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Who Commits Sports Fraud?

Who is the person most likely to commit sports fraud? Is there an established profile? A race or religion or gender? What do the studies say and what have I learned after speaking to audiences for more than 25 years? The answer, as you may suspect, is that no profile exists. Virtually anyone, from the character in the school mascot suit to the athletic director or team doctor for that matter, can commit fraud. Indeed, in recent sports history there has been a mascot who sold drugs (what a cover!) […]

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Brittney Griner, Choices and Consequences

We saw President Biden at the news conference, surrounded by the usual cast of smiling politicians. Brittney Griner has been freed, no small task given the war in Ukraine and the ice-cold relationship between Biden and Putin. We are happy for Griner and her wife, sad for journalist Paul Whelan who was left behind, and angry that a notorious Russian arms dealer, a man indirectly responsible for many deaths was freed to ply his trade once again. In the larger scheme of things, in the greater human drama, it is […]

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Mr. Crypto takes a mega-flop

The latest murmurs from the financial and legal worlds suggest that the disgraced FTX cryptocurrency founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, could be facing a huge chunk of jail time. Some say, “Life.” Many compare him to former Ponzi scheme guru Bernie Madoff. Bankman-Fried appears to have memory problems; when asked, he allegedly has no recollection of what happened to large chunks of investor money. By “large,” we are referring to billions. However, the one thing the FTX company seems to have been successful at is in the area of sports sponsorships. Sam Bankman-Fried […]

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MSU Players Make Bad Decisions

Why Sports Ethics? On October 29, 2022, Michigan beat Michigan State 29-7 in Ann Arbor. The game was over, the players should have shook hands and better luck next year. That’s not what happened. At least seven Michigan State players assaulted Michigan cornerbacks Gemon Green and Ja’Den McBurrows in the tunnel that leads from the field to the locker rooms. The MSU players got beat on the field, so they were determined to strike back long after it didn’t make a difference. They were not going to let the loss […]

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Infantino is on the wrong warpath

“Demands for equality, dignity and compensation cannot be treated as some sort of culture war – they are universal human rights that FIFA has committed to respect in its own statutes,” Amnesty International spokesperson Steve Cockburn As a sports ethics keynote speaker and sports ethics consultant, I suppose I am hypersensitive to deflection. For example, a muscular NFL running back beats his fiancé senseless and unconscious, then claims she instigated it by spitting on him during the pre-beatdown argument. Deflection may be a tool commonly used by the unethical, but […]

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He said and she said, and there goes reputation

The situation resulting in the San Antonio Spurs terminating Joshua Primo is a classic case of He Said/She Said that never needed to happen. That said, he is 19-years-old and by his own admission has emotional issues. As a keynote speaker on Sports Ethics, I know all too well that there are situations athletes face that are at once confusing and frightening where a more mature intercession might have helped. The psychologist and the athlete At the heart of the matter, a trained psychologist claimed the young man had exposed […]

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Beyond ugly: Rape at the Paralympic Games

The term “Disabled athlete” evokes an entire range of responses from those outside the community. We have all, hopefully, grown together to allow those with physical and/or behavioral impairments to compete, thrive and get the recognition they deserve. The disability community has many allies, and those who have lent love and support in a million ways. However, just as any generalization is damaging when directed toward a group, it is equally wrong to assume everyone in a group is saintly or beyond fault. Within the disabled athlete grouping are entire […]

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Is Cornhole a sport? Does it make a difference?

Cornhole, much like horseshoes, bocce ball or shuffleboard may not be considered much of a sport, but as a sports ethics keynote speaker, sports ethics consultant and book author, I know cornhole is well on its way to being legitimized. How do I know this, because it is already embroiled in a major scandal. Yes, there are professional Corn-holer’s and they make a lot of money Professional cornhole players may bring down as much as $250K a year. Whatever you think the “sport” may be, guys who may have never […]

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Why Business People Like Sports Ethics

As a Sports Ethics and Business Ethics keynote speaker, I began to see an interesting confluence take place several years ago. For the life of me, I cannot remember “exactly when,” but I do know the phenomenon reached an ongoing crescendo of public interest when running back Ray Rice was pictured beating his wife in 2014. This was followed by the full explosion of Bill Cosby case (a most beloved Hollywood star), and then Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul who accused of sexual harassment and abuse in 2017. The Phenomenon […]

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An Olympian’s Unethical Fall from Grace

(Notes from Chuck Gallagher, Sports Ethics Keynote Speaker: When we presented this case a few months ago, a number of business people asked, “Why are athletes so crooked?” Though about 10% of PPP money was taken fraudulently (nearly $12 billion), most was stolen by small and large businesses, healthcare facilities and associations. Allison Baver is one story of poor choices and their consequences.) If a Hollywood producer sought to make a movie about an athlete’s fall from Grace, I might recommend the life of Allison Baver. It would not be […]

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