Thursday, April 24, 2014
Final Reflections
Going into this class, I thought it would be class where we just learned about different sports in the US. With the semester ending in a weeks, I feel that I have a better understanding of sports and how they affect our society and vis versa. Being a competitive volleyball coach, I look at coaching at a new level. I don't think of it as just solely a form of entertainment, but I believe that sport changes and effects lives. Being able to learn about the sports ethic, diversity and gender, body images and more, I understand why certain athletes are the way they are. It is so interesting to comprehend how sports can be overlooked as means of entertainment but people don't realize the importance it has on our society. I can honestly say that when I leave this class, I not only will be looking at sports through a new light but this class has changed the way I look at media and entertainment. This was not only the best course I have taken at CU Boulder, I will be recommending this class to all my friends. Thank you.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Sport and Ethnicity
I believe that in many movies there is a portrayal of sports in African American lifestyle. Looking back at Hoop Dreams and referencing to the movie the Blind Side, I believe that sports was a way of life and also a means of a possible successful future. In Hoop Dreams, both the boys needed to make it big and play in the NBA in order to have financial security. They also loved the sport. They moved schools and made sacrifices in order to have a chance to make it big. In the film Blind Side, Michael the protagonist, needed to succeed in football in order to go to higher education. Unlike the boys in Hoop Dreams, Michael was successful in making it pro. I would say that in these two examples it shows sports relevance in African American culture. I wouldn't say that sport is damaging race; however, I do believe that the portrayals of African Americans in sports film is often portrayed as a lower class individual who needs sports in order to make it big and be successful. While this can create a dramatic lively movie, I believe it reinforces the idea that African Americans can only be successful through sports. It also once again implies that anyone will be successful in the sporting industry if they work hard and overcome adversity. I think that through this portrayal, we are reinforcing racial and social injustice.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Interrogating inequalities in Sports Media: Examining gender/race representation in Sports Illustrated
Through my observations, I have come to the conclusion that gender/sex stereotypes are still being reinforced through the media. Through sports media, we not only see that females are seen as highly sexualized. In the sports illustrated covers, the only time women were seen was if they were half naked or in the background used as means of a diverse crowd. While sex plays a role, there is an expected gender that follows sex. People don't realize that both men and women can have different genders. When most of the sports illustrated covers show that all the male athletes are muscular, it shows that men need to be masculine. We rarely see skinny feminine men on covers. This just shows how society praises the ideal masculine man. In addition to men being held up to certain standards, women also are. If society deems that women need to look like Kate Upton, it hold women to a standard that they all need to look like models. By sports illustrated normalizing the ideal body of men and women, it reinforces the idea that if men and women don't look a certain way, they are deemed not as ideal.
References:
http://cnnsi.com/vault/cover/select/2013-01-01/2013-12-31/dd/3/index.htm
Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?
The argument of should NCAA Division 1 basketball and football players get paid, is one of the "hottest" topics in both the academic and popular news world. The articles discuss both the positive and negative implications of the argument. The stem from the problem is money. Money is what drives most Americans. I make the claim that Americans go to work and go to school, for the reason that one day they want to live a comfortable lifestyle. Aside from my personal beliefs, the article of "The Shame of College Sports" explains that there are thousands of collegiate athletes in America; however, there are millions of spectators that interchangeably attend sporting events. In the article it discusses that collegiate sports has become the brand for universities/colleges. The article also brings up that money is driving most players and coaches. Players said in the article that there they would rather be participants in sports rather than being "professional performers". However, there are investigations against universities paying athletes in some for in order for them to sign and play for their university. Through this the article also states that coaches are being paid outrageous amounts of money to coach for universities. These two claims alone show that money drives collegiate sports.
Personally I believe that NCAA division 1 basketball/football players shouldn't get paid. In a way, universities will pay for their schooling through scholarships and grants. If these players get paid, then will universities also pay for their schooling. What kind of message would we be sending if we show that you can make a living being a college athlete? Another issue I foresee, is that there is already a difference in pay with men and women in professional sports. If there is a salary difference, would there be a salary difference with college students. I see an issue that a college football player would be paid more than a college girl basketball player. Overall I see more issues with paying college athletes. In a way, we already pay our college athletes through scholarships. Will non-college athletes ever have a chance of getting grants/scholarships if universities will give most of their money/endowments to athletes?
References:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/2/
NY Sports Economy
Coakley
Personally I believe that NCAA division 1 basketball/football players shouldn't get paid. In a way, universities will pay for their schooling through scholarships and grants. If these players get paid, then will universities also pay for their schooling. What kind of message would we be sending if we show that you can make a living being a college athlete? Another issue I foresee, is that there is already a difference in pay with men and women in professional sports. If there is a salary difference, would there be a salary difference with college students. I see an issue that a college football player would be paid more than a college girl basketball player. Overall I see more issues with paying college athletes. In a way, we already pay our college athletes through scholarships. Will non-college athletes ever have a chance of getting grants/scholarships if universities will give most of their money/endowments to athletes?
References:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/2/
NY Sports Economy
Coakley
Thursday, February 13, 2014
High School Sport
High School Athletics are something that is taken for granted here in America. Through the reading, I learned that High School Athletics is a rare to some countries. The United States is the only nation that has sponsors and has a huge focus on interscholastic athletics. I personally was involved in high school athletics and currently coach a high school team. I found what I learned very interesting.
There can be many arguments to what the social conditions for high school sport emerged. I learned that an example of football in Odessa, Texas, football was used to show masculinity among men. This shows that socially at the time, it was necessary for boys in high school to show how masculine they were. It has also been an opportunity for young women to participate in sport. In our history, women have been oppressed and as a result they were able to participate in athletics in our history. Overall the support/emergence of high school sports comes from our unique American Culture that supports high school athletic programs in a positive way.
There are many objectives for high school sport. There has been a positive correlation of high GPA and participation of high school athletics. Grades is an effect of the participation; however, some participants see an objective of trying to be a collegiate athlete. It is impossible to compete in college athletics if you didn't do well in high school or attend high school. While this is an objective I see while I coach, it also creates a sense of identity among athletes. It helps them find their strengths while learning to be disciplined high school athletes.
Like stated, high school and collegiate athletics is a widely accepted activity in America. According to Coakley we learn that: "the United States is the only nation in the world where it is take for granted that high schools and colleges sponsor and fund interschool or varsity sport programs" (Coakley 472). All states have a high school athletic organization. In Colorado, CHSAA is the governing high school athletic organization. According to CHSAA, "In May of 1921, a group of superintendents and principals met in Boulder, Colorado, and organized the Colorado High School Athletic Conference. The purpose of this organization was to better regulate and develop the interscholastic school athletic program.". Clearly, the emergence of high school athletics caused states to react with athletic organizations. While sports in America play an important role, if it wasn't for state athletic organizations, there would be no continuity among high school athletics.
While there are many positive effects of interscholastic athletics, there are also some negative implications. These negative implications have resulted in arguments against interscholastic sports. Some of these claims include, distraction from academics, they create a hierarchy of athletes in school, and can often time cost a lot of money to maintain. These claims exist because there is an idea that high school administrators should emulate big-time intercollegiate sports. They try to over develop sport programs in schools in order to try to seem as desirable to colleges/universities. With administrators with an emphasis on the development of programs, athletes tend to over conform to the sport ethic. This can have negative effects on their lives outside of athletics, i.e., grades, identity confusion, and relationships.
To solve this issue, I believe the addition of an athletic director whose main focus is student athletes will help maintain the emphasis on school and sports. The idea of eligibility due to grades has already had an effect on high schools. Most schools won't allow their students to participate unless they have certain grades in their classes. With athletic directors who focus on both school and sports, there is a promising future for athletes when their athletic careers end. They will become more well-rounded and educated.
Clearly high school sports play a big role in our society. We sometimes don't realize that they are a "seed" in which feeds universities, which then feeds professional programs. Interscholastic sports is unique to our society and clearly has both positive and negative implications. In order for sports to continue at both the college and high school levels, I believe that there needs to be a social norm of athletes becoming more well rounded as a student. Being a high school coach, this article and Coakley have opened my eyes to a world that should be more than just sports, but having a well rounded athlete.
References:
http://chsaanow.com/history/sketch/
Coakley
Dohrmann
There can be many arguments to what the social conditions for high school sport emerged. I learned that an example of football in Odessa, Texas, football was used to show masculinity among men. This shows that socially at the time, it was necessary for boys in high school to show how masculine they were. It has also been an opportunity for young women to participate in sport. In our history, women have been oppressed and as a result they were able to participate in athletics in our history. Overall the support/emergence of high school sports comes from our unique American Culture that supports high school athletic programs in a positive way.
There are many objectives for high school sport. There has been a positive correlation of high GPA and participation of high school athletics. Grades is an effect of the participation; however, some participants see an objective of trying to be a collegiate athlete. It is impossible to compete in college athletics if you didn't do well in high school or attend high school. While this is an objective I see while I coach, it also creates a sense of identity among athletes. It helps them find their strengths while learning to be disciplined high school athletes.
Like stated, high school and collegiate athletics is a widely accepted activity in America. According to Coakley we learn that: "the United States is the only nation in the world where it is take for granted that high schools and colleges sponsor and fund interschool or varsity sport programs" (Coakley 472). All states have a high school athletic organization. In Colorado, CHSAA is the governing high school athletic organization. According to CHSAA, "In May of 1921, a group of superintendents and principals met in Boulder, Colorado, and organized the Colorado High School Athletic Conference. The purpose of this organization was to better regulate and develop the interscholastic school athletic program.". Clearly, the emergence of high school athletics caused states to react with athletic organizations. While sports in America play an important role, if it wasn't for state athletic organizations, there would be no continuity among high school athletics.
