Regrets, She’s had a Few

Believe it or not prior to reading this article I had no clue of who Renee Richards was or how she had any relevance to this class or sport at all. In the article “Regrets, She’s had a Few” by Cindy Shmerier I learned a lot about her background and how she has affected the sports world. Sex reassignment is probably much more common now, however in 1975 it was a major issue especially since Richard Raskind, M.D., was so successful. Raskind who graduated from Yale and attend medical school at the University of Rochester, served in the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, and was a very successful tennis player in his own right.

Renee Richards on the other hand actually decided to play professional tennis on the woman’s tour, and of course I can see why this was an issue for the women on the tour. Having to compete with a player that use to be a man and had previously competed with males isn’t a fair situation. Nonetheless Richards took her argument all the way to the Supreme Court and she was granted the opportunity to compete as a woman on the women’s tour. I don’t agree with this at all, if the WNBA found that one of their players was formerly a man and had a sex reassignment operation I think they would banish the player indefinitely. It’s just unfair for a female to compete in professional sports after being a male for 35 years. I think the U.S. Supreme Court made a major mistake in allowing Renee Richards to compete on the women’s tour. Yes, it is ok for a woman to compete in men’s professional sport because the general consensus is the competition is bigger, faster, stronger, and more athletic, on the other hand as for men to drop down a play in a women’s league for whatever reason is unacceptable.

Full Court Press

Last week we talked a lot about gay stigma and how men’s professional sport has almost set the standard for homophobia. Today I will be discussing the article “Full Court Press” by Griffin. This article goes in depth concerning the concept of the “lesbian boogeywoman” and the defensive responses to that concept, which are entitled “apologetic.” The apologetic consist of eight response typically used to deflect questions about the lesbian bogeywoman image, these responses include silence, denial, promotion of a heterosexy image, and attacks on lesbians (Griffin, 1998) This issue comes as a surprise to me, I was unaware that this issue existed in women’s sport, and like their male counterparts many lesbian choose to maintain their silence. However, do you think that a lesbian in professional sport would face the same type of public scrutiny as say a gay male in professional sports? This is an interesting question and I know from my personal appearances, I feel that a lesbian has a much better chance of being accepted than a gay male. Its mind boggling because female athletes face many of the same issues that male athletes face.

Discrimination against lesbians doesn’t just stop on the field; it can also affect coaches and employees in the front office. “Some athletic directors fire women coaches if they suspect that they are lesbians” (Griffin, 1998), its really no way for these fired employees to dispute the discrimination from fear of never being able to acquire another job in the sports field. I feel that sexual orientation has nothing to do with a person’s ability to do the job. I am sure if it came to light that Pat Summit was a lesbian Tennessee wouldn’t fire her, because she has made the school into a national power. With participation in women sports increasing so dramatically over recent years more and more lesbians are entering professional sports, and much like their male counterparts they choose to suffer in silence and refuse to reveal themselves to the public.

Suffer in Silence

The so called last taboo of men’s sport as the author of “Suffer in Silence” Julian Rubinstein states it, the gay issue has yet to be addressed by professional sports. This article discusses professional sports and how it can be seen as a standard for homophobia in America. This article also goes into details about a sports survey taken concerning gays in their respective league in 1998, in which only 6 of 89 teams in the NBA, NFL, and MLB responded to it. Rubinstein has some interesting views on homophobia in professional sports and although it has been accepted in the military it has yet to crack the acceptable standard for professional sports.

I look at sport today and I just don’t see Americans cheering for a knowingly gay professional athlete. It just isn’t accepted in out society. Believe me, I am sure that there is at least one homosexual player in the three major professional leagues currently playing, but he would rather live a double life than risk damaging his career. Professional sports are a business, in business the most important thing is profit, and a homosexual athlete doesn’t sell tickets. Rubinstein stated that “Men’s pro sport is so far from a dialogue on the topic it may actually be setting the modern standard for homophobia (Rubinstein, 1998). I agree with this statement completely there is no place for gays in men pro sports so those that are gay are force to live a double life and not be able to openly express themselves. I am not saying that I am against homosexuals in anyway; however I know that with athletes being such big role models, public figures, and cash cows that coming out to the world not be in their best interest. I think it would take a superstar caliber athlete to come out during his playing career to change society’s perception of gay athletes in pro sports; until then gay players will be forced to live in hiding.

“The Decline of the Black athlete” is actually an interview with a respected sports consultant Harry Edwards. The author is David Leonard, a writer that we have become rather familiar with over the semester. The article was written eight years ago in 2000, during this period Edwards proclaimed that the “golden age” of black athletics was coming to an end. After analyzing the past eight year and what has happened in sport throughout that time period I can safely say that I don’t agree with that statement.
Edwards argues that through various societal processes, that the talent pool of black althetes has begun to drop-off in performance at all levels (Highschool, College, and Professional). Jailing, academic eligibility, and just not having the funds to field teams have also contributed to the decline in black athletes according to Edwards. I must agree with Edwards in some aspects I do believe that society is changing sport and it is changing it dramatically. A perfect example that Edwards used dealt with past heavyweight boxers and the current crop of boxer as of 2000. It was a time where black boxers where galore you had heavyweights such as Ali, Frazier, George Foreman, Sonny Liston, and Larry Holmes. Now, black heavyweights are few and hard to come by; basically there’s Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson and I don’t know if you have been watching boxing lately but that’s not a good thing.
Edwards was right about the fact that the “Golden Age” of black athletes was on the declined, but what he couldn’t predict was the influx of star power that Black America was about to experience. Just imagined the list of athletes and sports that have arrived since this article was wrote in 2000. In just eight years Tiger Woods has taking over the PGA tour and is probably the best golfer of all time and he is only in his 30’s, Lebron James and Kobe Bryant compete for the title of best basketball player on the planet year in and year out, Venus and Serena Williams are still competing and winning Grand Slam Tournaments, and Candance Parker became the first player to ever win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season. The golden age only slowed down for a pit stop before accelerating into the 21st century.

