When I am shooting a sporting event, many times I help fellow photographers set their cameras for the lighting. This happens when you have been around as long as I have been. I do not really think it means that I am more knowledgeable but instead I have been at this for a while, or 40 years. Since digital entered the field, I am an advocate of high ISO setting and very fast shutter speeds.
When you move your ISO up to settings like ISO 3200 , 6400 and 8000, your mid-tones do not always follow during the capture. If you can live without mid-tone and shadow detail at sporting events by all means use the high ISO setting to capture action. At a recent hockey game, I used ISO 6400 in the Brainerd Civic Center. With this setting I was able to shoot my camera at 1/1000 of a sec. and an aperture of F 2.8. This enabled me to capture Cole Smith sailing through the air over the Bemidji goal.
The downside of high ISO setting is noise or grit in the image. Remember a nice stop action photo with a little grit is better than a perfectly exposed photo with motion blur. My advice is to set the ISO as high as you can and use the fastest shutter speed possible.