Sports and Ethnicities

In many ways sport means much more in the african american community than in other racial communities. Many african americans grow up in inner cities where they have limited opportunities. One way for many african americans to make it out of poverty is to become a professional athlete so sports tend to be more important for their community. Arthur from hoop dreams is a prime example of a young child who uses basketball as a way to succeed growing up in poverty. Although the story of Michael Oher in the movie "Blindside" is different than the lives of the two kids from hoops dreams, it is similar in many ways. Michael was adopted by a wealthy white family giving him a chance to have more opportunities to succeed. For Michael, football was his way of succeeding in life. Michael is given much more opportunities than the children from hoop dreams. I don't believe that sport is damaging Black American and preserving the myth of race, I feel it does the opposite. Sport helps bring together different communities to work as a team to succeed.

Sports, Women & the Gender Order

The female athlete advertisement that I decided to do was Nike's commercial "voices". This commercial presented a very positive message toward female athletes and females in general. Unlike most female advertisements that focus on looks and beauty, this commercial promoted the idea of independent, driven women. It involved multiple female athletes who overcame the negative views associated with female athletes. Our society generally views certain sports, such as football and boxing, as male sports but this commercial emphasized the fact that women can participate in any sport that men can. All the women explained how they did not let other people bring them down with negative female statements. One young girl described how she is not influenced to wear a skirt and act like a women that society expects her to be. This commercial hopefully influences young women that they do not have to conform to society, and they can be anyone and do anything they want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ighxU1vYw

"Interrogating inequalities in Sports Media: Examining gender/race representation in NBC's coverage of the Olympics

For this assignment I decided to explore NBC's coverage of the the Winter Olympics in Sochi. I wanted to observe gender roles through a weeks worth of coverage. I looked at how gender represented the different sports in stereotypical ways. I also observed how the gender of the announcers were dependent on the sport.

After watching a week of NBC coverage I found many interesting and observations about how sports represent gender roles. One thing I noticed was that there were many more mens announcers, despite the equal distribution of women to men sports. For example the feminine sports such as figure skating had one female announcer and one male announcer. Figure skating is seen as a feminine sport so it makes since that there would be at least one female announcer. But for women's hockey there were two men announcers despite being a women's sport. This represents how hockey is a more masculine sport so there are usually male announcers. There were also two male anouncers for women's skiing, which is seen as a more physical sport. I also found that there were more female reporters than male reporters, regardless of the sport. Most of these female reporters were attractive and easy to look at. Because reporters are shown to the viewers, unlike announcers, most media industries try to hire attractive female reporters. This represents stereotypical gender roles where women do not usually give much of their own input about the sport, rather they just report the facts and look good for the camera.

The media coverage of the Olympics on NBC can have a big influence on gender roles because so many people watch the Olympics. I found that their coverage was very similar to the coverage you see on ESPN and most sports channels, so it did not present any new stereotypes.

Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?

Collegiate sports are such a huge part of our society that they even have their own T.V. networks; ESPN U, Big 10 network, and the soon to be SEC network. NCAA is one of the largest, money making businesses in the world and the driving force behind all the money and publicity is the student athletes. This brings up a very debated question of rather or not student athletes should get paid for their athletics?

The argument for paying college athletes is a very strong one for multiple reasons. As mentioned before he NCAA is a billion dollar industry and the athletes, who are the main reason for that, are being paid nothing is salary. All of the money is going to the schools, their athletic departments, and coaches. The "Shame of College Sports" article stated that the big football schools such as Texas, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Penn State each bring in 40-80 million dollars in profits each year, after paying the coaches. This is an insane amount of money and many believe student athletes should and need to be paid some of this. Paying college athletes would also decrease the possibility of athletes receiving illegal benefits under the table, such as cars, jewelry, providing strippers for the athletes, etc.. 

Although morally and logically it seems student athletes should be paid, there are also reasons that argue against paying them. The first is that in a sense these athletes are being paid through scholarships to go to very expensive schools. While many students either can't afford to go to school or struggle paying the tuition, many of these D1 athletes receive a higher education for free. Also regardless if they could pay for school or not, many of these athletes do not have the grades to attend these major universities, but their athletic ability allows for their acceptance. Another argument against is that these athletes have never been paid in the past so why should they now? College sports needs to stay true to its tradition and paying these athletes would change many aspects of collegiate sports.

