12 deadly sins of America's sports culture:
·1. Sports have become very serious business and immense pressure is now placed 
upon the early specialization and professionalization of young athletes, the intense promotion of athletic achievement for the reward of an athletic scholarship or professional contract, and winning at all costs.
·2. Academic corruption is pervasive in our public schools and institutions of higher learning that house big-time sports programs.
·3. Commercialism and the big business of pre-professional sports is increasing and threatening the integrity of our academic institutions.
·4. The utilization of supplements and performance enhancing drugs is pervasive and has been fueled by a culture of winning at all costs.
·5. Declining sportsmanship, elevated violence, and the general misbehavior of athletes, coaches, parents, and fans threatens to compromise the essence of athletic competition.
·6. Sports injuries and other health related issues are increasing for almost all levels of athletics and not enough is being done to prevent them.
·7. The media acts irresponsibly and at times unethically in the manner in which it overexposes, glamorizes and hypes the lives of young athletes and popularizes their misbehavior both on and off the field.
·8. Sports gambling and the printing of point spread information threatens to undermine the integrity of sports.
·9. Sports opportunities are shifting dramatically and producing severe inequities in many segments of our society.
·10. Competitive sports, which satisfies the needs of a small group of elite athletes, is the dominant theme in our sports culture while recreational and fitness-based sports, which satisfies the needs of the vast majority, have been de-emphasized.
·11. Existing sports governing bodies, youth and amateur organizations, and educational institutions have done a poor job of protecting the health and welfare of athletes who are increasingly abused and exploited by our present sports culture.
·12. Our sports loving parents, many of whom are well intentioned but not sufficiently armed with important information, may not be aware of the threat posed to their children if our runaway sports culture is not reformed before it is too late.
Source: National Institute for Sports Reform