While there are many positive effects of interscholastic athletics, there are also some negative implications. These negative implications have resulted in arguments against interscholastic sports. Some of these claims include, distraction from academics, they create a hierarchy of athletes in school, and can often time cost a lot of money to maintain. These claims exist because there is an idea that high school administrators should emulate big-time intercollegiate sports. They try to over develop sport programs in schools in order to try to seem as desirable to colleges/universities. With administrators with an emphasis on the development of programs, athletes tend to over conform to the sport ethic. This can have negative effects on their lives outside of athletics, i.e., grades, identity confusion, and relationships.
To solve this issue, I believe the addition of an athletic director whose main focus is student athletes will help maintain the emphasis on school and sports. The idea of eligibility due to grades has already had an effect on high schools. Most schools won't allow their students to participate unless they have certain grades in their classes. With athletic directors who focus on both school and sports, there is a promising future for athletes when their athletic careers end. They will become more well-rounded and educated.
Clearly high school sports play a big role in our society. We sometimes don't realize that they are a "seed" in which feeds universities, which then feeds professional programs. Interscholastic sports is unique to our society and clearly has both positive and negative implications. In order for sports to continue at both the college and high school levels, I believe that there needs to be a social norm of athletes becoming more well rounded as a student. Being a high school coach, this article and Coakley have opened my eyes to a world that should be more than just sports, but having a well rounded athlete.
References:
http://chsaanow.com/history/sketch/
Coakley
Dohrmann
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Once the cheering stops: The life of a retired pro-athlete
After reading the two articles and watching the ESPN documentary, I feel more informed about players after they retire from their professional athletic careers.
In society, there is a huge focus on the current athletes and the sport itself. Not too many people think about the players after their career ends. Unless you were a superstar like Michael Jordan or etc, you are often overlooked after your career. The life of the retired athlete according to the articles and documentary can differ. In the documentary, the people that are interviewed explain how most athletes end up broke and filing for bankruptcy or some end up making more money than they did when they were athletes. They explained how often times athletes have such a bad habit of spending money, they don't realize that they aren't bringing in enough money to live their lifestyle anymore. They also say, the athletes who were successful were the ones who put aside money and decided that they need to have a plan after retiring from sports.
The transition from playing to retiring was hard for some and easy for others. The situation differed. Like stated, some athletes had a plan after their sports career would end. Those were the ones who were successful, went back to school, operated businesses, and even invested money. There were others who had accumulated so much money, they continued to live a comfortable lifestyle until they were forced to try to budget. One example they gave in the documentary was that some athletes had commitments of paying for family expenses or child support and through the transition was not able to afford these commitments. Depending on how well you planned, deemed if you were successful after retiring.
I think that these athletes struggle with the transition because they often times are under the impression that they are going to be consistently making their salary. In the articles/documentary, we learned that some athletes will get hurt and get a small severance check. This severance check is no where near what their salary is. With them developing the habit of unrealistic spending, they are so comfortable with their lifestyle they don't know any other way to live. I think this reflects society because be deem athletes successful based on popularity and how much money you make. If athletes main focus is money, then they can get lost on what to do when they don't have that reliable paycheck.
I believe that major sport organizations need to continue to perform and better their rookie programs in order to educate young athletes about the life changes that they are going through. I think most people don't realize how drastic your life changes. In the documentary one athlete said, you become an instant millionaire. I think that is crazy to think about.
According to an article titled Life after Sport, they said an important quote: "It is often said a sports star will die twice, once after retirement". This quote demonstrates how these athletes are not prepared to live outside of their professional athletic lives. It shows that society needs to show how money isn't a resource that you can obtain whenever you want. You have to work hard for it even after you retire. I think major sport organizations need to prepare athletes for the world outside of professional sports.
References: ESPN's "30 for 30
ESPN_retired athletes
NYT_retired athletes
http://www.thesportinmind.com/articles/life-after-sport-depression-in-retired-athletes/
In society, there is a huge focus on the current athletes and the sport itself. Not too many people think about the players after their career ends. Unless you were a superstar like Michael Jordan or etc, you are often overlooked after your career. The life of the retired athlete according to the articles and documentary can differ. In the documentary, the people that are interviewed explain how most athletes end up broke and filing for bankruptcy or some end up making more money than they did when they were athletes. They explained how often times athletes have such a bad habit of spending money, they don't realize that they aren't bringing in enough money to live their lifestyle anymore. They also say, the athletes who were successful were the ones who put aside money and decided that they need to have a plan after retiring from sports.
