Conclusion

Conclusion by Nick Daverio

I thought this class had some interesting topics that we covered throughout the semester. I feel after taking this class that I gained some different aspects about sport and gender and everything involved about sport. I have never done a blog before and especially have never done one for a class. I found the blog to be helpful throughout the semester. As the process went on I found it hard to keep up with the blog at times along with doing the discussion board every week also. I believe that a centralized blog where everyone posts will be much easier for everyone.

After taking this class I have noticed more about the differences between men's and women's sports and am able to distinguish the differences fairly easy now. I also have more respect for women's sports after taking this class and realizing how unequal they are compared to men's sports especially when sometimes they are better. As for the presentations, I am glad that our group went 1st and was able to get it done right away instead of procrastinating and I felt that we did a good job for being the first ones to go. I also felt that we kind of helped other groups in a sense of what they need to do for there presentations. After seeing all the presentations, I feel that everyone did a very good job and picked very interesting topics related to sport and gender. Lastly, I feel that once the blog situation is figured out that future classes will enjoy the class and also enjoy doing the blogs. 

Too many Quarterbacks?

After watching the group go and present about RGIII I thought to myself wow what a great quarterback he is going to be. Right along with all the other quarterbacks that are going into the draft right now. As we see the development of these young guys get better and better and more and more teams choosing to start these young quarterbacks what is going to happen in the NFL in a few years. Are teams going to start holding quarterbacks for 2-3 years and then picking a new one up in the draft. There are high number of great quarterbacks entering this draft and there are still so many good quarterbacks that are still in college. I believe that there could start to be too many good quarterbacks and not enough teams to fill quarterback spots. Like I said I think this is because of how well the young quarterbacks are becoming in college. They are getting better and better as the years go on. They are starting to learn more offenses and becoming more deadly weapons, especially in the spread or wildcat formation. There are many more dual threat quarterbacks because of all the situations and I could very easily see more NFL teams turning to these offenses. Does anyone else see this as a problem? Could there be an abundance of quarterbacks here in the kind of near future? I hope it doesn't happen because I like watching all of these talented athletes battle it out. Also I saw on ESPN yesterday that Tim Tebow's new job for the Jets is the punt protector. I think that this is a waste of time for Tebow and a waste of money to put him there for the Jets.

Post by Kane Godfrey

conclusion

Conclusion 

By Trent Ringle

For my conclusion of this class, I think this was one of the more interesting classes I have taken here at BGSU. I am not a Sports Management Major; I am studying Telecommunication and am only taking this class because I chose to do a support field in SM. I have never taken a class where we were asked to do a blog page and interact with a group. I thought this was a very good way to interact with my fellow classmates and gain knowledge of how other acknowledge material. When commenting on the blogs as a whole I thought they were a very good idea, however I felt the way we set them up and had to keep up to date with them could have been done differently. 

The subject of sports and gender has never really been anything I would pay attention to when thinking of men and women’s sports. In high school sure I paid attention to women’s athletics and would go and support my fellow classmates. However, now in college it is not really something I watch had it not been for this class I would have never cared to watch the women’s NCAA Final Four. Being a male, I want to watch Football, basketball, and baseball games. After taking this class, I understand that women’s athletics can be just as interesting and entertaining as men’s sports. 

As a final comment on the presentation being the first group to go I felt we did a very good job and set the bar for the other groups to go off of. After seeing six other groups go, I really enjoyed see what topics they decided to do their presentation on. I think all of the groups have done a good job on their research and have presented very well. Lastly, I believe the feedback about the blogs that each group has given should really help in structuring them for next semester’s class. The blogs are a great idea and should defiantly be kept in the curriculum.   

A secret life

Blog done by Trent Ringle

Yesterday in class, we spoke about homosexuality and how on the male side of professional sports men are not coming out of the closet until after their careers are over. As our society is evolving so is the awareness that not all professional athletes are heterosexual. If an athlete wants his teammates to know he is gay then he will tell them, however the consequences of allowing them to know could be devastating. Many of the athletes or public figures who have later in their careers come out and announced they were homosexual have said they choose not to come out because of they were fearful of how others would view them. Former NFL player Esera Tuaolo who after his career admitted he was gay talks about the tough road he had to take to keep his life a secret from his teammates. Tuaolo states “I really think my career would have ended quickly… I probably would have got hurt out there” (Former nfl player). From a players standpoint this is a strong statement to make I cannot understand the feelings that could be going through Tuaolo’s head if his secret got out.

