Christmas Break in Charlotte

Going back home to Charlotte was definitely a learning experience; I had an eventful Winter Break to say the least. I enjoyed my time home and seeing my family for the first time since August, living in North Carolina and attending school in Ohio can sometimes be difficult but I have learned to adapt to it. When the New York Knicks came to town on Dec. 30th it was a chance for me to kick it with my close friend and actually catch an entertaining game between the Charlotte Bobcats and the New York Knicks. Wilson had a great game with an monstrous dunk over Emeka Oakfor and scored 7th points in the deciding fourth quarter to elevate the Knicks to victory. I have listed some recent articles and a youtube video of Wilson posterizing Oakfor below.



http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/ny-spknix015984002jan01,0,6773306.story

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/102188-the-nbas-top-10-future-stars-age-21-and-younger

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/107917-wilson-chandlers-improved-jump-shot-makes-him-a-consistent-threat

Conclusion

As the semester comes to an end, and I think back to late August and the beginning of my Junior/Senior year I can honestly say I’ve learned a lot from this class. Approaching this concluding post was somewhat difficult for me, because as this class concludes my blog will continue. Naturally I went back and looked over my introduction post to help get ideas to use for my concluding post. Over the course of this blog I have learned a lot about myself and sports relating to gender. Coming into the class I was thinking, “Sport and Gender, that’s simple, guys play football, and girls don’t.” However, it’s not that simple a lot more factors come into effect when discussing sport and gender, like age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and homophobia.

When I think about what I will take away from this class, I think of all the issues that were discussed in class during the year like homophobia, title IX, the black culture, and the influx of Asian athletes in America. When I think about what I will take away from this class I think of the countless hours spent blogging, and how there was always so much knowledge on sports in the classroom at all times. It seems as if we were all learning at the same time, I can remember instances where a student would educate Dr. Spencer on a sports issue that she had no knowledge of. That’s what I liked most about this class, it was open and free and all students were encouraged to voice their opinions at all times.

When I originally began this blog I didn’t like that fact that I had to post entries at such a rapid pace. I just look at it as something that I had to do. I wanted to have a blog, but I wanted to be able to blog about anything and not just the topics from class. As the year went on and I began to post entries on my blog on a regular basis, it became routine. Freedom of Speech is so powerful in this world, and this is what I feel that my blog gives me. This blog gave me the freedom to write down or say anything I would like, and express my feelings in a way that I can go back and critique and criticize them as needed. I think the experiences from this class and this blog will help me express my thoughts in whatever I may endeavor for my future career. During the course of this class I have I learned a lot about issues in sports that could be very influential to my future. I now have thoughts and perspectives on masculinity, homophobia, title IX, and many other issues of sports that prior to taking this class I had no opinions about. With 2009 rapidly approaching i'm excited to be entering the next chapter of college and closing a successful one this past semester. I had fun and unfortunately this class must come to an end but, my thoughts, and I do mean "Just My Thoughts" will continue into 2009.

The Pro's the Pro's would pay to see

Today I will be discussing an article from earlier in the semester entitled, “The pros the pros would pay to see” by Jack McCallum. This article is a peer review of 600 players from the NBA, MLB, and NFL. These players took surveys to determine witch athletes they admire most and would pay to see. Basically the players were given a scenario in which the ticket price would be $1,000 and the players would have to decide which player they wanted to go see. Certain players such as Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets stated, “I wouldn’t pay one thousand dollars to see nobody,” which is understandable if you don’t want to pay you don’t have to. A lot of athletes feel that because of their reputation that they should no have to pay

What I found most interesting about this article was the results of the athletes that took part in the study, and a surprise in the top 5. Serena Williams came in fifth place of all athletes, and I can tell you first hand it has something to do with the amazingly sculpted body she possesses. Coming in at forth place at the time this article was written was Michael Vick. Vick of course made it to fourth place because of his uncanny ability to score from anywhere on the football field. Shaq took the honors of coming in third place on the list. Shaq dominated the NFL ranks; a lot of the players see more pigskin in him than round ball (McCallum, 2004). Second place was no surprise to me, the way this guy was hitting homeruns, I thought they where about to go out of style. Bonds received many of his votes from MLB players, Bonds is well respected around the league and Scott Schoeneweis even went as far as saying bonds is “Jordanesque”. The number one athlete on this list is Tiger Woods hands down he is by far the athlete that most pros would pay to see. Some athletes would even pay just to be his caddy or play one round with Tiger. I think about this list today and its certain players that I know for a fact would have to be included on this list including: Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps, and Usain Bolt. I would love to see the study continued in the year 2009 to see how perspectives have changed.