I have mixed feelings on this debate as I can clearly understand both sides of the argument. At first I feel that due to the millions of dollars that these athletes generate for their schools, they need to be paid. Their production does not correspond to their value, as far as money. The NCAA seems like a corrupt business where the people at top make millions of dollars while taking advantage of these young students. I also understand that although they are being paid in tuition, that does not amount to their actual worth. While they are not producing as much revenue per person as professional athletes in leagues such as the NFL or MLB, the gap is not that wide and these professional athletes are bing paid millions of dollars. I also understand that the culture and tradition of college sports would change if student athletes were paid, but I feel change can be good, especially if it is the morally right thing to do. 

High School Sport

 High school sports sports began in the early 1900's and was modeled after the English public school system. During that time the social conditions were much different than current conditions. Racism was very prevalent during the time so man African Americans and other minorities did not receive the same opportunities as whites. High school sports provide many positives to a school as well as some negative aspects. Sports can bring a school together to collectively show pride and passion for their school. High school spots can also encourage students to stay active while learning important lessons from their sports team. These lessons can include, determination, honor, sportsmanship, and the overall benefits of athletic competition.

 Although we would like to think that high school sports accomplish all these things, in reality many of these objectives are not being met. Students often show unsportsmanlike actions as athletes and as fans for these sports teams. Students may take sports as an opportunity to show dominance and superiority, which can lead to problems. Students may also receive too much pressure from coaches, parents, etc.. to win which can put a lot of extra pressure on a student, while their first priority should be school not sports. This can also encourage students to cheat, such as taking performance enhancing drugs, or playing a dirty style of participation. There is not a single solution to help solve these problems that occur in high school sports, but there are some things that can help. One solution to dealing with parents or coaches putting too much pressure on student athletes, may be increased awareness of when there is too much pressure. Student athletes should have a counselor or someone of that sort to talk to if they feel they are receiving too much pressure. This is a delicate situation because it is hard for high school students to feel comfortable talking to someone about these matters. 

Sport, Politics, and the Olympics

The 1964 Olympic games in Tokyo cosseted of political controversy as South Africa was banned from the games. South Africa was not allowed to participate because the government was unable to permit multiracial sport. They were allowed to participate in 1968 at the Olympic games in Mexico. 

I believe the banning of South AFrican from the Olympics can represent "Sport as a vehicle of change in society." Tokyo would not accept a nation that would not allow for racial equality so their actions helped force South Africa to unite racially. Sport and the Olympics is so popular that South Africa felt they needed to make changes to support their nation, not only athletically, but most importantly politically. 

I do not necessarily agree with the statement that "sport is pure and devoid of political interference." Every large world sporting event such as the Olympics or the World Cup, the host country will always try to gain political power and endorse their country. These events will always be influenced by the current political time. One current example of this is Vladamir Putin's anti-gay rhetoric, while the U.S. is trying to eliminate homosexual inequality.  I do feel sport and politics has decreased over the past few years. 

Once the Cheering Stops: The Life of a Retired Pro Athlete

LIfe as a professional athlete can be seen as a dream job. Not only do athletes get to play the sport they love, some can receive millions of dollars and be admired by thousand and millions of people. Their professional lives usually consist of spending large amounts of money on things like cars, houses, partying, traveling etc… Most are living the life they they have always dreamed about, unlit they day comes when they retire or are cut from their team with no job. This is when reality hits them and many face difficult problems after retiring. Retired athletes often have very little work experience and most pro athletes do not have a college degree.This can lead to a difficult transition from living the life they want, to finding a normal job or just finding purpose in life. 

Athletes face several challenges after they retire. Some athletes, mainly NFL athletes, have received serious brain damage that can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts. Former San Diego Chargers linebacker, Junior Seau, is a an example of this as he committed suicide a couple of years ago. For the players that still have large amounts of money after they retired, their challenges may be finding motivation and excitement in their life. Many do not feel they have a purpose anymore and can't find a consistent hobby and joy in life. The players that either had short careers or did not spend their money wisely, transitioning into the real world can be extremely challenging. Many employers will not hire employees who have not had work experience in several years, or ever, especially if they do not have a college degree. Athletes struggle so much with this transition because, for most, hey have already experienced their peak in life. Most were able to do/go anything/anywhere they wanted during their sports careers, and after they retire they have much less fame and freedom. Their ability to have so much fame and freedom while playing is a direct result of money and the admiration and passion that they receive from fans, due to the popularity of sport in the U.S. 

Although I completely understand why athletes face these difficult transitions emotionally, i feel that the players who lost most of their money and file for bankruptcy should have planed ahead more. They should have invested and spent their money much more wisely because I'm sure they have been warned of what to come after retirement. I was shocked when hearing a couple of years ago that Allen Iverson filed for bankruptcy after eating 100's of millions of dollars in his career. Situations like these just shouldn't happen.