Final reflections

Growing up in Watts, California, My perception on US sports before taking this class was that it was all about striving hard to be the best to provide support for your family.  However, after taking this class I learned that there's so much more to US sports.  One example being injuries, which could change an athletes life drastically. Even minor injuries that don't take you too long to come back because the perspective of being on the outside looking in is really a different dimension of the game and it gives you a thought to who you really are. The discussion topic that stood out to me the most was on disabilities in sports.  That was really mind blowing when we viewed the video on wheelchair rugby.  I never thought about paralyzed men from waist down having so much passion playing a sport as men that are physically fine. That really was inspiring to watch them go out and compete at a sport on an everyday basis. This class has definitely opened up my mind to wanting to ask more critical questions about spots in the future. Also, I have a better understanding how the media impacts sports in many ways. I would recommend this class to anyone that's interested in sports and if they're not interested in sports I would still recommend this class to them.

"Darwin's Athletes": Sports & Ethnicity

Sports in African American culture is extremely important because their history shows that they came from the bottom and even though a lot of things are not exactly the same as it used to be, a lot of African Americans are still affected by being poor because of their families background.  Therefore, sports are a big key to getting out of their bad situation.  They put in so much work by basically eating, sleeping, and dreaming of the sport to get them out of whatever situation they are in.  However, it's not that simple because not everyone make it out due to a lot of reasons and one being a career ending injury.

Just like in the documentary, Hoop Dreams, you could have a promising future and never think about an injury occurring until it happens.  In the film, Friday Night Lights, Boobie Myles had that happen to him just like William Gates did in Hoop Dreams. They both were African American trying to make it out of their poor background and didn't really have a back up plan in case something happened which in this case a career ending injury.

I don't think sports are damaging African Americans but it it preserving the myth of race. There's too much history for African Americans to not know that sports are not the only way out and if it really is for some cases then they should scratch and claw for a back up plan if that's what it takes.

Once the Cheering Stops: The life of a retired pro Athlete

Sport in the Ancient World

Sport, Politics and the Olympics

1968- Mexico City, Black Power Salute

During the 1968 Mexico Olympics , two African American male, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, silently protested against racial discrimination after their 200 meters run.  For the time of their victory ceremony, as the American National Anthem started playing they bowed their heads and while wearing black gloves, they raised one of their hands over their head creating a fist to symbolize black power and unity.  Smith raised his right fist and Carlos raised his left and they both wore black socks with no shoes on to show poverty in America.  They were booed by the crowed after the ceremony and later that day kicked of their teams and sent back home. some people praised them for their courageous and heroic act but some were mad because they viewed their act as creating trouble for them.

Connecting this event to one of Sage & Eitzen's 5 political uses of sport, this event connects with the use of Olympics as a site of political demonstration and violence. Smith and Carlos exemplifies the use of sport and politics being related. They showed resistance against racism with the help of the Olympics.  Therefore, I am in disagreement with the following statement "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference" because there's always some kind of political connections to sport; with this event being a prime example.

  


Refrences:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/30/black-power-salute-1968-olympics

Eitzen & Sage, Sport and Politics chapter 9

"London Calling: The Globalization of the NFL"

When it comes to increasing revenue for its organization, the NFL is all for it.  Therefore, the idea of possibly expanding their operations outside the US isn't shocking at all. According to Bill Barnwell's article, London Calling, the owner of the Jaguars has bought a soccer team that's London-based only increasing its occupation internationally. In addition, with teams already playing football games in London only enhances this idea of  actually having a team out there. Not only would it create a new element of revenue, it'll create "both a local community of dedicated fans and a European market..." (London Calling 1). The NFL fan base, and market would increase internationally.

If the NFL did pursue a professional team in London, I would totally disagree with that decision because the consequences that the NFL would face could outweigh its rewards.  The NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry and I'm sure it could get around some of possible problems like the long amount of hours the players would spend traveling to and from London and setting up an American base for that team.  However, other special regulations would have to be established  for this team and it would create problems with the rest of the teams in the league.  I don't think that would be fare because other organizations have their problems as well so giving special attention to this team could spark some complaining. These are just a few problems the NFL would face which they shouldn't go in that direction.  Maybe they should think about setting up a team in Los Angeles to create more revenue and limit the possible problems they would face.



