NBC broadcaster Bob Costas, acting in his self-appointed role as the moral conscience of sports entertainment, called the move "a crass exploitation play, a tabloid play".
Venus, in her way quietly forceful and charmingly persistent assumed the mantle long held by Billie Jean King: it was clear, and not just to women, that she was the active conscience of her sport.
"High Flying Bird" features one of the great characters in recent cinema, a venerable basketball coach named Spence Bill Dukee), who is Ray's friend and mentor, and a living conscience of the sport.
Venus, in her way — quietly forceful and charmingly persistent — assumed the mantle long held by Billie Jean King: it was clear, and not just to women, that she was the active conscience of her sport.
It took former champion and longtime broadcaster Dick Button, often the conscience of the sport but not a commentator at these Games, to offer something that felt both candid and plausible.
The self-appointed guardians of sport's conscience were aghast at his audacity, but forced to change by the subsequent firestorm.
The concept of disappointing McGinley wouldn't sit well with McIlroy, who retains more of a conscience than many others at the pinnacle of sport.
They're also still legal within the sport, placing the decision to take them or not squarely on the conscience of the competitor.
"It's on the conscience of Zhenya, the team and the federation," 1994 gold medalist Alexei Urmanov told R-sport, using Plushenko's nickname.
