Athletic Sponsors Need to Support Fair Play
Nathan Ridenour
ENG 101 2:00
Professor Taber
2/26/13
Athletic sponsors need to support fair play When I was younger I wanted so badly to be a professional athlete. I desired the fame and the enjoyment of being able to play a sport for a job instead of being in the everyday workforce. If I were to find out that the people I looked up to had cheated and were being dishonest about how they got to where they were, and the success they achieved, it would have crushed me. Lance Armstrong is a world known cyclist that has won several Tour de France races. Recently Armstrong has come forward and admitted to the use of illegal substances in order to enhance his performance in his professional cycling career. Tito Morales wrote an editorial titled “After Lance Armstrong doping: Time for Nike to just do it – fairly” about Armstrong and states that Nike’s endorsement of the athlete holds them somewhat accountable for his actions. Tito describes in his article the reasons why he feels Nike should give the public answers and take actions in light of these events (Morales 1). Morales presents a solid argument for his case by using the rhetorical appeals of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos and backs those appeals up with the strategies of assertions, authorities, and anecdotes. In Morales’ article, he utilizes Ethos in a few different instances. An effective strategy that he practices is when he uses illustrations of times that Armstrong admitted to his enhancing drug use (Morales 1). The fact that Armstrong admitted to the offense that Morales is talking about gives him a lot of credibility for his argument up front. At one point in his article, Morales uses Travis Tygart who is the CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency as an authority for his claim that Nike and Armstrong need to provide more answers to the common people that not only support the company, but the athlete with a household name as well (Morales 1). Another example of an authority is Morales’ quote by scientist Don
ENG 101 2:00
Professor Taber
2/26/13
Athletic sponsors need to support fair play When I was younger I wanted so badly to be a professional athlete. I desired the fame and the enjoyment of being able to play a sport for a job instead of being in the everyday workforce. If I were to find out that the people I looked up to had cheated and were being dishonest about how they got to where they were, and the success they achieved, it would have crushed me. Lance Armstrong is a world known cyclist that has won several Tour de France races. Recently Armstrong has come forward and admitted to the use of illegal substances in order to enhance his performance in his professional cycling career. Tito Morales wrote an editorial titled “After Lance Armstrong doping: Time for Nike to just do it – fairly” about Armstrong and states that Nike’s endorsement of the athlete holds them somewhat accountable for his actions. Tito describes in his article the reasons why he feels Nike should give the public answers and take actions in light of these events (Morales 1). Morales presents a solid argument for his case by using the rhetorical appeals of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos and backs those appeals up with the strategies of assertions, authorities, and anecdotes. In Morales’ article, he utilizes Ethos in a few different instances. An effective strategy that he practices is when he uses illustrations of times that Armstrong admitted to his enhancing drug use (Morales 1). The fact that Armstrong admitted to the offense that Morales is talking about gives him a lot of credibility for his argument up front. At one point in his article, Morales uses Travis Tygart who is the CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency as an authority for his claim that Nike and Armstrong need to provide more answers to the common people that not only support the company, but the athlete with a household name as well (Morales 1). Another example of an authority is Morales’ quote by scientist Don
Cited: Morales, Tito. Time for Nike to Just Do it – Fairly. Print.