I have personally known someone who has had to keep their sexuality behind closed doors. A friend of mine who I went to high school with and played sports with recently came out. In high school, no one knew he was gay, my friend was in a relationship with a female for almost three years. It was not until after high school he decided to tell his friends and family that he was gay. The only reason I bring it up is what happen when he told his family, for the most part his parents and siblings had no problem with it. The one person that did and meant the most to my friend was his grandmother she openly disowned my friend and told him she did not want to see him again until he changed his life. I cannot for the life of me understand how a person can disown his or her own family member just for being gay. If a person’s family cannot stand to be around that individual how is a teammate going to react in the similar situation. I understand why people are choosing not to come out and truly believe that athletes will not be able to openly admitting they are gay anytime in the near future. Will there ever be a time when our society accepts those who come out of the closet? For the person who does come out and publicly admits they are gay will they face any consequences when participating in their sport? 

Former nfl player speaks out on being gay. (n.d.). Retrieved from     http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=125632&page=1

Similarities and Difference between Men's and Women's Final Four

 First of all I would like to congratulate the mens teams of Kansas, Ohio State, Kentucky, and Louisville for making it to New Orleans for the Final Four. What a great accomplishment it is to make it all the way to the Final Four. Unfortunately the Ohio State Buckeyes decided to not show up for the second half of the game against Kansas and are now going home. Also Kentucky beat Louisville in the battle of the Kentucky teams in the final four.

 For the women's side congratulations to Uconn, Notre Dame, Baylor, and Stanford for making it to Denver for the Women's Final Four. It's great to watch Baylor succeed because I had the opportunity to watch them play in the second round game here at Bowling Green, so I am rooting for them.

 To start with the similarities that these both have first of all is how hard all the teams played in these final four games. Each team no matter if the won or lost played extremely hard and made these games very interesting to watch. Especially the crazy ending in the women's Notre Dame and Uconn game. I also feel like these games were both packed. Unlike the sweet sixteen round for women when the place was empty.

 Now for the differences, I saw a lot of of these. The first thing that I noticed that was very different was that the coaches did a T.V. interview during timeouts in the girls game. In the guys games there would never be a coach do that. They have a hard time having an interview going into the locker room at the half. Also the mens tournament they played in a huge football stadium, and the womens tournament was played in an NBA stadium which was not close to the same size at all. Another thing that I noticed was the guys final four was on CBS which people can view even if they don't have cable. As for the womens tournament it aired on ESPN which people have to have cable to see it. So it doesn't get to as many people as the mens. I also think that with mens basketball they show way more fan interactions during the game then they do during womens when they strictly focus on the game.

Now its time for the National Championship games. Go Ohio State!! Just kidding. I will be rooting for Kansas and Baylor. Go get it Britney Griner

Post By: Kane Godfrey

Is he really back

Post done by Trent Ringle

Is he really back

Throughout history, professional athletes have been challenged with overcoming injuries and outside distractions on a daily basis. At some point in time every athlete will have an injury that they will need to overcome or personal distraction in there life that leaves them wondering if they will ever be able to play the game again. Right now a prime example of someone who was able to beat the obstacles off the field was Plaxico Burress. Burress who was convicted in 2009 of a weapons charge, and sentenced to 20 months in prison. For any athlete being out of the game for this long could ruin a person career. However, for Burress he was able to overcome this and become the NFL’s 2011 comeback player of the year. He did not put up numbers as he had in past seasons, but he was still a major threat as a New York Jets wide receiver which earned him this award.  Could Tiger Woods possible be able to pull off a similar outcome in professional golf? This  past weekend he was able to win his 72th title at Bay Hill. Could this possible be the start to the second phase of Woods career? Though some will say it is I personally do not believe it is. By winning one tournament, it does not mean that a player has made a comeback. Tiger’s image is still not 100% back to the old form it once was. In order, for him to fully get back to the number one player in the world status he will need to both perform well on and off the course.

