Final Reflections

Before I took this class, I had never thought critically about the relationship between sport and culture. I knew that sport played a huge role in US society, but never realized the extent to which it shapes and perpetuates larger constructs and issues in society such as racism, sexism, violence, and more. This class has greatly changed my understanding and perception of the US sports culture because it has allowed me to think critically about these issues and how they manifest themselves in sport, and to just become a more aware and informed sports fan.

My favorite topic in class was when we talked about the violence in sports. I thought it was interesting (and I had never thought about) the comparisons we drew between sports and war. Everything from the symbolic uses of flags at games, to comparing a game to ‘going to battle.’ I also enjoyed our discussion on whether or not this comparison was problematic both in the sports realm and war realm. Another thing I enjoyed in class were the debates like when we discussed whether or not college athletes should get paid. I thought it was fun to pick a side and argue it, but the opposing argument still opened my eyes.

I plan to work in sports, so I will definitely take a lot of the information I learned in this class with me! It will be useful in my career and in my life as an avid sports fan.

I really enjoyed this class and would recommend it to a friend! I thought it was challenging but rewarding, and it was material that I was truly interested in which I haven’t been able to say for many other classes I have taken at CU. I thought the class got better when we had fewer journals because it allowed us to keep up with the readings better and be a little less overwhelmed. 

Why the 'Mans Mans' Game is an Insult to Men

This movie is about Rene Portland – she was a basketball coach at Penn State University who discriminated against her lesbian players based on their sexual orientation. She coached at Penn state for over 25 years, during which time she pushed a homophobic agenda as a selling point for Penn state women’s basketball. There were harsh consequences for players who broke her training rules, including suspension from the team. No one stood up to her regarding these issues for years until Jennifer Harris did. They would have scholarships revoked, and she assured them that they would never play basketball again because she would make it impossible to transfer. She threatened telling the University, media, and their parents. Therefore, these women lived their lives in secret or were forced to quit the team or risk facing a death sentence in a sense. All of this makes sport a scary place for LGBT athletes. Additionally, the NFL article calls a player coming out a "milestone event in American pro sports." I question how in 2014 this issue is still so highly controversial, but seeing coaches like Rene Portland make it a little more clear. 

However, I think the world is ready for more high level players to be open about their sexual preference.  Mizzou grad and NFL prospect Michael Sam recently came out as being openly gay and received an outpouring of support from coaches, teammates, NFL players, students at his school, and even recieved a tweet from president obama! I really think that the world needs this, and people are ready for it!

To make a more inclusive culture in American sport I think we need more pioneers like Michael Sam or Robbie Rodgers -- top notch athletes in their sport -- to be open and proud about their sexual preferences. The more people that come out, the more normalized it will be in our society, until hopefully many years down the road it is a non-issue. I believe that having pioneers like Michael Sam is so important because it will begin to show that homosexuality has no effect on athletic performance, can still foster an environment of comradarie among teammates, and will hopefully be a safer place for all athletes.

African American Athletes in Film

Sport plays an enormous role in African American culture. Sport not only impacts every day life, but it largely shapes identities among African Americans. For example, in order for an African American male to be considered 'masculine' could directly correlate with whether or not he plays (and excels) in sports. When we think of the African American male, we often think of an athletic body that perseveres on the court or on the field. African American basketball, football, and baseball players dream of making it to the major leagues in their sport not only for personal glorification, but also to support their families whom often time depend on them for their well-being. Therefore, African American athletes face great pressure to excel in their sport in order to shape their identity and better themselves and their families. 

In the Documentary Hoop Dreams we followed the lives of two African American male high school basketball players in their journey as athletes. Although they were both talented, they faced enormous challenges in reaching the next level in their sport. It goes to show that even when you overcome so much adversity, there are still bigger factors at play that influence the path you are on in life -- some of which were in your fate when you were born because of your given skin color, socioeconomic class, etc. 

In Hollywood movies such as The Blind Side, African American athletes can be celebrated because of their successes on the field. However, a lot of the times these Hollywood movies don't show the struggle, trials, and tribulations it takes for an African American athlete to reach that level. Additionally, even when an African American athlete does have that kind of success on the field, there are still many other factors at play such as racism and white male hegemony. These black athletes are almost always ruled by a white governing force whether it be their coaches, the NFL, their university or the NCAA. 

It's easy for society to speculate that African Americans have come a long way and racism no longer exists in US society because Blacks are so successful in the sporting realm. However, measuring progress by the number of African Americans in professional sports leagues doesn't make sense, because we are failing to consider the role of African Americans in leadership positions. Not only are there not many African QBs, but there are also few African American coaches, athletic directors, executives, etc. Also, we need to start to think of African Americans outside of the sporting realm. There are more African Americans with PHD's than there are professional athletes -- so what about the African American doctors, lawyers? 

