I am probably not the only one, but I am sick and tired of hearing about this Tiger Woods story. I usually watch Sportscenter all the time, but right now I can not. There is other stuff that could be television other than this.
This story goes along with what we talked about in class on how male sports gets more coverage. I think this story has had more coverage than all the women's sporting events combined on Sportscenter this year. If ESPN would cover actual sports and not stories like this all the time I would watch it more. If this was a women athlete like Candice Parker or another famous women athlete it probably would not get the same coverage. I can not really think of any time that a women had this type of problem and Sportscenter covered it for over two weeks.
The reason that they have to cover it, is because people have to know what is going on. I say leave Tiger alone and let him get the things in his life fixed. I do not know why people are obsessed with celebrities lives. They even brought Tiger's stepmother into it went she was taken to the hospital. I just do not understand why people care about this. Some people need to worry about their own lives sometime and leave other people alone. I know if I was Tiger I would find it very difficult to try to fix the mistakes that he made because every day there is something new that the media finds. I like that Tiger is taking time away from golf to get his life back in order.
That was my rant for the day. I just feel that they do not need to cover every event on television. I understand when he first wrecked his car, this was a big story but everything else is pointless.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
A Girl Having an Advantage Over A Man
The other day in class when one of the groups was presenting their project, someone show a video clip of a girl that was 6'4 and was not allowed to play on the boys team. The reason that she was not allowed to play on the boys team was because she had an advantage over the boys. I have a lot of problem with this story.
The main problem I had with the story was the reason that they made her go back to the girls team. If she had an advantage over the boys that she was playing with, what kind of competition is she getting with the girls team. I am hoping that people do not take this the wrong way but I have seen 7th and 8th grade girls play basketball before and they usually are not that good at all. Even boys at that age are not that good, but they are better than the girls. If you are going to do anything, they should have found someway to move her to a higher level to play with better competition.
The other problem I have with that story is how does that girl have to feel after being moved back with the girls. She probably feels very confident that she was better than the boys, but she has to be mad that she probably will not get the same competition that she was getting. This is the opposite of the boy who played field hockey on the girls team. The parents of the girls on that team were mad that we was allowed to play on the team. This is probably what happened with this girl. All the parents of the boys did not want to she there kids get beat by a girl.
The one part that I liked about the video was the girls confidence that she was going to play in the NBA one day. For a girl to have that dream that is awesome.
The main problem I had with the story was the reason that they made her go back to the girls team. If she had an advantage over the boys that she was playing with, what kind of competition is she getting with the girls team. I am hoping that people do not take this the wrong way but I have seen 7th and 8th grade girls play basketball before and they usually are not that good at all. Even boys at that age are not that good, but they are better than the girls. If you are going to do anything, they should have found someway to move her to a higher level to play with better competition.
The other problem I have with that story is how does that girl have to feel after being moved back with the girls. She probably feels very confident that she was better than the boys, but she has to be mad that she probably will not get the same competition that she was getting. This is the opposite of the boy who played field hockey on the girls team. The parents of the girls on that team were mad that we was allowed to play on the team. This is probably what happened with this girl. All the parents of the boys did not want to she there kids get beat by a girl.
The one part that I liked about the video was the girls confidence that she was going to play in the NBA one day. For a girl to have that dream that is awesome.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Marion Jones and the WNBA
The other day I was watching Sportscenter and along the bottom line I saw the Marion Jones wants to play in the WNBA. I continued to watch Sportcenter thinking at I would see them talk about this story, but they never did (unless it came at some other time). This goes along with what we talked in class about how woman's sports do not get much media coverage. The other question that I had was will any team sign her.
First I want to talk about the media coverage that this story received. I know Marion Jones is not the big star like she was when she was in the Olympics, but still this should have received some media coverage. I am not saying that storys like this should receive coverage but if this was a male athlete it would have had a lot of media attention. I know these two people were in prison for different reasons but look at the Micheal Vick case. When he was released from prison they had everyone on ESPN talking about who is going to sign if he was allowed back in the NFL.
