Crazy Soccer Girls!!

Earlier in the semester we watched the video of the girls soccer team from New Mexico. In the video, one of the worst portraits of sportsmanship was portrayed by on of the female athletes, as she tripped, and pulled the hair of girls from the opposite teams.

Yes. What this athlete did was horrible, and she deserved to be red carded from the game, if not kicked off of the team, but what I believe many may not see through this story, is that the only national coverage the New Mexico team had about their soccer program (which happened to be very good) is when this athlete acted out.

Anyone who follows sports can't argue that 98% of all TV coverage, especially on ESPN or other major networks only show, or dominantly show male sports. Just the other day I was flipping through the channels, just as a news reporter was saying that a female athlete had announced her engagement. They only type of personal coverage female athletes have are usually about personal issues, or when they do something un-lady-like, (The New Mexico Soccer Girl).

I feel guilty saying this, but I'm the member of the "If girls are playing, I'm probably going to change channel" club. I currently work for the athletic department, and I purposely schedule myself to not work any female sports. Why? I think many would agree that male sports are quicker, more entertaining, and easier to watch.

Even though many people feel the way I do, I still believe that females should have a bit more TV coverage, and not only when they do something wrong, or tie the knot.

Tiger

Unless you live in a hole, you have heard about the recent Tiger Woods incident in the past few weeks. Papers, Gossip Columns, ESPN, and even The View have talked about Tigers "Bad Decisions" and have voiced their opinions about what should happen next. So many allegations have been made about Tiger, that it is hard to know what is true. Does he have a Love Child with one of his multiple lovers? Is his wife leaving him? Did she really hit him over the head with a gold club? Who knows if we ever will find out these answers, but on the turn around.. why should big media sources even care?!

Like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods is major money maker for products such as Nike, Gatorade, and even his won brand. For millions of American's he is living the ideal life, and just like any red blooded American, we are all waiting for him to "slip" up. We love to root for these top dog athletes and will stand behind them all day when they are on top of their game, but Like A Rod, after his "mishaps" with his EX wife, or even allegations that My husband (David Beckham) cheated on his "wife" Posh, everyone was ready to throw them under the bridge, and jump on them.




I personally believe that we all need to remember that these super star athletes are just that.. "athletes". Even if we want to believe they have super powers, they are only human, and will make mistakes just like we all do every day. But unfortunately for them, their life's are flashed all over every major network.

Even though I want to defend Tiger for his actions, I still have to say that he needs to remember he is a role model to millions, if not billions of people around the world. Yes, the fans will come back, most of his endorsers will stand by him, but a lot of people will not forget his mistakes.

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

Un-Sportsman Like Conduct

It is easy to say that now-a-day's athletes are not only expected to act like "Athletes" but as role models for fans of all ages. Little basket ball fans beg their parents for LeBron James and Michael Jordan Jerseys, with hopes of being able to play ball as well as the stars could.

Even though athletes know that they are always in the Lime Light, many times they can lose their tempers (like any normal person) and do something very "Un-Sportsman like."

Pretty much all of the athletes in the world have had their little slip ups, but why do some athletes get more attention for their faults then others. Not only do some athletes have a finger pointed at them because of their super celebrity, but now their Sex is coming into consideration when deciding what and what not is forgivable. No doubt this is a double standard.

Take the recent Serena episode. Smashing her racket and going off on the little line judge was uncalled for, and now she is getting horrible press saying that she was over the top with her attitude. If a man would have acted exactly the same way, I believe that he would have still received a bit of bad press, but it would have been more acceptable, for the simple reason that he was a male.

In life, the media, and movies and TV, Strong and Powerful men are the ones who settle their problems with verbal arguments and fighting. The only women who are ever seen fighting are the ones that are CIA agents, or from the wrong side of the tracks. Because of the standard portrayal of the sexes, it is not a shock that the world freaks out when the see a women acting un-lady-like (Whatever that really means)

In class, we talked about what people would think about an Athlete that cried after he won or loss a game. I personally believe that if an athlete left his heart out on the field and then lost a game, there is no reason for him to be looked down at if he showed a bit of emotion, and the same if he won. No one should be ashamed of showing their emotions. Emotion dosen't mean weak.. It means you're human!

P.S. - <3

What is a sport?!

To some.. Sport is a competition.. To others it's a life styles.. To many it's a religion.. but to most (including myself) it's a great reason to get together with your friends!

After Thursday's class last week, I thought long and hard about the different "sports" that we were to list in order of "Which we most consider a sport" to "The least we consider a sport." Even though "Cup Stacking" may not be on the same level of intensity as the most popular sports- Football, Soccer, Tennis, etc, I would consider "Cup Stacking" a "sport"! Yes. It may sound crazy, but let's break it down. A sport needs to have 1. set rules (cup stacking- Check!) 2. a level of competition (Cup stacking- Check!). Okay, the competition level may not be as high as football, but don't tell the "Cup Stacking" athletes that! I think that today, many people only consider sports, "sports" if they know about them, and if they have a large following. I wanted to hear what an outsiders opinion was about "sport", so I asked one of the the farthest outsiders I could find.. My best friend Steve.. Who is from Australia..

I didn't give Steve a set list of sports to rank, but I did ask him to give me his top 5 and bottom five "sports". Here is his list:

top five are:
1. Soccer (naturally)
2. Cricket
3. Ice Hockey
4. Golf
5. Ironman or Tennis

bottom five are:
1. Darts
2. Poker
3. Curling
4. Skeleton Luge
5. Nascar or Baseball

I have to admit that Steve hit my last point on the head by saying that his bottom 5 sports includes Baseball (America's past time). Since Australia doesn't have a baseball team, the first time he ever saw a game was when he was visiting last summer. After watching, he went on and on about how it was a horrible "game"! On the other hand, hardly anyone from the US would rank Cricket in their top 5 sports!

So maybe "Cup Stacking" is not the most intense of "Sports" but you can't deny that those athletes put their heart and soul into the competition..

What would I consider the greatest sport?? Anything David Beckham is playing of course..