Ethics and Sportsmanship

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ETHICS AND SPORTSMANSHIP The moral values and principles that we develop, the experiences that we have while growing up shape up our sense of judgment of right or wrong. It defines our actions and reactions. This sense of judgment is called “Ethics”. Being ethical means to always be able to do the “right thing” and uphold the values of duty and virtue. However, it is easier said than done. Being ethical is not always simple. In fact, it can get fairly complicated at times. It needs to a strong presence of character and more than just the ordinary vigilance to uphold the ethical values. Duty refers to keep on doing the right thing and following the ethical principles, while holding minimal expectations of the end result. These principles are the six pillars of character: * Respect * Responsibility * Trustworthiness * Fairness * Caring * Good Citizenship Although being dutiful and ethical is in itself a big task, when a person achieves excellence beyond his sense of duty or what ethics need him to do, is when one attains virtue. One such example of exemplary display of virtue was during 1964 Olympic games. It was a two-man bobsled event during the Winter Olympics. Tony Nash was the driver of the British team and Italian team’s bobsledder was Eugenio Monti. During the event, the British team had accidentally broken a side bolt on the axle. When Monti heard this, considering he had already completed his last run, he took the bolt out of his axle and sent it to Nash. Nash’s team ended up winning gold for that match, which Monti’s team won bronze. Monti accepted this ethically saying that Nash won because he deserved it. Fundamentals of Ethics: Discernment and Will Power Discernment: In the situations where there is no one right thing to do, a person should be morally sound to distinguish more right from less right. In sports, there is no
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