Golf...soft muscle sport

Post by Nick Daverio

For class on Friday we read an article about being unfit and playing sports. The examples they talked about were John Daly and Laura Davies. Both are professional golfers on their respective tours. The article talked about how golf is the last soft muscle sport meaning that one does not need to be in tip top physical condition. I partially agree with what the article has to say but part of me disagrees. I agree that one does not have to be in great physical condition to play golf competitively, just look at John Daly, Craig Stadler, and Jason Gore, who all have had success on the PGA Tour. One can have success on the tour such as these guys based on their talent and drive for competition and not based on their physical stature. But as the game evolves, I start to believe that calling the game of golf a soft muscle sport is very inaccurate. With technological improvements in golf and courses becoming more difficult, players are looking for ways to improve their game. Many golfers on tour now are very athletic and do work out and are in great physical shape. Tiger Woods was one of the first golfers that people started to notice that was hitting the gym often and in very good shape and people said that would hurt his game. Even though Tiger has had injury problems as of lately, the trend of becoming physical fit has grown throughout the tour with players such as Rory McIllroy and Dustin Johnson. Being physically fit is proving to have a great success for players on tour just take Rory for example who has been doing great for the past couple of years since he started working out because of his girlfriend. Golf is evolving and so are the players, so with that being said I believe that golf will soon be no longer categorized as a soft muscle sport. 

Invisible Knapsack

In class we had to go over a few questions. Our question was on the Invisible knapsack of white privilege. What the invisible knapsack really means is the privileges that white people get that they don't even think about and take advantage of every day. There are many different examples that people could come up with but the one that Dr. Spencer mentioned in class is a great example of this. When a person gets pulled over for "driving while black." This is not the only time that I have ever heard someone say this and I do believe it is a problem in today's society. This is something that white people don't even think about or worry about while driving down the road. But others they do have to worry about this. My example  of this would be the fact that white people that walk into a store or grocery store don't have to worry about being followed or even watched over while shopping. I have seen first hand one of my friends get followed around in a store because he was black. Also here at BGSU I was with a group of my black friends and I was the first one to walk into the bar then they weren't aloud in for various reasons.I feel that this is so unfair and really should be noticed by people and then maybe something will change.

Another thing that we talked about in class today was Don Imus. What he said on his radio report was completely unnecessary. He claimed that it was a joke. There is a time and place for people to joke and I believe that on national radio that is not a type of joke to say. People pick up on the things that reporters shouldn't say when they are on live television or radio. For example I can think of two instances on Ncaa Gameday coverage this passed season when things shouldn't have been said. One was Lee Corso he drops the F bomb on national television and the other was a special guest Brian Wilson when he makes an inappropriate comment on the mascots. However these statements aren't racist these are "jokes" that shouldn't be said on love coverage.

Post By Kane Godfrey

Lee Corso
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M35SPhRD0Iw&feature=related

Brian Wilson Start at 2:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcqR7t6gFvc

Indian Wells

I feel the event that took place at Indian Wells with the Williams sisters was unfortunate. While the circumstances may have appeared to be fishy there is no way it could be proved that there was wrong doing on the behalf of Venus and Serena. There is no place for booing and racial slurs to be thrown at a nineteen year old girl and her family. People need to realize injuries occur with professional athletes all the time. Even the slightest injury can nag an athlete in all aspects of the game especially a game that lasts as long as tennis does. Tennis matches can last for hours on end of non stop running back and forth. If Venus had an injury I have no reason to doubt her. I know if I have an injury that tweaks the way I play and is uncomfortable, I don't want to have to run non stop for hours and try to beat someone who is at the top of her game. I understand it may look bad on Venus for withdrawing but she has to do what is best for herself and if she thought withdrawing was best then we as fans have to respect that. Fans need to realize that Tennis is her source of income and her life, if she plays hurt and furthers her injury who knows what that could do to her career. As for booing Serena the entire match, fans have that right but they also need to realize she was only a nineteen year old girl at that point in her life. Many of those fans probably have children around that same age. How would they feel if thousands of people booed their kid and yelled racial slurs at them? It could not have been easy for Serena. It was probably very intimidating in that environment given that the majority of the crowd are white people yelling and booing at her. She has no place to run and hide like most nineteen year olds would resort to. Instead she competed at a high level like a true professional. I found the video of Indian Wells very interesting. You could obviously see fans booing, yelling, and cussing at Richard and Venus as they walked into the stadium. Once again being surrounded by thousands of white people yelling slurs at you and your family as you are one of few African Americans has to be very intimidating. At one point Richard stopped and looked at one fan after he yelled something. I can not blame Richard, as a father it is natural to go into protection mode when people are chastising his children. I also did notice the similarities to the raising of his fist as the sprinters did in the 1968 Olympics. I will defend him as I feel it showed him symbolizing unity with his family in an obviously difficult position. There is no place in sports for what happened at Indian Wells in 2001 and I hope no family or athlete will have to go through that again. Fans need to realize athletes are humans as well and can not always perform if they ae hurt. Post by Jared King.