“What ever happened to the white athlete?” that’s a good question and it was presented by S.L. Price. This article really touches on many of the stereotypes that white athletes face, and discusses how the sports world has been dominated by black athletes as of late. So where are all the white athletes? According to price (1997) White athletes have been distracted by other leisure-time pursuits and the athletes that haven’t are now more attracted to sports like soccer, mountain biking, or rock climbing because these sports are primarily played by whites. The domination of black athletes in mainstream sports such as basketball and football has discouraged white athletes. In the NFL, “Blacks hold such a strong lock on the skill positions of defensive back, wide receiver, and running back that their near monopoly resembles the onetime white stranglehold at quarterback” (Price, 1997).

According to SI’s poll, 51% of black males feel that black athletes care more about sports because they see it as one of the few ways in America that blacks can make a lot of money. I don’t agree with this I highly doubt that economic incentives make that much of a difference when it comes to athletic dominance. As a young child I did not want to play in the NBA and “Be like Mike” because of financial reasons, I wanted to do it because Mike was a superstar, no better yet Mike was a megastar. Mike was what every kid dreamed to be, many kids are so intent on becoming the next Mike that they forgo more realistic chances of success. Price (1997) believes that the consensus is, “Black is best. Not just that blacks are the dominant racial group playing, but also that they possess superior athletic skills and have thus transformed the way sports are played.” I really cannot decipher what makes black athletes seem so superior in sports, the only logical explanation is it’s somehow genetically engineered that way. I think in the past blacks put too much emphasis on sports. In today’s society the emphases has been geared towards education, I understand now and make it my personal responsibility to make sure that every young child I am connected with knows that college is the most realistic path to success.

Young, Black, Rich and Famous

I really enjoyed reading the article, “Young, Black, Rich and Famous ‘Ball, hip hop, and the Redefinition of the American dream” by Todd Boyd. The article was well written and it basically discussed the merger between basketball and the hip hop culture, and the person he consider the driving force behind the merger, Allen Iverson. During the period when this article was written Allen Iverson was in his prime of his NBA career to date. With a MVP trophy on his resume, repeated deep playoff runs, and a great marketing scheme by reebok Allen Iverson was easily one of the top, if not, thee top player in the NBA. I like the way Boyd (2003) examined the relationship between hip hop and the NBA, stating that Allen Iverson’s “Supreme indifference to conventional, taste, or standards is what makes Iverson such a lightning rod for controversy and a hero for hip hop”.

The first paragraph after the subtitle “Real Recognize Real” is really what caught my eye, and if you’re reading this blog right now it is essential that you go back and reexamine this passage. This really caught my eye when reading this article; Boyd makes some strong but, very true statements in my opinion. I feel that some different aspects of White society have attempted to censor Black culture because it’s not thought to be part of a particular way of life. I think people focus on the negative issues of hip hop too much and not the positives. Hip hop serves as a major outlet to reach the American public some see it as the epitome of hip and cool in society. (Boyd, 2003) I think this is also true hip hop has so much influence on society just look at the rumors about Jay-z, part owner of the New Jersey Nets, he and Lebron James are very close friends and there is speculation that the New Jersey Nets will attempt to sign Lebron in the summer of 2010. Hip hop will forever have correlation with the NBA, after all, athletes and artists are so similar, both being young, Black, rich and famous.

The Politics of the Body and the body Politic

“The Politics of the Body and the Body Politic: Magic Johnson and the Ideology of AIDS” is a very interesting article written by Samantha King. “on November 8 1991, headlines across the world told the same story, the story that Earvin Johnson, professional basketball player, sports hero, and media personality, had contracted the HIV virus” (King, 1993). Magic Johnson brought the AIDS epidemic to the forefront, instantly the awareness of the virus grew nationwide after Magic’s annocement, not to mention at the same press conference Magic Johnson announced that he was retiring from the NBA. I think it’s safe to say that Magic was considered a sports hero at the time of his announcement; he had won multiple NBA Championships, and MVP awards. He was a heterosexual masculine basketball superstar with a fairly clean slate, so you could only imaging how much this announcement was perceived to taint his legacy at the time.

I found the authors description of Johnson to be very interesting. King described Johnson as being, “A glowing, godlike figure who towers above his adoring followers. His nickname “Magic” only adds to the mystique and power that surround him (king, 1993). This is a powerful statement by King, but as an advocate viewer of the professional sports I understand how people sometimes make the mistake of perceiving athletes who are just as much human as the general public, to be heroes, or even godlike figures. It only takes one negative altercation to changes the public perspective. I think Magic legacy was originally tainted by his announcement, however as time past and Magic returned to the NBA his legacy regained the prestige that once was correlated with Magic. I think Magic’s announcement help educate society and brought awareness t the issue of AIDS. I think Magic did the best he could do from a negative situation and most of all he continues to help and educate people world wide about the virus.

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.