Gay Athletes

I think that it is very sad to know that in the year 2009, Gay athletes are still not able to come out and be accepted in their sports. In the videos we watched in class, the retired football player, that had come out of the closet, post retirement, believed that Gay's in Athletics have come a long way in the past years. I have to disagree with that, because you do not see more then a handful of openly gay athletes, while it is impossible to believe out of the hundreds of male athletes, only a few a gay.

In high school, an athlete on the males baseball team came out our Senior year. The entire school was out raged, and the boy actually dropped off of the team. A friend of mine, (Who was also friends with the gay athlete) said that the other players destroyed his locker and all of the contents, also, they made posters saying horrible things about him, so the kid would want to quit the team. My friend asked the other played why they did not want the kid on the team any more, even though they had been playing baseball together for four years, the other players replied that they were not able to trust the kid anymore.

In a professional setting, I believe that the only way an athlete would the the "guts" to come out as openly gay, would be if they were absolutely outstanding at their sport. Even if they were good at their sport, any mess up or anything that wasn't outstanding would result in being a "side effect" of them being gay, and not respected by their team.

Race/Racism

It seems as though when the topic of race and racism is brought up, everyone turns their head, backs down, and is too scared to give their opinion. I believe that racism is just that, an opinion. In many situation, people take what they think to be racism the wrong way, when in fact, a person may just being saying something taken out of context. In class, many opinions were given, but some may have been seen as raciest comments, because they did not sound exactly like the other opinions in the class.


On the issue of Indian Wells, I believe that what the Williams Sister experienced was not direct racism. I believe that fans were very upset that they did not see the match that they were looking forward to the day before, and they were taking their frustration out on the sisters. Just because a few of the fans said racist remarks (Which YES, that would be considered Racism) the sisters took the criticism and negativity as only racism.

I do not think that it is a good idea that they sisters decided to boycott Indian Wells, because I think that it just plays into the idea that the fans are getting to them, and that they are in return being racist towards the fans that attend the Indian Wells matches, because they do not with to play for them.

I hope that one day, Race/Racism will not be made into such a big deal as some people make it into today, but to eliminate it, we have to understand everyone has a different opinion and different point of view.

Gender of Audience Building

1. If a Study on "Gender of Audience Building was done today, our group believes that a lot of the results would be the same. Most of the coverage and promotion for women's sports is done through sex appeal and what some people may consider exploitation. For Example - Many female athletes do advertisements for Bras, or sporting gear while wearing minimal clothing. Also in many advertisements where women athletes are involved, it is hard to tell what the product being advertised actually is. Another time that women athletics actually are put in the spot light, is when women do things that are "unlady-like", and cause a major upset- For example- Soccer Player from New Mexico State


2. Based on the study, audiences can be constructed to reflect growth of girls and women in sport by showing and promoting more of the games and players. Having a better build up to the games, having better coverage of the athletes, and focusing more on the women's teams.

Sarah Miller
Ashley Regan
Adam Solomon
Carl Fowler
Chris Hoepner