His coach told the player that the other team was quite an adversary.
The other team was known to be deceptive. The other coach has tried to bribe the judges.
Winning was life and death to the other coach and he was already defeated. He hated the
player’s coach and he wanted very much to inflict as much damage to the other team as
possible, since he could not win.
It was now late in the afternoon and the sun was merciless. The heat on the courts was
at least 120 degrees.
The player had been having problems with his girlfriend. He was having problems with
money. He needed a new car since the one he had been driving seems to always be in the
shop, each time costing much in repairs.
The other coach knew about many of the problems bothering this player through family
members that are this coach’s friends. The other coach also desperately wanted to get
a better score so he would not be embarrassed by the wide score difference that seemed
inevitable. For these reasons the other coach offered the player a sizeable bribe.
The player’s coach knew the smoldering relationship of the player with the other
coach. He knew that many of his family and friends liked this coach even though he was
known not to play fair. Many of these had wanted the player to play for the other coach
instead, and had put enormous pressure on the player to choose the other team. The
player’s coach gave the player simple, straight forward directions to do the absolute
best he could, remember his instructions and never, never give up.
His coach said that if he did his best not to let down fellow teammates and himself, he
would also deserve the trophy (as much as the other players). He would also be eligible
for professional league play after playing in the amateur league in a short time more. The
professionals were known to be well paid and live a better lifestyle than most.
His teammates who had played so hard to help get him in this position asked the player
to do his best. They knew that it really didn’t matter whether he won or not but that
he would enjoy the rewards for his job well done like the rest, if he did his best. The
team would suffer some loss of face if he folded and failed to do his best. In addition,
the team’s great tradition of winning would be hurt if the player was found to be
compromised. The entire program would suffer for years to come, but this isn’t so
obvious.
Worse yet, the player’s good coach would be disappointed. The players who have
already played, are expecting other players to similarly do their best.
The temporal problems of the player may be partially alleviated if he chooses to accept
the other coach’s bribe. He sees benefit by helping his financial situation and this
may help him fix things with his girlfriend. With the money, the family would not be
forced to help him pay back the debt and therefore they would be in better financial
shape. He could then help the brothers and sisters with their costs as well. He reasoned
that the bribe may also be used to finance more tennis lessons with a pro for his fellow
teammates! Theoretically, taking the bribe could also benefit his teammates! His team was
going to win anyway.
So what should the player do?
- Choose to play his best.
- Accept the bribe
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