One side says when an athlete signs on to play a sport whether it be college or profession, paid or non-paid they are giving up the right to privacy. When an athlete signs a contract to play a sport when a school signs a contract to have their games broadcasted they are signing a waiver to use any footage during a game. Athletes are celebrities and always in the public eye so people who watch them want to know everything that goes on with them. This is one side of a very sensitive topic.
The other side of this is people are saying that the media shouldn't being showing the pain and misfortune of someone else just to gain ratings. If Kevin Ware's injury ends his college career and any potential NBA career he could have had, is it right to keep replaying the injury and reminding him of what he lost? Lets use some examples of the past.
In the 2001 Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Sr. died on the last lap of the race. Is it fair to Dale Earnhardt Jr. to have to keep watching the clip of his dads crash over and over again. I see videos on YouTube all the time of soccer players collapsing and dying on the field. Should that type of video be open for the public? I give ESPN credit. They have not shown clips of the injury to Kevin Ware, just like they never showed videos of other athletes being seriously injured or dying while playing their sport. Yesterday, images surfaced of Kevin Ware's injury that were taken up close before the training staff covered it with a towel. I kept asking myself, whats the point of this? I believe in creating controversy because of my opinions on sports but I would never create it at the misfortune of someones injury.
Many are saying Kevin Ware is in the public eye because it is the March Madness tournament so it's okay to use. WWE Superstar Owen Hart was in the public eye when he fell to his death at a pay-per-view in 1999 so should WWE replay the footage of him falling to his death? Doesn't sound right does it? Late last year Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack on a live edition of Monday Night Raw. The night Jerry Lawler returned from his heart attack they showed exclusive footage of him being put on oxygen and the medical staff trying to bring him back to life. If Lawler would have died, would they have shown the footage? CM Punk who has been WWE's top bad guy has been at the center of some pretty controversial segments which have included mocking Lawlers heart attack and playing into Paul Bearers death. Is their certain line that needs to be drawn in the WWE and sports media? Is their some things that shouldn't be shown or exposed?
A lot of people say that being a celebrity forces them to give up their right to privacy but last I checked celebrities are human beings and their misfortunes shouldn't be exploited for increased ratings, readership or viewership. I understand that the media like myself has a job to do but there are more appropriate ways of covering a story.
Finally in all sincerity I do hope Kevin Ware does have a successful recovery and comes back to have a wonderful college career and hopefully an NBA career. The media should be more sensitive and sympathetic to those like Kevin Ware who are in pain and unsure of their future. He is a human being just myself and anyone else reads this article.
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