Cool Pose

The article "Cool Pose: Black Masculinity" written by Richard Majors in 1993 is nicely written article discussing black males, sport, and masculinity. Of course I had to express my thoughts on this issue being one of the few black males in this class. Majors believes that black men cope with their frustrations by channeling their energy into what he calls “Cool Pose.” Cool Pose is a set of expression the unique way a person walks, talks, dresses, and carries themselves. According to Majors black men use their expressions as a subliminal message to white males sort of as taunting them; Majors states “See me, touch me, hear me, but, white man, you can’t copy me!” (Majors, 1993) Over the years the concept as evolved into what my generation calls “Swagger”, Swagger is basically the same concept as “Cool Pose” with a modern day twist.

What caught my attention the most in this article was the section discussing the black male and his expression in sport. Majors discussed famous black athletes like Billy “Whiteshoes” Johnson, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, and Muhammad Ali because of how they expressed their creativity during their careers. I look at sport today and observe how players like Chad Johnson, Reggie Bush, Kevin Garnett, and Roy Jones Jr. express themselves during play and it resembles how the legends before them did it. I think that these athletes use sports as an outlet from reality. In a society dominated by the white male the chances a black male gets to express himself are limited so while on the playing field they use it as the perfect “stage” to vent, it serves as the only place where they can truly feel pride and display their expression.

Cool pose is just an avenue for black males to express themselves. The concept has been around for a long time and it continues today. Of course our culture has changed dramatically since the release of this article; nonetheless it is still built on the same principals. “Cool pose demonstrate black males’ potential to transcend oppressive conditions to express themselves as men.” (Majors, 1993)

The Jordan Effect

“The Jordan Effect” by Roy Johnson and Ann Harrington is an in depth analysis of Michael Jordan’s impact on the economy during his tenure in the National Basketball Association. Of course Michael stands alone as the consensus pick for greatest basketball player of all-time, he has all the accolades and awards to back that statement. For one second just take the time to think how much Michael has changed sport as a whole, not just basketball, but all professional sports. The reason there will never be another Michael Jordan is not just because of his NBA records and championships, but because of his accomplishments off the court. Jordan just so happen to be in the right place at the right time and him and the entire league benefited from it.

It’s a simple concept, put his face, logo, autograph, or anything on an item and it’s guaranteed to sell. I grew up during the Jordan era, about one hour and a half away from Chicago. As a young adolescent I craved his shoes as many other kids my age did. Growing up my society valued Michael’s persona so much that if you didn’t have a pair you where consider as “lame” or “not cool.” According to the figures calculated by the Jordan effect, as of 1998 Michael Jordan was a $10 billion man. That number of course has increased over the past 10 years and is still climbing. The Jordan effect calculates everything from his salary, endorsements, impact at away stadiums, television ratings, and of course his revenue from the Jordan “brand.” It is amazing what Michael Jordan meant to the NBA not just as a player, but as a product, and investment.

Another thing that I find interesting is the impact Michael’s Retirement had on the NBA. The NBA went through a lot of turmoil after Michael’s retirement, ratings declined immediately and the league suffered. I think a lot of the new rules and policies in the NBA are directly correlated with the ratings decreasing and Michael retiring. Rule changes where implement to speed up the past of the game, and outlaw hand checking. A dress code was issued and a new rule that required players to attend college for at least one year. I feel that these incidents are indirectly a result of Michael’s retiring. As I see it with the success of the NBA Finals last year, (two big market and historically prestigious teams in Boston and Los Angeles) the NBA is just regaining it’s former swagger with a new cast of all-stars and Lebron James doing his best Michael Jordan impression.

The Girl Has Game

“The Girl Has Game” is an article by John Garrity about the young and upcoming golf superstar Michelle Wie. In this article Michelle was still at the tender age of 14 competing at the Sony Open, which made her the youngest golfer to ever compete in a PGA Tour event. This is amazing feat for a young adolescent female to compete with adults males at the highest stage and be competitive too. Wie’s performance place her above forty-seven men on the final score card, and gave her instinct bragging rights over her male counterparts.

This article fits right in with the transition from focusing on Title IX, to the new topic in class which basically about race and how different cultures effect sport. Michelle Wie has the potential to become a golf megastar; she has the power game that most golfers can only dream about. At the age of 14 Wie can already drive the ball 300+ yards off of the tee, and apparently compete with adult males. It is interesting that Michelle’s parents and advisors allow her to compete with the males, and especially at such a young age. I think the expectations and the pressure of being so good at such a young age is very difficult to deal with, especially when people expect Wie as a female to be able to compete with professional male golfers. With that being said, Wie in fact did compete and do rather well for the circumstance she was presented with. This article is from 2004, when Michelle Wie was consider as the female version of Tiger Woods and her potential was unlimited. Michelle has not exactly reached the potential that was once perceived of her and some experts consider her a bust. Wie still possesses immense talent; I just think the early exposure and the pressure of being so talented at a young age stunted her athletic growth.