal stories. Thomas Peters and Nancy Austin note in their best seller A Passion for Excellence that stories, as nothing else, reveal what is important to an institution. They believe, as do I, that stories convey to the reader the mistakes and successes of the past so that others can profit from them. Bob Gingher, a book editor for the Greensboro News & Record, writes that “no one develops learning tools by rote, but again by examples and by the story:’ He concludes “stories are the indispensable tools of teachers and students, without them there is no such thing as moral imagination.”
It is my hope that the stories recalled that raise ethical questions will enable the reader to relate to moral dilemmas and ethical questions encountered in his or her life. I hope the reader will form opinions on the decisions made and profit from the experiences presented in the book.
