Final reflections

Personally, my perception of US sports before I took this class havent changed much. Being an avid sports fan, I personally feel like I have a fairly good idea of what is going on within the sports world and have a grasp of what sports mean to people around the country. The biggest thing that ive learned throughout this semester regarding sports culture is how often people compare violence to sports. Before taking this class, I never sat down and actually thought about the role violence plays within sports and how similar they are to one another. The discussion/topic that stood out to me the most throughout the semester was the discussion we had on disabled athletes. Two years ago my brother experienced a fatal accident and ended up loosing both his legs below the knee. Before the accident he was an avid athlete, so i really enjoyed learning how other people view disabled athletes and what sports are available for them to participate in. After taking this class, I do believe that i will start to ask/think about more critical questions within the US sports world because this class presented a wide variety of topics that I never associated with  in terms of sports. I believe I will be able to use alot of the skills I learned throughout this semester. The biggest skill that I can see my self using in the future is my listening skills. Throughout this semester, we got to hear a lot about sports and how differently they impact others and what others opinions of them are. Overall, I would highly recommend this class to a friend because it is unlike any other class that I have taken at CU. I mean seriously who doesnt enjoy learning about sports especially if your an avid sports fan like myself. This class was something I truly enjoyed being apart of and look forward to recommending it for friends to take in the future. 

Darwins Athletes #13

Personally, I think that sports play a major role within our society but play an even larger role in African American culture. Unfortunately, there are some communities around the country that are heavily black populated that live in poverty and sports are viewed as one of the ways out of poverty. There is always that so called "best athlete at my school" individual however, for communities that face financial difficulties sports can be viewed as the golden ticket. Because of this, these athletes are able to develop a drive and sense of urengcy that others never poses.  Sports are always looking for a great story and we continue to see this when we hear stories about individuals using sports as a resource to better themselves and their families. Hollywood however always makes sure that their story quote on quote makes it. We see  this in movies like Remember the Titans, Glory Road, and The Blind Slide to name a few. In all off these movies, the story ends with a great deal of success. These are amazing movies but they only tell one part of the story for athletes who view sports as a way out of the ghetto. In Hoop Dreams, we see what reality is really like and see what it is like for athletes who never make it out of the ghetto and never realize their dream. Hoop Dreams truly tells the story of what it is like for athletes who live in poverty and allows for us to see how valued sports are within these communities. I personally do not believe that sports are damaging Black Americans and preserves the myth of race. However, I do believe that all athletes no matter what race they are from view sports as a way to better themselves. Just look at the role models within todays society like Tiger Woods, Lebron James, and Floyd Mayweather, all of these athletes are considered to be the best in there sports and we as a society are allowed to view what there success bring them on and off the court, and can only imagine what living that life would truly be like. These are all reasons why sports are truly viewed as a way to better oneself, and allow for athletes of all ages to dream in something bigger than the game itself.   

Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports

One of the most common topics talked about in todays society regarding collegiate athletes is the weather or not they should be paid for there services. Currently college sports are viewed to be just as popular and profitable as some professional sports and are only continuing to grow. In the article for todays blog it talked about how some Universities around the country are brining in significant amounts of money with some schools bring in around 80 million dollars a year. This brings up the idea why shouldn't  the athletes be paid? There the ones who are doing all the work and brining in the money at the end of the day. I personally believe that we should not pay college athletes for there athletic contributions and believe so for a number of reasons. First of all, where do you draw the line in who you are paying and how much do you pay them? Should the starting quarterback be paid as much as the cross country runner or the 10th man on the golf team? Also these athletes are receiving a free education along with the daily amenities that one needs including rent, books, food, etc. Which can add up to a significant sum at the end of the day. Another reason I believe in this idea is because I believe that there is something to say about the amateur athlete and what that stands for. However, I do believe that athletes should be allowed to turn pro when they want and should not be forced to wait for x amount of years, but then again that is a totally different argument. In the end, I believe that collegiant athletes should not be paid for there services and should continue to play for free based on there individual love for the game and the overall pride in representing there school as a whole. 

High School Sports

In todays society the classic stereotypes that are commonly associated with high school sports are continuing to develop and occur on a more common basis. The idea behind high school sports becoming more intense and only the top tear athletes participating is one that is becoming more and more true. High school sports are becoming a place where college coaches are more and more relying on to find the best athletes possible. In todays world high school sports are being seen as a stage to showcase ones individual talent with the common goal in receiving an athletic scholarship.  High school sports are ramping up the intensity each and every year and continue to see a decline in participants across the board because we now believe that athletes in high school should only focus on one sport. I believe that this tendency is what is damaging high schools sports today. 20 years ago the best athletes at different schools would play 2 maybe even 3 sports, now the best athletes are only participating in one sport and one sport only. Personally, when I began playing high school sports I was amazed at the difference in time commitment compared to middle school along with the overall time spent practicing and preparing for the games. Another thing that was noticeable was the overall status that the athletes where given. They where allowed to leave class early, receive extra time on there tests, and above all received a special gratitude that only they could achieve. I believe that these along with several other things are current problems associated with sports today. However, the biggest problem I believe in interscholastic sports today is that athletes think they are better than they actually are and believe that no matter what they do they should not be punished as hard as others. I also think that this is a problem that is not going to go away anytime soon because we are the ones as a society who let these athletes get away with certain things and are the ones who dont hold them to a higher standard.

