Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Metcalf- Athletes in Politics
I think that it is very acceptable for athletes to makes comments about politics. After all we are given so many views of individuals from the media, don't try and damper the individuals actual views. Granted it is important for an athlete to know that what they say, or sometimes don't say, does have an impact on many people. I also agree that many times to interpretation or criticism of a political argument many times does depend on who is speaking. If the person is very respected it is likely that there opinion and view will be respected, where as less respected athletes may not bring the same respect. All together an athlete has a lot of responsibilities to themselves and the public, but further we as a public should recognize that if we are listening to a popular athlete, do they really know what they are talking about? Or rather, does the professional on TV know what there talking about too? it is our freedom of speech to speak our minds but we as individuals have the responsibility to educate at ourselves with political issues to form our own views, whether they match a popular athlete or TV host.
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I agree with everything Metcalf said, especially the part about how athletes who are well respected will have more people listen to them. I also think that society needs to interpret everything that is said, and not just agree with something that an athlete or tv host is saying, but come up with their own feelings about certain situations.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good point about athletes who have more respect are taken more serious. What this basically means is those who have not embarassed themselves and their team in the media in the past, are given the right to talk about more critical issues and are actually taken serious. For example is Ochocinco was to give a speech on who should be president and why, i dont think very many people would take him serious. On the otherhand if a guy like Peyton Manning talked about our countries economic struggles, people would value what he said more than ochocinco. I think that athletes who address serious issues, and dont have serious care about that issue, jepardize the credibility of other athletes who do care and stand for what they talk about.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a good point Brent. I wonder though should it matter if an athlete is more respected or not? If someone is saying something insightful should we listen regardless?
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