Final Reflections

Before this class started i had my own preconceived notions on sports here in the US. With me being an athlete all i see is the glory aspect of sports. This includes the fame, the money, the girls, the lifestyle, all things that i am striving to attain because this is what i see in american sports. Of course the passion and hard work of these athletes don't go unnoticed to me because i know how difficult it is to get to that position. The media doesn't portray to the masses so its easy to only see the glamor and greed in american sports. After taking this class this semester everything that i thought i knew about sports was flipped entirely on its head. There is so so so much more to american sport than the fame and glamor. American sport has a very important history/ herstory that enabled it to get to the point its at today. One topic i found the most interesting this semester was when the magazines were brought to class and we were told to look critically at race, class, and gender throughout each one. I later wrote a blog on the women of sports illustrated. I should probably say the WOMAN of sports illustrated. In the past 20 years there has only been one woman on the cover and she was not even an athlete but a mode (Kate Upton). This was a shocker to me. I know women's sports are no where near as popular as mens sports, but there are plenty of great female athletes out there that should have been on the cover in my opinion. Because of this i will definitely begin to think more critically about sports after this class. If i make it to the NFL i will use what i learned in this class to advocate for women and athletes with disabilities. I would and will also recommend this class to a friend because the teacher is just so awesome. 

Sports and Ethnicity.

Sport in African American culture is extremely significant. It is perceived by many as an opportunity for individuals to have social mobility. It is also promotes interracial harmony. Sports in a black community provides opportunities such as a chance to access higher education or just a way to stay out of trouble from drugs and gangs. The way black athletes are portrayed in Hollywood is completely inaccurate if you compare it to the documentary hoop dreams. In Hollywood films the black athlete typically always starts at the very bottom and then makes it to the top thanks to their athletic ability. Hoops dreams shows us that is not always the case. There are countless number of obstacles these athletes are forced to face and hopefully overcome. Take for example the movie "He got Game" starring future NBA hall of famer Ray Allen and Oscar award winning Denzel Washington. Ray Allen is a basketball prodigy growing up, but his father Jake goes to jail for murdering his wife (Ray's mom) at the age of 12. So Ray is forced to take care of his little sister while living in a broken home with no mother or father figure. He then becomes the top prospect in the country and every big division school wants him. Similar to hoop dreams the two athletes were also from low socioeconomic statues but were seen as prodigy basketball players. In hoop dreams they faced obstacles such as injuries and not living up to expectations, things that happen all the time in the real world. In films however none of that ever becomes a factors. The athletes always make it solely on their ability.
I dont believe that sport is damaging or preserving the myth of race, but rather the stereotypes and media associated with these sports. The constant reinforcement of these old stereotypes makes it hard for us to debunk the racial myths.

Interrogating inequalities in Sports Media (GENDER)

I decided to take a closer look at America’s most popular sports magazine, which is Sports Illustrated. I am looking at the covers of each magazine over a one year period, and focusing on the gender aspect. In 2013 I counted how many times a female athlete was featured on the cover of sports illustrated magazine. From January 14th to December 23rd (60 issues) there has only been one female on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. A young model by the Name of Kate Upton actually appeared on two different covers. The first time was the swimsuit edition the week of valentines day; and the second time she appeared between two major league baseball players on the Atlanta Braves who also have the last name Upton. The thing I find interesting is that although Kate Upton is a female, she is by no means considered an athlete. This tells us a lot about the society we live in. Our society prides itself on patriarchy especially within the sports realm. Male athletes have and always will be placed on a higher pedestal than their female counterparts. After looking at the covers over a one year span Sports Illustrated magazine supports that. Having just one female reinforces academic research on gender in sports media. Women’s sports have little importance here in America. The consequences of this includes the very real possibility that there will never truly be gender equality within sports. 

http://cnnsi.com/vault/cover/select/2013-01-01/2013-12-31/da/3/index.htm

Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?

