Athletes Breaking Bad

At their basic level, sporting events are about numbers: wins and losses, percentages and points, shots and saves, clocks and countdowns. However, sports narratives quickly leave the realm of statistics. The stories we tell and retell, sometimes for decades, make sports dramatic and compelling. Just like any great drama, sports imply conflict, not just battles on the field of play, but clashes of personalities, goals, and strategies. In telling these stories, we create heroes, but we also create villains. This book is about the latter, those players who transgress norms and expectations and who we label the “bad boys” of sports.

Using a variety of approaches, these 13 new essays examine the cultural, social, and rhetorical implications of sports villainy. Each chapter focuses on a different athlete and sport, questioning issues such as how notorious sports figures are defined to be “bad” within particular sports and within the larger culture, the role media play in creating antiheroes, fan reactions when players cross boundaries, and how those boundaries shift depending on the athlete’s gender, sexuality, and race.

Author Biography

John C. Lamothe is an associate professor of humanities and communication at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He has written and spoken widely about a variety of issues related to athletics. Donna J. Barbie is an associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of humanities and communication at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. She has written about celebrity and cultural studies.