We have learned that people of the same race can be more genetically different than people of different races. Skin color doesn't have anything to do with pure biological athletic performance. Therefore, I believe society will be heading in the right direction when we stop glorifying blacks as athletes and entertainers, and start glorifying them for being intellects -- when we measure their success the same way we measure the success of a white man. 

Gendered Advertising

ESPN BODY ISSUE

ESPN Body Issue features many female athletes including US Olympians. It even includes a picture of a paralympic rowing athlete! Although women are equally represented in the magazine as men in terms of numbers, they are represented in distinctly DIFFERENT ways. Some of the women in the Body Issue are seen above. It is important to analyze the way these women are represented compared to their male counterparts because it has very real consequences in our sexist society. 

As Feministing points out, "over half of the female athletes (in the Body Issue) were shown only as passive eye-candy white virtually all of the men were shown in action shots." Additionally:

• 78% of the photos of men depict an active post, while 52% of women depict an action pose 
• 90% of male athletes had at least one active pose in the slideshow, while only 46% of female athletes had at least one active pose in the slideshow 

While the males athletes featured in the Body Issue embody all the charactaristics we associate with athletes -- strong, capable, fierce, powerful -- they women seem to posses complete opposite characteristics. They look glamorous and highly sexualized. With all their make up and hair done, they look more like sex symbols than they look like athletes that compete on an international level. Is this what women are supposed to look like when they enter competition? I have always found it interesting that women will wear makeup to play a sport, but advertisements like this are part of the reason women do so! Whereas males only have pressures on them to compete at a high level, women have pressures of both competing at a high level and looking good while doing it. 

This kind of coverage and representation of women in sports magazines (and commercials) reinforces sexist ideologies in society, creating very real consequences for young people. When young people see these things, they are socialized to believe that women are objects, female athletes are not as capable or important in society as men, and female athletes need to look a certain way in order to fulfill their role. Female athletes are held to a double standard because they are criticized if they are not beautiful, but they are also critisized (and highly sexualized) if they "try" to look good by means of wearing makeup in competition, etc. 

Interrogating inequalities in Sports Media: Examining gender representation at The University of Colorado

Sports do not provide an 'even' playing field for all athletes. Certain races, genders, and social groups have been privileged regarding sport throughout history -- namely, white males. White males hold hold a certain status in the eye of the viewer, leaving them with substantially less obstacles to overcome in sports than say an African American woman, or women in general. Additionally, even if different races or gender are successful in their sport, they are often underrepresented. In this blog post I will be examining the underrepresentation of women in sports media at the University of Colorado within the past two weeks.

When looking at the University of Colorado Athletics website it is clear that is is absolutely DOMINATED by men and men's sports. The first three pictures on the website were the following:

Men's basketball, men in a position of power, and even a crowd consisting of predominantely male students. There was also an advertisment on the left with a picture of a male basketball player to buy tickets to a men's basketball game, and an advertisement to buy Colorado athletic gear from the book store and the ad pictured only men's clothing. The only trace of women or women's sport on the entire homepage was a small link to an article about women's lacrosse. I see the men's basketball team has games against ASU and Arizona coming up, but what about the women's team? They are no where to be found on this main page and aren't they ranked higher than the men? 

I then took to Twitter and checked out the Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs). It is also evident that a majority of the tweets in the past two weeks are about mens sports, however, there were a lot of tweets about the women's lacrosse team who had their first game EVER last week. That was a big deal and did get a lot of attention both from the account and from the University, but outside of that the account is dominated by men's sports. There were several recent retweets from the Colorado Football twitter, a sport that is not even in season, but still none recently from any women's teams. 

It is obvious the men's sports reign supreme at the University of Colorado, and this is a reflection of greater society as a whole. However, you can't blame media outlets for covering more men's sports than women's when that is what the people they are trying to appeal to want to see. Maybe covering them more would help gain interest, but I still think people would be more interested in men's sports. Rather, there needs to be a shift in thinking or some kind of movement that can generate more interest around women's sports. 

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

According to Fair and Foul, Big time college sports are a contradiction because they severely compromise academic integrity. Schools spend more money on scholarships for athletes than they do for financial aid for scholars. Education of inadequately prepared athletes is a daunting task as athletes in big time sports programs are more than 200 points behind the average student on SATs. The higher ranked the school, the lower the grades and academic standards for athletes. 30-40% of athletes are allowed to be let in at a lower academic standard. Different admission standards for students vs. student-athletes. The Alabama Coach even admits that these young men are 'athlete-students' as opposed to 'student-athletes.' The overarching contradiction is that we have organized a commercial entertainment activity within an educational environment, and in the process we have compromised educational goals. 