The debate whether college athletes should get paid or not has been a hot topic for some years now. Good arguments can be made for both cases, a college athlete getting paid or them maintaining their amateur statuses. The article talks about how some athletes can be compared to slaves because of how they are exploited. College sports are what drives universities. A tremendous amount of revenue is created solely from sports alone. The amount of time put into practice, meetings, games, film studies goes unnoticed to most people. Then come game time they are expected to perform for thousands of spectators. All while jerseys and other memorabilia are being sold at the student store and the athletes themselves never see a dime of that money.  According to the article The Shame of College Sports football teams such as Texas, Florida and others earn between $40 and $80 million dollars a year in profit. With money like that athletes deserve to get some type of compensation. There are a lot of pros with universities paying their athletes can be seen as beneficial for the NCAA organization itself. Perhaps the biggest one pro would be potentially stoping the NCAA of all kinds of violations they have been dealing with over the years, such as athletes taking money from agents. Athletes take money from agents for a number of reasons; to help their families out, to buy new “bling”, but the main reason is because they often times don’t have any. There are however plenty of cons that go along with paying the athletes. The first thing that one must consider is which athletes should get paid, and at which universities. Some universities make a lot more money than others, and lets face it other than football and basketball most sports do not generate a significant amount of revenue. Another con would be that the NCAA could potentially lose its non-profit status that could lead to many issues that the NCAA board do not want to face. In my opinion athletes should get paid. With me being a college athlete I think about this all the time. I believe that we should be entitled to some type of compensation. It does not have to be a huge salary like the professional athletes, but simply a little extra spending money to buy new clothes or go to the movies on the weekend would be nice. 

High School Sport

High school sport emerged in a time where our country was still searching for its identity.  The land of unequal opportunity where racisim was prevalent. Sports however opened up the door for people to come together and unite. High school sports enabled students to have pride in where they came from. High school sports provided an outlet for many students and gave them structure and a sense of belonging. These sports taught young boys and girls core values such as teamwork, communication skills, discipline and integrity. The objective of high school sports started off simply as just giving the kids something to do after school and before , this keeps them out of trouble by limiting their free time. We like to think high school sports are doing a good job teaching our children good values and keeping them out of trouble but this is not always the case. High school sports today have become more than just an extra curricular activity.  It is more than just a game, coaches students, other faculty have taken it to another level. It consumes a lot of their lives and nasty competitive natures come from it. Winning at all cost is what matters the most. The athletes become mules in a sense and often times affects their academics. With that a lot of values of clean fair sportsmanship goes out the window. Now that more money is getting involved it has become even worse. One way we can fix this is to start by creating equal funding to schools and districts, and have stricter academic standards when a student is involved in any particular sport. 

"Once the cheering stops: The life of a retired pro-athlete"

The life of a retired athlete can be a stressful one. It is not relaxing and glamourous as most people may think. Making millions of dollars practically overnight is tough for people to handle, especially young twenty two year olds. The main problem a retired athletes has is the fact that they continue to spend their money to maintain the lifestyle they had while they were playing. Simply poor money management and over spending leads to bankruptcy for these former players. The reason these athletes struggle so much making this transition is because the famous lifestyle is all they know. For them it about maintaining an image. What this says about our sports culture is that we value fame and appearance. The importance is placed on the salaries and not so much the actual sport itself. In my opinion i cannot understand how these athletes can go broke. I wonder is it really that hard to save and manage money. Of course this is easy for me to say when i don't have what seems like an infinite amount of money in the bank. I aspire to be in the NFL one day so this issue is a big deal for me. Too many athletes lose their money so if i do make it to the NFL this is something i must pay extra attention to. 

Sport, Politics and the Olympics

One of the most iconic moments ever to take place in sports occurred at the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City Mexico. When American athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith both raised their fist high in the air wearing black gloves during the national anthem; as the two of them stood on the podium during the award ceremony. This action as been coined as the "Black Power Salute". They did this to bring awareness to inequality in our country. Many people including Americans were furious with what these two men had done. On the other hand people all around the world were excited at the fact that John Carlos and Tommie Smith could stand brave in front of the world supporting what it was that they believed in, with a country that has not always demonstrated exactly what it stands for. As a result these two men were suspended from the U.S. Team, but still neither of them have apologized for the actions.  Another important thing to notice was the Australian silver medalist Peter Norman who too stood tall with Carlos and Smith supporting them with their beliefs.  A sense of Nationalism was showed during this time, because the timing of raising the fist was critical. They did not raise them when they won the race, but waited until they were standing before the world and America's national anthem was being payed. This symbolized so many different things but nationalism is key. In that moment They identified as Americans, but it was not only about them.  It was a chance for all black people who were being mistreated in America to have a chance to feel like and be proud to be living in America. It is difficult to say that sports are free from political influence. This is because the people who participate, manage, and operate sports are not free from political influence. Many sporting events influence diplomatic and social relations in out society. Sports have given us the opportunity to bring people together and put aside our cultural differences. Race and Ethnicity may cause division, but sports are a big reason we are able to disregard the many differences. Over the years there have been positive and negative affects, but without them change will never happen. The different Olympic games are a prime example of this. Race and Ethnicity may cause division