Refrences:

London Calling, by Bill Barnwell

Sociogenesis of Water Polo

I've always been awed by the athleticism of different athletes in the field of sport that they play.  Although, water polo has grabbed my attention the most.  Its incredible to watch how this sport resembles a mixture of sports like soccer, football and rugby while treading water in a pool.  There is little information on the origin of this sport but it is known that the sport began playing in rivers and lakes sometime in the 19th century in England and Scotland.  The first set of rules was originally created in Great Britain by a swimming coach, William Wilson.  In 1890, the first international water polo game was played; Scotland defeated England, 4-0. Water polo developed in Europe, with teams competing in Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Hungary and Italy, using British rules. The US played it differently from the other countries by adding diving under water, playing aggressively, and playing with a softer ball with better grip to be carried under the water. In result of the American style of play, European teams did not compete in the 1904 Olympic championships in St. Louis.  Around 1914 US teams began  agreeing to conform to international rules. The international water polo committee was formed in 1929, consisting of representatives from Great Britain and the International Amateur Swimming Federation. Rules were developed for international matches and put into effect in 1930. Today's rules differ from back then with less rules eliminating the violence within the sport. Only men began playing the sport, then women's water polo became an Olympic sport in 2000. Men still wear team speedoes or a form of it and women have to wear team bathing suites, but now it is required for both to wear colored bathing caps with individual numbers and ear protectors.

Sport, Society & Me

Sports crept its way into my life.  Growing up without a father in Watts California,  Sports wasn't on my mind at all.  I had to worry about surviving everyday and looking after my brother and sister because I was the man of the house for my family. I grew up fast and around age ten when my mom finally was able to get us out of that horrible neighborhood, I felt comfortable enough to decide to leave my mom and connect with my dad.  After learning more and more about my dad each day I started to get excited about playing a sport when I found out he played when he was my age.  I was a little hesitant at first because I didn't think I had any talents to play a sport.  The very first sport I played was track and field which I found out I had some decent speed to go to the Junior Olympics.  When I got to high school all my friends constantly talked about football and knowing that my dad played encourage me to try it out and I got lucky to play D1 college football.  Looking back at what playing a sport has done for me, has helped shape the person I am today by teaching me all kinds of life lessons and a lot of adversity that I would have to push through in life.

Sports in the US is extremely important.  According to the article The Duality of Sport, "... everyone pulls together to achieve a common goal ..." (8) People of different racial groups and social classes all come together as one and work hard to achieve whatever goal they've set.  It has help make an enormous amount of people dreams come true.   Most of the values that sports teach each individual, people can't get anywhere else.  Values that are essential at some point in life include: character, winning, losing, teamwork, adversity, excellence, building new relationships that could last eternity, and etc. Sports produce incredible athletes that society value and hold to high standards. Looking back at the article, "Sport is compelling because it transcends our everyday, routine experiences with excitement, heroics, and unpredictability' (6).  This confirms how much society values sports in the US and how its apart of our everyday life.

"Sport(s) in the USA"

Football, Baseball, and Basketball dominates American culture when people talk about sports in the US.  These three sports brings a lot of excitement, entertainment, clashes, and even bonding within people all over the country. Competing at a high level is demanded by the highly gifted athletes playing sports and these three are well over that expectation. Also, they share a huge amount of people watching them compete against each other.  However, if you were to turn on a television, you would think women didn't play these sports because you would see predominately men playing. Though, this isn't the case because women also play these sports but men are heavily favorites when viewing or even attending the games.    

People show their support to these sports by wearing different  accessories associated with their favorite team.  They take this to extreme levels on game day when their favorite team is playing. Some have specific routines on game day; like waking up early to go tailgate around the premises of the arena where their team will be playing, and maybe having an after party to celebrate if their team wins the game.  People value the competitiveness and entertainment that these sports provide which is why they show their support by attending and watching their games, wearing their accessories, and interacting with the athletes when given the opportunity.

Measuring success in US sports boils down to unusual performance.  All the sports played in the US are filled with unbelievable athletes, therefore, some athletes take their game to the next level to stand out from the others.  This unusual performance produces records being set and broken, leadership,  and winning championships.   Winning is important but going beyond that is how we measure success in US sports.

The Sport Ethic

Every athlete has its own story.  A lot of them experience the same situations with a little tweak here and there.  Majority of their backgrounds are not good which takes a major toll on defining what kind of athlete is bread.  Looking at Hughes and Coakley's definition of sport ethic,  " athletes use this as an exclusive guide for their behavior, sport, and sport participation" (307). Within this principle, athletes will make sacrifices for 'the game', hunt for distinction, embrace risks, and accept no limits.  This create a special kind of behavior that an individual athlete present for all the spectators and no one would know why he or she value these certain norms for sports unless it's shared.  However, we could  theorize from digging for information about their background or look at 'the world' of a coach's philosophy.  According to Hughes and Coakley's article, "Coaches have emphasized the need to "pay the price," to "play with pain," and to "shoot for the top" (308).  This shows that there could be any to numerous reasons on why athletes conform to this set of beliefs.

As an athlete myself, I've experienced all four dimensions of the 'sport ethic.'  I had to incorporate some kind of guidelines to make it out of where I grew up.  Sport ethic is still in affect with me; to an extent.