Reinforce Professional Judgment Skills Using a Short Sports Documentary

• In Event: Pedagogical Issues

Abstract

This is a true story.

During the summer of 1996, Atlanta, Georgia hosted the Centennial Olympic Games. Representatives of 197 countries converged on Atlanta in mid-July to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the modern Olympic Games. For sixteen nights, beginning July 19, much of the planet watched as world-class athletes competed. The enjoyment and sense of comradery, however, was rocked by an event on the evening of July 27.
The ESPN 30 for 30 Short documentary Judging Jewell recounts the story of Richard Jewell, an eyewitness to the event. An unemployed, middle-aged man, Jewell said he felt he had a duty to serve in law enforcement during the Games, so he moved to Atlanta. An Olympic sponsor, AT & T, hired him as a security guard. Then, when the tragic event occurred, he was the first responder on the scene. Was this a chance for an ordinary citizen to become a hero? Or, was his presence more than coincidence? The events of that July night and those of the following months forever changed the lives of everyone involved.

Author

• Jack Lee Winstead, University of South Carolina - Aiken