Monday on the Street: When does criticism of an athlete go too far?

When does criticism of an athlete go too far?

Andrew Aguilar, senior, athletic training

“Everybody’s got an opinion and obviously when the team's not doing as well as you hoped, they’re going to be criticized. I think taking it to death threats would definitely be going too far. Anything that’s pretty much destroying the players self esteem is going to be taking it too far as well. Because, obviously, all this criticism is bringing him down. So if you want better performance from an athlete you shouldn’t really be tearing them down.”

Sara Russo, sophomore, interdisciplinary spanish/biochemistry

“I think that criticizing an athlete goes too far when it causes the athlete to question themselves and to be put in a position where they feel less about themselves. You know, we all have hopes and we all have dreams, and when you’re criticized for following your dream and for doing what you want to do, I think that goes too far. When you start putting all this pressure on an athlete and they already have so much pressure on themselves, there’s only so much that they can take."

Marcel Montoya, senior, business

“You should never criticize somebody, it’s simple. Treat everyone the way they want to be treated, right? Just don’t say anything that’s disrespectful. I don’t know why people get other people mad, to get a rise out of them.”

Tarron Clark, senior, athletic training

“Obviously as soon as it becomes death threats or anything like that. Whenever you threaten someone's life it just goes too far. Even going to the point of accusing him of receiving privilege from his dad, I think that’s a little extensive. He’s a basketball player just like anyone else on the team and I expect the coach to treat him that way. Is he playing poorly? Sure. Is it fair to criticize him because of that, because his dad's the coach? I don’t think so.”