The Jordan Effect

The Jordan effect      By Trent Ringle

The Jordan effect is a term I feel that has reached many lives, and brought a great deal of opportunity to those who have experienced it.  This is a concept that has arisen from the unbelievable career of Michael Jordan. From his athletic career he has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands both on a off the court. The question I want to bring up is if he is the only person who has done this so called “Jordan Effect”. In addition, from what he started have other athletes tried to take the same path?  MJ has his own clothing line, shoes, race team, has been in films, and endorsed hundreds of commercials for different products. However, there are both pros and cons to this.

Pros

Money grossed by others from MJ’s fame

The attention given to Chicago when he played professional ball

The image of Michael Jordan that companies will use for years to come

Cons

Bad publicity could hurt his image and the industry

Just because it’s his brand does not mean it’s the best option for you

From what Jordan has done, I feel it has given other athletes opportunities. Let us look at other examples of this for instance Lebron James he has become one of the top athletes of 21^st century, and when he played for Cleveland, he brought an enormous amount of money into the city. He also has been in a number of commercials and ads and is a representative for Nike. On the negative side now that he has left Cleveland the town has reverted to its old ways with stores and industries going out of business all because of one man leaving a team. Dwayne Johnson also known as The Rock a professional wrestler is another example of this. He has gone from an athlete to a film star playing the lead role in a number of movies. From the Jordan effect, do you believe that other athletes are trying to venture out and take up other career options?  In our time, will we ever see another athlete come close to the skill level of Michael Jordan or build something close to “The Jordan Effect”?

Girls playing on boys' teams

In class last Wednesday we got into our groups to discuss some topics regarding girls playing on boys' teams. We decided to answer the first question of whether girls should be allowed to play football on boy's teams. After discussing in our group we came to the conclusion that girls should be allowed to play football on boys' teams.

As a group we discussed the pros and cons of girls playing football on a boys' team and came up with some very good pros and cons. First and foremost the most obvious pro for girls playing football on a boys' team is that they are getting the opportunity to play football on an organized team. Another pro would be that girls would feel a sense of accomplishment because they are part of the team and would be making a contribution to the team. There are a couple cons for girls playing football on a boys' team though. The first con for girls playing would be that they would be at a higher risk of getting injured going up against stronger and bigger boys. Another con would be how the opposing teams would treat the girl on the field and what would they do with their game play to exploit the situation. A very big con would be regarding the locker room situation. What would be done about the locker room situation if a girl was on the team? Would she have her own locker room and separated from the team or would she share the same locker room. That situation is very important and would need to be taken care of with respect to the team, players, and the girl or girls on the team. The cons do not outweigh the pros we feel and still believe that girls should be allowed to play football on boys' teams. With that being said, girls playing on boys' teams would also help out other girls because it would get exposure about the situation.


Post by Nick Daverio

Budget Allocation

This Post was done by Trent Ringle

Being an athletic director or someone who holds any high position where you control the budget of all your sports programs at your school has to be one of the more stressful jobs around. Only having a set amount of money that can be budgeted for the different athletic programs brings up a number of different topics. Exactly how this money should be distributed among the programs, which program needs it more, which one deserves it more. A number of questions need to be answered before a sound budget can be written out.

            In the budget allocation assignment, our school has a $120,000 budget to divide between all the sports team. Along with this a donation which was given to our school for $20,000 bring our total now to $140,000. Lastly, four athlete programs can receive $60 per player by doing fundraisers. We as a group decided that the teams with the most players should do the fundraisers in order to bring in the most amount of money to help fund as many sports teams as we can. This brings our grand total to $155,300 that we can spend for all the different athletic programs. Of this amount, $151,350 must be spent on what teams need to have. The left over $3,950 that we had we decided to spend it on both the men and women’s soccer and track teams, and the women’s volleyball team.

            Our decision to give these specific teams the extra money was based on which teams we could give the most support too. All five of these teams are rank in the top five of their conferences making our decision to give them the extra money an easy one, they deserved it. When being an athletic director Title IX plays a big part in the final decision. In the exercise, we wanted to make sure that we were not; judgmental in whom we gave money to. This is what lead us to give money to both men’s and women’s team, giving them an equal opportunity to receive financial help and to help them excel in their individual sport.

            Though some programs might think it is unfair who we decided to give the extra money to there are both negatives and positives that were contributed to our cause with the positivest out weighing the negatives. A question to bring up would be what if we did not have the full amount of money needed to support our sports programs. In which sport program would cuts be made that would still help our athletic programs get the proper support they need. Thankfully, in this exercise we did not have to cut any teams and were able to give all the financial help that we could to our programs.