Thursday, December 11, 2008
Q2 Outside reading post: Golden Girl
In her fourth year of college swimming, Natalie Coughlin participated in a big meet even though she was sick. Because her body wasn’t up to it, she swam awful. Many people wondered if this was the best she would ever get. Natalie was offered endorsement deals, and was tempted to take them, even though it meant that she could no longer swim collegiately. Many coaches thought she would take it, and one expert said “Few college athletes, let alone athletes who compete in nonrevenue sports, would think twice about leaving for such a bounty” (9). Natalie had a choice to make. She could either give in and take the deal, or she could do the right thing and keep swimming collegiately and then have a better chance of representing her country at the Olympics. She chose the right thing, and thought of what America would have wanted her to do, so she turned down the deals. Had she had taken the money before, people would have thought of her as someone who was just in the sport for the money, like some Olympians did “As much as she stood out in the water and embraced her role as a star, she worried about being cast as an ordained Olympic hero before her time” (10). She wanted to go into the Olympics with a good reputation, which is what the Country would have wanted from someone going into the Olympics.
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5 comments:
I think it's really interesting that Natalie passed up the endorsements. With how much professional athletes are paid it is rare to find someone who plays a sport just because they enjoy it. Not that professional athletes don't enjoy playing their sport, they just seem to enjoy the perks a little too much some times. I also think that Natalie's success shows that you don't need money or endorsements to be the best at something. All you need is determination.
Natalie's choice to pass up the endorsements would have been a very hard one to make because she did not know how much it would impact her future. Her decision, however, showed us that we can often accomplish our goals all by ourself, and don't need endorsements or any other temptations, to help us reach our goals.
Hmmm! Very nice post-- your opinion really gets readers thinking. (I like your subject, by the way ;)) Society embraces athletes that are in sports just for themselves, without the money or other alternative prompts. And yet isn't Natalie just trying to save public opinion? I don't know if that's the most moral thing to do... though situational wise, I agree with you. If it's between pulling money or pleasing the people, I'm guessing you'd better please the people, and the money will come later. *nods agreeably* Again, very nice! I feel like there's a lot to be debated in whether attempting to be popular is moral or not, and you get all the credit for introducing that argument!
This is a very interesting situation. One question though, what does collegiately mean? Since Natalie Coughlin turned down the deals, that really shows what a great person she truly is. It also shows that all the fame that she is getting isn't going to her head. By choosing her country over many money offers, it shows her patriotism and how much she cares about her country. You brought up a good point on how she will gain a very good reputation by turning the collegiately offers. If she would've have chosen those over the olympics, imagine what she would've been seen as.
I find it interesting that Natalie said no to endorsments but then again she relly loved to swim. I agree with Hannah though that sometimes athletes get abit too much into the money and forget about the thing that got them there. Natalie being so good and the success she had shows that money and power don't mean everything and you can make it to the top without them.
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