Repairing the Athlete’s Image

Joseph R. Blaney is associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of communication at Illinois State University.Lance R. Lippert is associate professor of communication at Illinois State University.J. Scott Smith is a PhD student at the University of Missouri.

Repairing the Athlete's Image: Studies in Sports Image Restoration, edited by Joseph R. Blaney, Lance Lippert, and J. Scott Smith, offers twenty-one case studies and conceptual frameworks about athletes and their organizations as they attempt to mitigate the effects of malfeasance. Employing traditional Image Restoration Theory (IRT) approaches to athletic communication (and other innovative approaches), the contributors to this volume add to our understanding of which communicative strategies work best for athletes when their reputations are sullied. This comprehensive text presents case studies of varying athletes, sports, and public relations scenarios with prescriptive advice for those attempting to repair athletic reputations. The contributors variously explore such controversies and mischief as the steroids accusations lobbed at Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, the Michael Phelps marijuana controversy, the sexual misconduct of Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant, and other topical subjects in sports communication and image repair. While this book will be useful for athletes, coaches, managers, and agents in varying athletic endeavors and levels, it is also a dream collection for teachers and scholars of sports communication. The subjects examined in this study span country, gender, and popularity of sport (not to mention a healthy variety of types of accusations.) Repairing the Athlete's Image is an essential resource for graduate and upper-level undergraduate courses in sports communication and popular culture.

IntroductionPart 1. DrugsChapter 1. From the Mitchell Report to Brian McNamee: Roger Clemen's Image Repair Discourse, J. Scott SmithChapter 2. "Big Mac" with a Side of Steroids: The Image Repair Strategies of Mark McGwire, John McGuire, Lori McKinnon, and Wayne WantaChapter 3. Defense of an Anti-Hero: Barry Bonds' "State of the Great Address", J. Scott SmithChapter 4. The Image Repair Media Interview as Apologia and Antapologia: Marion Jones on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Michael R. KramerChapter 5. The Michael Phelps Saga: From Successful Olympian, to Pot Smoker Caught on Camera, to Renewed Role Model and Brand, Rod Troester and Lindsay JohnsPart 2. Marital Infidelity and Sexual MisconductChapter 6. Tiger Woods' Image Repair: Could He Hit One Out of the Rough?, William L. BenoitChapter 7. Power, Privilege, and the Surprising Absence of Repair: Kobe Bryant and Interest Convergence, Rachel Alicia GriffinChapter 8. Strategies of Silence: The John Terry Affair and the British PressPart 3. Social Deviance and IntegrityChapter 9. Bad Newz Kennels: Michael Vick and Dogfighting, J. Scott SmithChapter 10. The Failed Comedy of the NBA's Gilbert Arenas: Image Restoration in Context, Theodore F. SheckelsChapter 11. Plaxico Burress Takes His Best Shot, Mark GlantzChapter 12. In the Dark at Texas Tech: News Coverage Involving the Image Repair Discourse of Mike Leach and Adam James, Kevin Stein, Paul Turman, and Matthew BartonChapter 13. How Bobby Knight Changed His Bad Boy Image to Become a Media Darling, Ric JensenPart 4. On-Field ActionsChapter 14. Belated Remorse: Serena Williams' Image Repair Rhetoric at the 2009 U.S. Open, LeAnn M. BrazealChapter 15. Unsports(wo)manlike Conduct: An Image Repair Analysis of Elizabeth Lambert, the University of New Mexico, and the NCAA, Jordan L. ComptonPart 5. The Organizational TurnChapter 16. No Pepper: Apologia and Image Repair in the 2002 Labor Negotiations Between Major League Baseball and the Players Association, Kevin R. Meyer and Craig W. CutbirthChapter 17. Giving Them the Ol' Misdirection: The NCAA and the Student-Athlete, Mike MilfordChapter 18. A Death, a Family Feud, and a Merger: The Image Repair of Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt, Inc., by Angela JeromeChapter 19. The Puck Stops Here: The NHL's Image Repair Strategies During the 2004-2005 Lockout, by James DiSanza, Nancy J. Legge, H.R. Allen, and J.T. WildeChapter 20. Celebrating Spectator Sports in America: The Centrality of Press Conferences and Media Interviews to Sports Image Repair, by Peter M. Smudde and Jeffrey L. CourtrightResearch in BriefChapter 21. Reputation Differences between Mortification-Only and Mortification/Corrective Action Strategies Following a Transgression by a Professional Athlete, by John Twork and Joseph R. BlaneyConclusion