Number One Basketball Team In The Nation example essay topic

Corruption: The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery. In the film Blue Chips corruption overshadows true meaning of sports tournament. There are two challenging issues in the film dealing with money and morals. Bribery is used to save the athletic reputation of the university. A college basketball coach finds himself battling between his morals, integrity of the team and institution he works for. Pete Bell a basketball coach at Western University.

Coach Bell has an impeccable reputation at WU, coaching the number one basketball team in the nation. During his coaching career, WU has won two national championships; eight conference titles and has never had a losing season. His life passion is basketball and his greatest fear is losing a tournament. Making a six-figure salary and being responsible for a team that 15,000 people came to watch, one could say he was completely pleased. His work was honored especially the way he always played by the rules. He knew of many coaches that would bribe their recruits or players for fixed games.

Bell despised coaches who played parts in such corruption. During one season his greatest fear came reality. His team lost, this was a major failure to WU Corruption: The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery. His team lost, this was a major failure to WU's reputation, contributing Alumni's and the fans. The media criticized him because of his team's performance. Coach Bell could not face another embarrassment he took it upon himself to recruit three new players for the next season.

The potential recruits were portrayed in stereotypical manner. Butch a very smart black student and excellent ball player but had a tough life growing up with a single mom in the projects. Ricki white young man grew up on a farm, in the south came from racist home had no interest in going to college. Neon a black young man also from the south excellent ball player but lacks the intelligence to even get into college. Butch and Ricki have one thing in common they know how many universities want them on their teams. When coach Bell flew out to meet the recruits and their families, they want more than just an athletic scholarship for their sons.

Butch's mother tells coach she would like a home with a lawn. Ricki's father wants a new tractor and some cash. Bell's never been faced with these demands in his career. Material goods and money have never influenced the decisions of potential recruits. Coach Bell was faced with the pressure of living up to WU winning reputation and his moral belief in playing by the rules.

There were no losers at Western University and these recruits were the best around. These players meant winning, saving the reputation of his career and meeting the expectation of others. Alumni, fans, and university officials were expecting the team to win the tournament. Bell gave in, he but his moral beliefs aside. He was informed that the some powerful Alumni politicians and business executives could meet the demands of the players. These Alumni called themselves friends of the program, they would do whatever possible to make sure WU was number one.

By using their money to help out coach Bell they now had control of him and his team. Untraceable done Butch's mother received home with a lawn and job in an office building. Ricki's father received a new tractor, a new car and $30,000 cash. Neon did not have any demands but was given a new Lexus and special tutoring to help improve his SAT scores. After the bribes the players chose to play for WU. To the players accepting the bribes was a form of improving their life styles.

If WU didn't agree other schools would have met their demands. Bell saw the players as a knife with double edges. If he didn't use these players to win, their competition would use them against his team. His love for basketball became an obsession to win. Competition and greed from others influenced his beliefs.

This issue affects our lives in society. Why do we compete? To win, don't we feel good when our favoring team wins or when we compete and win. How many people like to lose? As far as I know none.

We compete with others for working positions, for the better, higher paying positions. The greedy members of society believe you must succeed by all means necessary. Thus is true of the film, which demonstrates one must win by all means. The Alumni's had control over the team and him. Money became the objective of the game. Buying in the players meant making WU remain number one in the nation.

Everyone that supported WU would be happy. Doesn't money buy happiness? That's the message being sent in the film. We are not classified by who has a better personality. We are classified by our economic status. Thanks to bribes Butch was now a member of the middle class instead of the poor class in the projects.

Ricki also had a change of social class because of basketball corruption. Overall the impact on the audience is that money can make a difference in our lives. Money can influence the way people make decisions. Money can influence the school we attend, the career path we choose. The film demonstrates the power money can have even with what once were pure sports.

The views we have about people can be impacted by money. Society believes those that have money are the winners in life..