Blog 7.3 Should Tanking Be Allowed In Any Sports?

Today, sports are about money. The more you win, the more fan base you have, and the more money you make. When a team losses, or is in the lowest ranking spots players, coaches, and everyone else involved with the team loses money. Plus, coaches often do not last long with their team. The managers and owners will fire the coaches and try to get someone “better”.

 “Tanking” is when a team purposely loses games to help advance them later. A team may want to lose to another simply to shift who they may play later. It tends to be most prominent in basketball, but can be found in all sports.

Most sports fans and officials frown on Tanking. When a team intentionally lowers their playing abilities, it is considered unethical, dishonest, and downright cheating. Others feel that it is nothing more than a strategic move to get their team in better standings later.

Tanking has gone beyond the professional teams. Recently in the news, two girls high school basketball teams were caught losing on purpose. They did it to avoid playing the top ranked team during the play offs.  Both teams were suspended and fined.

So, should Tanking be considered a tactical maneuver, or cheating? “What is Good? What is evil? Nietzsche says that depends on your perspective. Rosenstand, N., (2013) Chapter 10 (p. 497)

I think that it is unethical. I also feel that it is teaching our youth that you can be rewarded for cheating. I mean, aren’t high school sports supposed to be teaching teamwork, good sportsmanship, integrity, ethics, morals, and values?

Most negative role models are thought to be teaching ethical and moral lessons. As described in Rosenstand, N., (2013) chapter 10, Box 10.2 (p. 479) The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Adan and Eve have undesirable characters, but the lesson learned are “good “. Tanking teaches just the opposite. It encourages teams to manipulate the system and get compensation for doing it.

References:

ABC News, 2 Prep Girls Teams Caught Tanking, Banned From Postseason (Feb 2015)     Retrieved from:

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/prep-girls-teams-caught-tanking-banned-postseason-29174239
 

Deeks, M., What actually is tanking, and which NBA teams actually do it? (Jan 2014)  Retrieved from:

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/1/10/5266770/nba-draft-lottery-tanking-gm
 

Rosenstrand, N. (2013) The Moral of the Story, pp. 497, 479