Ethics and the athlete: Why sports are more than a game but less than a war

John Wooden once said, "Your reaction to victory or defeat is an important part of how you play the game. I wanted my players to display style and class in either situation - to lose with grace, to win with humility" [9]. With respect to assessing the ethical nature of an athlete's conduct, we have tried to demonstrate how the moral and social stakes of sports place them above games and below wars. We believe that our six precepts form a practical framework for appreciating the complex ethics of athletes and assessing the moral status of the individual athlete's behavior. There is, however, no substitute for good judgment, developed by refining moral intuitions through careful thought and genuine experience.