The idea that competitive sports build character, a Western tradition dating from ancient Greece, has evidently fallen out of fashion in today's US. Educators, now prone to see the kind of character shaped by football and basketball in a dark light , have challenged the notion that college sports produce interesting people. Prominent athletes, such as boxer Muhammad Ali and basketball star Charles Barkley, deliberately distanced themselves from the earlier ideal of the athlete as a model figure. Today's US athlete is thus content to be an entertainer. Trying to do something socially constructive, like being a role model, will make you seem overearnest and probably hurt your street credibility .
竞技体育塑造品格这一可追溯到古希腊的西方传统思想,在今日的美国已经明显地不再是时尚了。如今那些反对橄榄球、篮球所塑造的品格的教育家们,已经向“大学体育造就令人感兴趣的人”这一观念提出挑战。杰出的运动员们,例如拳王阿里、篮球明星巴克利,都刻意使自己远离先前“做一名为人表率的运动员”这一理想。今天的美国运动员是如此满足于当一名表演艺人。努力做一些于社会具有建设性的事情,比如成为人们的榜样,将使你看起来过于正统,也许会有损你在追星族中的声望。 |