Biography - General & Miscellaneous, Sociology of Sports, Success, Motivation & Self-Esteem
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Overview
On the court and on the field they are the world’s winners, exhibiting a natural grace and prowess their adoring fans can only dream about. Yet so often, off the field our sports heroes lose their perspective, their balance, and ultimately their place. In a work as timely as the latest fracas on the basketball court or the most recent drug-induced scandal in the dugout, Stanley H. Teitelbaum looks into the circumstances behind many star athletes’ precipitous fall from grace. In his psychotherapy practice, Teitelbaum has worked extensively with professional athletes and sports agents—work he draws on here for insight into the psyche of sports figures and the off-the-field challenges they face. Considering both historical and current cases, he shows how, in many instances, the very factors that elevate athletes to superstardom contribute to their downfall. An evenhanded and honest look at athletes who have faltered, Teitelbaum’s work helps us see past our sports stars’ exalted images into what those images—and their frailty—say about our society and ourselves.Editorials
Max Kellerman
“Stanley Teitelbaum's volume, Sports Heroes, Fallen Idols is a thoroughly researched book full of entertaining stories about the underbelly of sports.”
—Max Kellerman, TV & radio personality
Psychologist-Psychoanalyst
“A well-documented book. . . . With clarity and purpose, Dr. Teitelbaum weaves together nearly a century of historical sports facts illustrating how narcissistic pathology has damaged or destroyed many professional careers.”—Psychologist-PsychoanalystAethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature
“This is a most provocative first step in the moral and ethical questions that 21st century sports must now confront.”
Court TV
“A fascinating book.”
—Nancy Grace, Court TV
Max Kellerman
“Stanley Teitelbaum's volume, Sports Heroes, Fallen Idols is a thoroughly researched book full of entertaining stories about the underbelly of sports.”—Max Kellerman, TV & radio personalityAethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature
“This is a most provocative first step in the moral and ethical questions that 21st century sports must now confront.”—Aethlon: The Journal of Sport LiteratureCourt TV -
“A fascinating book.”—Nancy Grace, Court TVKirkus Reviews
A psychotherapist explores the by-products of fame that encourage athletes' destructive behavior. Like all humans, gifted sports players have inner demons; what interests Teitelbaum are the special circumstances that prompt athletes' loss of perspective and poise. First, he takes a look at why they have been granted wealth and adulation. One cause, Teitelbaum suggests, is the fans' need for heroes: We are moved and inspired by greatness, and we enhance our self-image by imagining an association with sports stars. They give us a sense of involvement, connection and purposefulness, a romantic yet observable feeling that life can be fantastic. Not to be forgotten, the media's fawning over athletes taps into a celebrity culture that makes a lot of money for a number of people, from team owners and sportscasters to the sportswear and endorsement industries, never mind the players. Yet Teitelbaum writes persuasively that sports stars have much to answer for, giving hundreds of examples of gambling, substance abuse, sexual assault and even murder. These are the products, he argues, of terminal adolescence, a distorted sense of entitlement, an attitude of omnipotence and invulnerability allowing athletes to reside outside the rules that govern daily life. This attitude in part reflects the violence and moral erosion of society at large, but it also stems from immaturity characterized by a lack of empathy and self-control. Teitelbaum is well aware that emotional frailty often underlies athletes' physical prowess: Many come from upbringings marred by domestic violence on the one hand and overindulgence on the other, he notes, though there are also many well-adjusted sports stars. When is the frontoffice going to come out of denial? the author asks. "The leagues," he says, "need to do a better job of policing themselves and withstanding the pressure to be lenient towards those superstars who cross the line."An even-handed, practical argument that athletes must be guided by decency and held accountable for their actions-and that fans need to get a life, or at least a dose of reality.Book Details
Published
June 1, 2008
Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
Pages
304
Format
Paperback, 2008
ISBN
9780803216440