The transition from playing to retiring was hard for some and easy for others. The situation differed. Like stated, some athletes had a plan after their sports career would end. Those were the ones who were successful, went back to school, operated businesses, and even invested money. There were others who had accumulated so much money, they continued to live a comfortable lifestyle until they were forced to try to budget. One example they gave in the documentary was that some athletes had commitments of paying for family expenses or child support and through the transition was not able to afford these commitments. Depending on how well you planned, deemed if you were successful after retiring.
I think that these athletes struggle with the transition because they often times are under the impression that they are going to be consistently making their salary. In the articles/documentary, we learned that some athletes will get hurt and get a small severance check. This severance check is no where near what their salary is. With them developing the habit of unrealistic spending, they are so comfortable with their lifestyle they don't know any other way to live. I think this reflects society because be deem athletes successful based on popularity and how much money you make. If athletes main focus is money, then they can get lost on what to do when they don't have that reliable paycheck.
I believe that major sport organizations need to continue to perform and better their rookie programs in order to educate young athletes about the life changes that they are going through. I think most people don't realize how drastic your life changes. In the documentary one athlete said, you become an instant millionaire. I think that is crazy to think about.
According to an article titled Life after Sport, they said an important quote: "It is often said a sports star will die twice, once after retirement". This quote demonstrates how these athletes are not prepared to live outside of their professional athletic lives. It shows that society needs to show how money isn't a resource that you can obtain whenever you want. You have to work hard for it even after you retire. I think major sport organizations need to prepare athletes for the world outside of professional sports.
References: ESPN's "30 for 30
ESPN_retired athletes
NYT_retired athletes
http://www.thesportinmind.com/articles/life-after-sport-depression-in-retired-athletes/
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Sports, Politics and the Olympics
The 1936 Olympic Games were held in Berlin. There is great significance to these Olympic games because it occurred during the start of the Nazi regime. According to the Holocaust Encyclopedia, the Olympic games in 1936, were used as a tool in order to show the world how tolerable and peaceful Germany was. While slowly expressing their true goals, throughout the games, Germany was trying to be seen as tolerable of everyone. Propaganda was used during the Olympic games in order to show the false rhetoric of the Nazi Party. There were boycotts of Jewish athletes at the Olympic games, but many of which failed. There was talk of having the United States not participating; however, ended up with the second largest team at the 1936 Olympics.
This leads into the question of how was sport used for political measure. In the 1936 Olympic Games, it was clear that sports were used as a propaganda vehicle. According to Eitzen and Sage's article, in the 1936 Olympics, Adolf Hitler used sports in order to introduce Nazi culture to other nations. Sports as a propaganda vehicle is just one of Eitzen and Sage's 5 political ways of sports.
I disagree with the statement of: "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference". I believe that this is a false statement because of what happened in the Olympic Games in 1936. Through research, I have found that in almost every sporting event, there is some sort of nationalism. Nationalism equates to politics. If there is politics then it interferes with sport. For example, when you go to a high school, college, or professional basketball game, the National Anthem is performed. This is a huge political statement of nationalism. At the Olympics, if a country wins the gold medal, their national anthem is played. These are just a few examples that show how nationalism is evident in sports.
Through researching the 1936 Olympics, I have come to the conclusion that Sport isn't pure and devoid of political interference. If anything, sports is reflected through politics. While the 1936 Olympics shows a negative political interference, I do believe that it is important to have some nationalist ideals. We should be proud to live where we live. I am proud to be an American. Since sports play a big role in American society, American society (politics) should play a role in sports.
References:
Eitzen and Sage
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005680
This leads into the question of how was sport used for political measure. In the 1936 Olympic Games, it was clear that sports were used as a propaganda vehicle. According to Eitzen and Sage's article, in the 1936 Olympics, Adolf Hitler used sports in order to introduce Nazi culture to other nations. Sports as a propaganda vehicle is just one of Eitzen and Sage's 5 political ways of sports.
I disagree with the statement of: "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference". I believe that this is a false statement because of what happened in the Olympic Games in 1936. Through research, I have found that in almost every sporting event, there is some sort of nationalism. Nationalism equates to politics. If there is politics then it interferes with sport. For example, when you go to a high school, college, or professional basketball game, the National Anthem is performed. This is a huge political statement of nationalism. At the Olympics, if a country wins the gold medal, their national anthem is played. These are just a few examples that show how nationalism is evident in sports.
Through researching the 1936 Olympics, I have come to the conclusion that Sport isn't pure and devoid of political interference. If anything, sports is reflected through politics. While the 1936 Olympics shows a negative political interference, I do believe that it is important to have some nationalist ideals. We should be proud to live where we live. I am proud to be an American. Since sports play a big role in American society, American society (politics) should play a role in sports.
References:
Eitzen and Sage
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005680
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