Final Post

I must say that I have really enjoyed this class. I appreciated being able to talk discuss topics that may not be appropriate in otherwise, such as, gay stigmas, race, gender, and discrimination. I believe it is important to talk and discuss these type of topics in order improve society.
I really enjoyed writing the blogs this semester. Last year for Dr. Spencer’s history and philosophy of sport class, we were given the option to write a journal or have a blog. I chose to use the journal because Im not the type who enjoys criticism. I tend to take negative comments to heart, so in order to protect my thoughts I wrote them in a journal. This year I wanted to step outside of the box, and let others read and give their opinions on my thoughts about things. I would have to say it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I enjoyed the feedback, positive or negative, because it allowed me to see a broader prospective of the topic. Reading other peoples blogs were a positive experience for me too. I enjoyed being able to express my opinions and gave me more avenues to affirm my beliefs. Also, with the blogs that I agreed with, I was able to see more, “ah Ha”, moments, because I found that my classmates either better worded my opinions or had a different thought process of their beliefs.
I really enjoyed all the topics in we discussed in class. There was not one discussion that wasn’t interesting. However, I would have to say that one of the topics I got most involved in was the Indian Wells incident. I couldn’t believe how passionate I became in class. I was very opinionated and very hard time why some people didn’t understand the reasoning’s behind the Williams sister’s protest. After the heated discussion I had a strong impulse to go write on my blog because I had so much to say. That was the first time I really had a passion to write something down, get it all out, to be able to express the ideas running through my head. It was a way to figure it all out, to allow my brain to process the situation and to organize my beliefs into something that made sense. Because of this moment, I would like to keep a journal for myself. I’m not sure if I would like to blog something quit yet, however, I see the positive impacts that writing and idea down could have and I am more than willing to reap the benefits from that.

Korean Dominance on the LPGA

Within the past couple decades the Korean golf players have made a huge presence on the LPGA golf tour. There is a lot of speculation and unease about their dominance on the tour. People are fearful about losing sponsorships and fans due to their lack of English speaking ability and “emotion” that they portray on the tour. Their dominance on the tour is no mistake. There are several factors that explain their great deal of success, and they are: Golf Boom in Korea, work ethic that is the envy of the tour, devotion and focus to the game that is unparalleled, indomitable mental toughness, family involvement while on tour, and they are from an agrarian society which means they are more futuristic. All of these characteristics are very favorable and result in success in professional golf. Working at the Jamie Farr I have been able to witness these characteristics such as their mental toughness, work ethic, and family involvement. The most evident to me was the involvement of their families. I would see their families camping out in mini vans for a quick nap between plays and them standing by their players every step on the golf course for encouragement. When they were not on the course, the majority of the players who took advantage of the practice putting greens were the Korean players; sometimes I could see them from the office practicing hours at a time. And last but not least I witnessed their mental toughness. There was only one Korean who was popular on the tour who happened to be Si Ri Pak. She has one this particular tournament six or seven times, so the locals have huge respect for her. She would have crowds that were just as big as Natalie Gulbis and Michelle Wie. However, the rest of the players did not have as big as a fan base, and if they were paired with an American, the crowed would be rooting for the American. Of course they are on the home course of the Americans, however, their focus was something to witness. It was as if they were the only ones on the course. I applaud the Koreans for doing so well, and I believe that a lot of the American players can learn from their strategies in order to excel in the tour just as they have.

Gay Stigmas

I was inspired by the story of John Amaechi. John Amaechi is a former NBA hall of famer who we discussed in class because of his sexual orientation. His sexual orientation as a gay man within the professional world of sports is not exactly something that is commonly accepted. The fact the males in professional sports are placed on a pedestal for hegemonic masculinity may compromise a players worth and eligibility on a team if he is to come out. This is because of the common stereotype that homosexual males are considered to be feminine and will never fit the ideal mold of a hegemonic male. It is as if a homosexual is less than that of a male, and I think that is why most men who are gay and in the professional sports profession wait until they are retired to reveal that they are gay. Revealing while they are still playing may hurt the perceived emotion that people are supposed to get while watching sport and idolizing their favorite player. But why can people idolize a gay man or get just as excited seeing them slam dunk a ball as they would Michael Jordan? I think this all relates to peoples fear of homosexuality, they want to disconnect themselves in order to steer away from gay stigmas that other homophobes would respond to. However, I believe that the more that the cycle is broken, and more people come out that they are gay while holding respectful or even contradictory positions such as male professional sport the more people will not discriminate. Amaechi’s story is amazing. I went to his homepage and it stated that he started playing when he was 17 years old and currently he is a motivational speaker as well as promotes charities for a living. I think that a lot of people would admire his accomplishments and he can be that hero to little boys or girls that think its too late to become good at something. However, the public needs to look past the gay man they first see and view him as the person that he really is.