Once the cheering stops: The life of a retired pro-athlete

Personally, I believe that the life of a retired athlete is different for each individual. For some, it is a life of fame and luxuries that some individuals could never even dream off and for some athletes I think it could be a life of unhappiness and misfortune. If you are an athlete that has been successful and responsible throughout your career the odds are that you will be able to live the life you want to. However, in some situations athletes have to forget about there past and move forward finding a job just like the rest of us. I believe the biggest transition that athletes face while transitioning to retirement is the fact that they are no longer being payed an annual income, and for some of these athletes that like to role around in big groups of supporters this can get extremely hard fast. I believe the reason that athletes struggle so much making this transition is because they have a hard time saying no to someone. We as a society have this belief that all athletes will be rich forever and more common than not that is not the case. In certain situations I believe the athlete themselves feels as if they owe everyone something because they made it and are afraid to turn someone away when they come asking for favors when reality is they dont have the funds necessary to be lending out support. Along with this idea of giving out money I believe that athletes as a whole spend way to much during there careers and do not spend enough time thinking and saving for there retirement. Overall, my personal opinion is that athletes around the word spend way to much money on unrealistic material things like cars and jewelry. I have thought about this topic before because we constantly see athletes in todays society filling for bankruptcy and I just cannot believe the amounts of money they have wasted during there careers and the fact that they did not have someone responsible telling them what they should be saving. 

Sport, Politics and the Olympics

During the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City one of the most memorable political statements took place. Athletes, Tommy Smith and John Carlos where American runners who had just won the gold and bronze medal respectfully. After the race the two athletes where presented there medals, while the gold medalists (Tommy Smith) national anthem played throughout the stadium. Once the national anthem began the two men who where also African American raised there fist with black gloves on to salute black power. They also wore no shoes on the podium but chose to wear black socks only which represented black poverty within the United States.  After the event Tommy Smith later stated that the gloves did not represent black power instead they represented a human rights salute.  This event took place because these two incredible athletes wanted to be excepted for who they where not for just being Olympians. They wanted to make a statement that was felt around the world and thats exactly what they did.  Of the 5 political uses of sports that Sage and Eitten's discusses I believe the one that is most relevant to this situation is the use of the Olympics for political purposes by organizations outside the host nation because, these men where wanting to make a political statement to there country and identified the Olympics as the perfect stage to make a non violent statement that was felt around the world.  In regards to sports being pure and devoid of political interference I personally disagree with this statement. I believe that sports are one of the biggest and most powerful stages to conduct political movements and believe that we continue to see that in todays society. Both Smith and Carlos identified the importance of the stage in which they where on and used that stage to make a political movement that was seen and remembered around the world to this day. Sports are far more than just a game with a winner and looser they are historical events in our society and remembered throughout history for the actions and influences they had on our culture as a whole.   

Sociogenesis of Hockey

For today's blog I decided to research Hockey to have a better understanding of the history behind the sport. Hockey is a sport that I have recently taken a greater interest in over the last 5 or 6 years and I figured it would be topic to do this blog on and would only benefit my overall understanding for the sport. Hockey originates from Nova Soctia and was believed to have begun being played in the early 1800's. The overall development for the sport took place in the early 1900's when British soldiers immigrated to Canada. The sport was originally played in Nova Socita where it originated from but continued to develop late in the 1900's in Canada. Hockey made significant strides during the late 1800's when the first organized indoor hockey game took place. The goals posts were 6 feet apart and the games lasted 60 minutes, which is the exact same as todays NHL. The reason behind the original idea to use a puck instead of a ball was because the ice rink itself did not have boards and would allow for the puck to easily stay in the rink. However, the most drastic difference in the rules from when they originated to today is the number of players on the ice at a time. Originally Hockey teams consisted of 9 players, today they only consist of 6. Not only have the rules changed throughout the history of Hockey but so have the uniforms and equipment they use. Hockey has always been played with a hockey stick, puck and skates, but over time more equipment has been added to help protect the players as the game becomes more violent. Below you can see the difference between an early hockey uniform and one that would be worn today. Throughout history Hockey has has some unbelievable moments throughout time including the first ever Stanley Cup, the introduction into the Olympic games, the creation of the NHL, and who could forget the 1980 Winter Olympic Gold medalists who inspired the country during a trying time.  Currently Hockey faces the same challenges as alot of the popular professional sports due. However, they are facing similar times to the NHL regarding concussions and continue to try and draw a larger audience to there games both within the stadium and the media. Hockey is one of the most un appreciated sports in todays society and faces challenges daily because of it. In the end, Hockey is a sport played by individuals around the world who are willing to give up everything they have for the love of the game.