The other question that I was wondering was would someone even sign her. I do not believe someone should sign her. The main reason I believe this is because she was caught cheating by using steriods. She admitted to using steriods during the Olympics in 2000. If I was a owner or coach at a WNBA team I would not want that type of person on my team. Using steriods to make yourself better when you know its cheating, I do not want someone on my team that does that.
First I want to talk about the media coverage that this story received. I know Marion Jones is not the big star like she was when she was in the Olympics, but still this should have received some media coverage. I am not saying that storys like this should receive coverage but if this was a male athlete it would have had a lot of media attention. I know these two people were in prison for different reasons but look at the Micheal Vick case. When he was released from prison they had everyone on ESPN talking about who is going to sign if he was allowed back in the NFL.
The other question that I was wondering was would someone even sign her. I do not believe someone should sign her. The main reason I believe this is because she was caught cheating by using steriods. She admitted to using steriods during the Olympics in 2000. If I was a owner or coach at a WNBA team I would not want that type of person on my team. Using steriods to make yourself better when you know its cheating, I do not want someone on my team that does that.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Nascar Sport or Not
At the beginning of the semester we were asked what is a sport. We looked at different "sports" then decided which one of them is a sport and what is not a sport. One thing that was not discussed but someone did bring up was NASCAR. The conversation about it ended right there. We also looked at John Loy's elements of sport. The elements include physical prowess, circumscribed space, competition, time constraints, rules, chance, skill, institutionalized. Looking these elements I believe that NASCAR should be considered a sport.
I have been a NASCAR fan for a very long time, so I am bias when it comes to this topic. The problem that I have with people that say that NASCAR is not a sport have never sat down and watched a race. There so much more to NASCAR than just making left turn as many people think that all it is.
Looking at the elements of what is a sport that John Loy came up with, NASCAR should be considered a sport. The easy ones to point out is the circumscribed space (the track), competition (43 drivers on the track), time constraint (laps), rules, and it is institutionalized. When it comes to physical prowess the amount of conditioning the drivers have to go through during the season and off-season is intense. Depending on their physical condition a driver can lose up to 15 pounds in one race. When there is 36 races in one season a driver has to be in very good physical condition. Another one of the elements is outcome determined by chance, skill or combination. In NASCAR, it takes a lot of skill to drive a NASCAR. There is so many different things that go into driving a one of those cars. It is hard to understand what actually goes on in a NASCAR race until you sit down and watch it.
I have been a NASCAR fan for a very long time, so I am bias when it comes to this topic. The problem that I have with people that say that NASCAR is not a sport have never sat down and watched a race. There so much more to NASCAR than just making left turn as many people think that all it is.
Looking at the elements of what is a sport that John Loy came up with, NASCAR should be considered a sport. The easy ones to point out is the circumscribed space (the track), competition (43 drivers on the track), time constraint (laps), rules, and it is institutionalized. When it comes to physical prowess the amount of conditioning the drivers have to go through during the season and off-season is intense. Depending on their physical condition a driver can lose up to 15 pounds in one race. When there is 36 races in one season a driver has to be in very good physical condition. Another one of the elements is outcome determined by chance, skill or combination. In NASCAR, it takes a lot of skill to drive a NASCAR. There is so many different things that go into driving a one of those cars. It is hard to understand what actually goes on in a NASCAR race until you sit down and watch it.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Gay Men in Sports
Today in class we talked about how whether or not gay men would be accepted if they came out during their playing careers. No professional male athlete has ever come out during their career. We talked about the study that asked each of the major sports whether or not a player would be accepted by his team mates and the fans. It also asked them to estimate the number of people they thought was gay in their league.
In my opinion, I believe that players will not be accepted if they do come out during their career. In our society people that come out that do not play sports are not even accepted, so how is a guy that plays sports with other men going to be accepted? The main reason that they will not be accepted is because of the reason that we talked about in class and that is if guys know that someone in that locker room is gay that will not feel comfortable. That will cause tension in the locker room and it could hurt the team. Even thought this is not right, this is the way our society is. It would take one of the top athletes in any of the major sports to come out before it would be acceptable to be gay and play a professional sport.