However, some would argue that compromising these educational goals for a small percentage of students is worth it since these students in turn, benefit the university tremendously in other ways. College football and basketball are a big business and if universities want to stay relevant they must rise to the occasion and compete. Since they cannot do this without their athletes, I believe that athletes are one of, if not THE biggest asset a Division I university has. For that reason, I believe that college athletes should be paid.

The Time Article - Is itTime to Pay College Athletes?  asks why a player worth so much to his school, town, and college football brand shouldn't be able to sell his autograph for money just like any other celebrity? -- regarding Johnny Manziel. Adrien Peterson also added a comment where he said he cant believe college athletes still can’t sell their autographs for money, or make any money for their performance in college football. NFL rules prohibit players like Manziel from going to the NFL, so instead these players continue to make more money for the university, and none for themselves.  If college football operated under the same business model as the NFL, college football players could make up to $225,000 each per year. However, the only money they make is that of their scholarship -- which is revokable if they don’t perform well on the field. The money instead goes to the university or college town. Football season brings in $86 million/ year and Texas A&M. 

We have this socially constructed notion that college athletes shouldn't be paid, but why? Because that's how it's always been? I challenge that. 

I agree with Taylor Branch in the article The Shame of College Sports that players are exploited and treated as if they are apart of a slave system in a league filled with scandal. Players with immense talent drive millions of dollars into college towns and their respective universities and do not get paid simply because college presidents, athletic directors, and the NCAA decided they would rather keep the money for themselves. I believe that the athlete is the most valuable asset a college has. There are countless instances of an increase in applications after a school has a good football or basketball season. Athletics have the ability to endlessly better an institution in a positive way. 

As the Alabama coach said, athletes are 'athlete-students' who have reported spending twice as much time on athletics than school. We need to stop kidding ourselves that these athletes are at universities to focus mainly on school. I think it's great that athletes have the opportunity to get an education while attending these universities -- except this is not the reason they got into the school, and it's not the main thing they are looking to get out of the school. Not all college athletes will make it to the NFL or NBA, and for those who don't an education is certainly useful. But for the four years they are representing the university, driving in money, sacrificing their body, and passing up other opportunities to compete in sports, I believe they should be paid. A scholarship that can be revoked is simply not enough. 

Sport, Politics and the Olympics

1936 Berlin, Germany -- The Nazi Games

The 1936 Summer Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany were an event that perpetuated Adolf Hitler's political, racist, and antisemitic agenda, adding to tensions causing World War II and the Holocaust. Germany poured tons of money into facilities and operations to ensure this was a successful event. They also started to use technology at the games, broadcasting on television and radio networks in over 40 different countries. Some of the events of these games included rowing, dressage, track, water polo, swimming and football.

Sage and Eitzen identify five political uses of sport. These include excessive nationalism, use of Olympics as a site of political demonstration and violence, denying some nations the right to partake, nations boycott the games for political reasons, and political organization of the games. All five of these themes were prevalent in the 1936 Summer Olympic Games.

This sense of excessive nationalism is evident in Hitler's political agenda for the game. His political agenda was promoted in subtle ways. He tried to hide violence and racist signs so journalists would report of a peaceful Germany. Instead of swasticas, the country was full of flags and colorful posters and magazines. Most people were unaware that these racist signs were removed. Hitler made sure to show his country in a positive light, and did so by introducing technology to the games and broadcasting this agenda across the world. This allowed him to continue to promote his political agenda without suspicion. It was all a cover up. He wanted everyone to think that Germany was the best country in the world.

Denying some nations the right to partake is seen when Hitler tried to enforce a rule that African Americans and Jewish people (or really, all 'non-aryans) could not compete in the games. This caused individuals and nations such as the United States, France, and Sweden among others to boycott the games for political reasons.

People and entire teams threatened not to come to Hitler's Olympic Games that summer, so Hitler was eventually pressured to relent and let African American and Jewish people compete in the Olympics.

Germany won the games that year with 33 Gold Medals trumping the United States 24 Gold medals and Hungary's 10 Gold Medals. Through these Olympic Games, Germany was able to assert itself as a powerful nation.

This website has a lot of good information about the Nazi Games. 

I disagree with the statement "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference." I would attest to the opposite -- Sport is far from pure and actually full of political interference not only in the 1936 Olympic Games but still today. Sport is corrupt and reflective of society as a whole -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. In the

Just as people used the 1936 Games to promote political ideas, it is still being done today. There is much fear in attending the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia -- it is the most feared Olympic Games to date. According to this article terrorists have planned attacks in the past during the Olympics, including in 1972 Munich when Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic village and kidnapped and killed members of the Israeli team. This games could be worse, it argues, as there is threats for a mass attack.

So, to ignore these things and say that sports are pure is false. Those Palestinian attacks were done to show political interference; a way for people, countries, religions, groups to push their own interests and assert dominance whether it be peacefully or through fear.