Racial Slurs in Sport

Its interesting now that Asians are making headways in professional athletics that they are receiving degrees of racism from other professional athletes within their respected sport. Take Shaq’s comment about Yao. He on camera deliberately insulted Yao on his culture and language by speaking gibberish in order to imitate the Chinese language. I felt that the comment was immature. Shaq may have tried to be funny, but I think he was being really naive to respecting other cultures within the NBA. Shaq being an African American himself, you would think that he was would a little more sensitivity to racial comments. However, Shaq’s comment could be considered as teasing compared to the comment that Jan Stephenson made about the Koreans on the LPGA tour. She comprised a bunch of assumptions about how they are hurting the tour. She said that they cant speak English, are emotionless, and are dominating an international tour. However, all these comments were in relation to how they are hurting the American tour as opposed to the international tour. I felt like her remarks were nowhere near a joking matter as Shaq’s were and she was personally attacking the LPGA players. I would have to disagree with her comments. From working with the Jamie Farr this year, the Korean players are more than great with the pro am players as well as do well with the media. I think that the implementation of knowing basic English helps with publicity in America, but I only agree with the rule because it is the international language. If English was not the international language, then I feel like English speaking player would have to know the basic language of every country they play in too.

The Tiger Empire

It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago my marketing professors would use Tiger Woods as an example as a brand that companies would inquire to be associated with their product because Tiger was, “perfect”. He was successful, respectful, ideal, and handsome. There was not one criticism that someone could make up about Tiger other than he is really rich and shouldn’t have as much money as he does. However, I guess with the latest reports in the media, his entire brand is at risk. Tiger is now being accused for having not one but several mistresses. His fans and the world are in shock. He was well on his way in becoming the next Jordan, pumping millions of dollars into the economy for quit a bit of time, however, how will the public react to these latest allegations? I myself, would not stop buying his brand, however, I do see him in a different light. I was actually really disappointed, I thought for once we would have this phenomenal athlete who has mass media attention, that would be a role model out into the community. But he is a person and he does make mistakes, but this was a mistake of character and integrity that could really hurt his empire. Already, Gillette has dropped him, who is to come next? I was watching Larry King Live and they were discussing this very topic. At the time, no one had dropped him and they were sending out statements that supported Tiger, however, the statements suggested that they were waiting on further information. The show also suggested that they are in binding contracts with Tiger, so his sponsors may legally not be able to drop his contract. I think that it is a good idea for Tiger to take a leave. It will not only get him out of the spotlight but allow the situation to settle. It will also allow his sponsors to better evaluate the relationship with the public when he does come back so that they may make an executive decision to whether they are to continue further business with Tiger.

BYU vs New Mexico

We had been discussing in class how women's sport does not receive a lot of publicity unless the athlete herself is a celebrity, sells sex appeal, or is a popular champion. Now, it has been discovered that women who are deliberately being violent during the game will gain the fame. I am referring to college women’s soccer particularly the match of BYU vs. New Mexico. There are video clips of the New Mexico team player, punching, tripping, and even pulling the hair of their opposing players. The video was funny to watch, but at the same time as a coach it was unpleasant. For the most part athletics hold a high standard of dignity, respect, and sportsmanship. And I made sure that these values were instilled in my lacrosse players. Violence may be entertaining, however, I feel as if it degrades what sport is all about. There is going to be harsh feelings, animosity, and grudges against other teams, that’s the nature of the competition, but to completely out lash the way the New Meixco team did was appalling. I was thinking to myself, where is the coach? It is easy to miss some conduct that is displayed on the field, however, I feel like New Mexico’s harsh play was hard to miss. There is a lot of pressure on the coach to control their players and control misconduct. The lines were never crossed with my girls because they knew of the high standards that the lacrosse association within Ohio expects of them, and across the board most of all lacrosse coaches enforce strict discipline for misconduct. I can only imagine how much heat that soccer coach is in for continually letting the game to be violent. UNM Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs commented about the game, “Liz’s conduct on the field against BYU was completely inappropriate. There is no way to defend her actions." And I myself think it would be hard to defend a player who did that. I’m surprised her punishment has not been discussed within the media, because I feel like it would be a bigger topic if this was to happen within a men’s team.

March Madness

We have discussed how bizarre it is that March Madness in men’s college basketball is so much more popular than the women’s tournament. Only a select few within the class have filled out a bracket and followed the women’s tournament while nearly everyone followed the men’s. I think that the following has the same correlation with men’s and women’s professional basketball. Actually, I could see the march madness for women’s basketball may get more spectators than an average professional women’s game. I think that its particularly due to interest, more people are willing to watch a men’s game than a womens because of gender perspectives that the men’s game is faster and fiercer, and has a more sense of excitement. But I also think that the publicity has a lot to do with it. I looked up both of the websites for the men’s and women’s Final Four championships. The men’s tournament was held in Detriot, while the women played in St Louis. I then found the schedules for the games and events, and there was a significant difference in public entertainment. Both tournaments had free basketball clinics, middle school madness programs, and a walk or run for their fans to participate in. However, the men’s tournament also included a college all star game, community initiatives, practice viewings, and block party, where musicians came to perform and the community could get together for fun activities. There is defiantly a lot more hype and buzz for the men’s tournament than women’s. So I have decided for the first time that I am going to make a bracket for the women’s march madness and see if I derive the same type of excitement that I get from following my men’s bracket. I think not only my own personal interest once games start will influence my excitement, I also feel like the people around me will also have a huge influence. Who knows I may find a big group of people who do follow the women’s march madness, or I may be flying solo.