We talked about how it was said that a athlete who beat his wife or got caught with drugs is not as bad as being called gay. I agree with that statement because of what we have seen in recent years with some players. Ray Lewis was accused of murder and most people do not even remember that he was. One of people in the class named Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez who used steroids. There are many more athletes that have been accused of serious crimes but as long as they are helping their team win they will be accepted by fans and teammates.
Maybe someday a person that is gay can come out and be accepted by society.
In my opinion, I believe that players will not be accepted if they do come out during their career. In our society people that come out that do not play sports are not even accepted, so how is a guy that plays sports with other men going to be accepted? The main reason that they will not be accepted is because of the reason that we talked about in class and that is if guys know that someone in that locker room is gay that will not feel comfortable. That will cause tension in the locker room and it could hurt the team. Even thought this is not right, this is the way our society is. It would take one of the top athletes in any of the major sports to come out before it would be acceptable to be gay and play a professional sport.
We talked about how it was said that a athlete who beat his wife or got caught with drugs is not as bad as being called gay. I agree with that statement because of what we have seen in recent years with some players. Ray Lewis was accused of murder and most people do not even remember that he was. One of people in the class named Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez who used steroids. There are many more athletes that have been accused of serious crimes but as long as they are helping their team win they will be accepted by fans and teammates.
Maybe someday a person that is gay can come out and be accepted by society.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Race
Today in class we talked about race and we watched the video about the blue eye/brown eye experiment. The test was done back in 1970 on a group of third graders. One of the questions that was brought up was would we be able to do this experiment today. We also talked about whether race was still an issue.
Thinking of the question of whether we would be able to do this experiment today, I came up with a reasons on why it would not be able to work. One of the reasons was that it a different time than it was in 1970. What I mean by that is that there is a lot more media coverage of different events than there was back in the 1970. Kids today watch a lot more television than kids then. There not as much lack of understanding of the other races. They have more of their own opinion than what their parents have. In the 1970s the kids probably only knew about the other races from what their parents have told them. The other reason that this experiment could not be done today is because of the reason we talked about in class and that is because of the new laws. The kids would need their parents consent to be part of the experiment, and some parents would not let their kids participate in the experiment.
Thinking of the question of whether we would be able to do this experiment today, I came up with a reasons on why it would not be able to work. One of the reasons was that it a different time than it was in 1970. What I mean by that is that there is a lot more media coverage of different events than there was back in the 1970. Kids today watch a lot more television than kids then. There not as much lack of understanding of the other races. They have more of their own opinion than what their parents have. In the 1970s the kids probably only knew about the other races from what their parents have told them. The other reason that this experiment could not be done today is because of the reason we talked about in class and that is because of the new laws. The kids would need their parents consent to be part of the experiment, and some parents would not let their kids participate in the experiment.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Playing with Disabilities
In class on Thursday we talked about people who play sports with disabilities. We had to come up with players that we know that played sports with a disability, the only one that I thought of was the track star that tried to qualify for the Olympics. People believe that he had an advantage over everyone else because his "leg" gave him spring in his step. The only other person that I had heard of was Jim Abbott.
The other part of the discussion was how would your sports experience differ if you were a person with a disability. My answer would have been that I do not know if I would have been strong enough to go out there and compete. It is hard to say that I would not have been strong enough to do it but being able to go out there and having to work twice as hard just to have a chance to compete is probably very hard to do. After every defeat, it would be continue because you know you probably work twice as hard as the person you just faced and to lose has to be heartbreaking. It takes a very strong person to do that. The other part of that question was would there be a difference if you were male or female. I believe that there should be know difference because it still going to be hard no matter what gender you are to go out there and play.
The other part of the discussion was how would your sports experience differ if you were a person with a disability. My answer would have been that I do not know if I would have been strong enough to go out there and compete. It is hard to say that I would not have been strong enough to do it but being able to go out there and having to work twice as hard just to have a chance to compete is probably very hard to do. After every defeat, it would be continue because you know you probably work twice as hard as the person you just faced and to lose has to be heartbreaking. It takes a very strong person to do that. The other part of that question was would there be a difference if you were male or female. I believe that there should be know difference because it still going to be hard no matter what gender you are to go out there and play.
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