Steel Curtain....2010 Edition

The Pittsburgh Steelers have proved that they can win football games without their offense scoring a touchdown.  Led by James Harrison, Troy Polamalu, and Lamarr Woodley the Steeler defense leds the league in yards rushing, second in points per game, and 3rd in turnovers.  Lawrence Timmons leads the team in tackles with108 and 76 solo's and James Farrior is second with 94.  James Harrison leads the team in sacks with 10 followed by Woodley with 8 and Polamalu with 6.  Polamalu leads the team with interceptions with 6.  Polamalu and Harrison are making strong cases for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.  If the motto holds true, "Offense wins games, but DEFENSE wins championships," then don't be surprised to see the black and gold representing the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady 2010 Domination

My early vote for NFL MVP would go to New England's quarterback, Tom Brady.  Brady has surgically been destroying defenses this season.  With 3,398yards passing with 29TD's and just 4INT and a passing rating of 109.9, Tom is putting up Pro Bowl numbers and may be on pace to take his Patriots to their fourth Super Bowl.  The Patriots put up huge numbers against the stingy defenses of Pittsburgh, New York Jets, and the Chicago Bears.  If Tom Brady continues to play this way their is a slim chance of any team getting in his way of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season as well as many individual hardware.

Metrodome Roof Collapse

The Minnesota Vikings were scheduled to play the New York Giants on Sunday, but had to reschedule their game for Monday night at the Detroit Lion's Ford Field.  The NFL gave free 50yard line seats to any fan making the trip from Minnesota and General Admission was free.  The Minnesota Vikings now have to find a new venue for their final two home games.  On another note, Brett Favre's consecutive start streak of 297 was snapped Monday when he was unable to play.  Brett holds the longest record for consecutive games started by a non-special teams player.  The collapse of the Metrodome was just the icing on the cake for the Vikings dismal season.

Billy Jean King

When you approach someone and prepare to ask them a question about sport, a commonly asked question is, "who do you think is the greatest..." Now, to finish that question a person typically asks either; basketball player, football player, baseball player, hockey player. With and exception to football and baseball the other two sports could be used in terms of either men or women, the typical answer someone will say is a list of men, why? This is a question that is easy to answer, women sports are a forgotten history. Women don't get nearly the praise that men get, not even close. They may receive a mere pat on the back but nothing of significance to give them a more social status. In this post we're going to explore what it means to be a women in sport and how one of the best female athletes of all time has gone with somewhat being forgotten.

http://www.womensconference.org/billie-jean-king-2/

http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016060.html

"There is a leader inside every single one of us, that dares to lead, you have to almost dare yourself to lead, and expect, expect, success." - Billie Jean King ("Why we honor," 2010)

Title IX was established in 1972 to disallow discrimination in the provision of curriculum, counseling, academic support, or general educational opportunities; this includes interscholastic or school-sponsored sports (Coakley, 2009). Strong women challenge the prevailing gender ideology that influences the norms, legal definitions, and opportunity structures that frame people's lives, relationships, and identities (Coakley, 2009). Women who excel in sports are looked at very differently then women who do not and choose different life paths. A common phrase for women would be tom-boy. Women were never and still aren't viewed equally in sport, no matter who comes along or who does something to shut up all the critics nothing has changed. Nancy Lopez (youngest woman on LPGA HOF), Anne Meyers (first woman to sign a NBA contract), Martina Navratilova (most consecutive Wimbledon singles titles 8 in a row), Billie Jean King (most Wimbledon wins). These women have clearly been dominant in some way or another and yet still have not gained any respect. "Woman play sports, but they are not as good as men and people want to see the best."(Laurendeau, 2004; 2008; Vincent, 2004).

Billie Jean King left tennis in 1984 winning 39 titles between, singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. She also holds an astonishing record of 20 Wimbledon titles. She single handily dominated the sport of tennis. She fought for equal woman's pay, and even founded the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) and was its first president. King, was an activist for bettering woman's sport every where so woman could rise up and feel that they could be just as dominant as any man that step foot onto a playing field. Billie Jean felt as though not only that she was equal but she was better then most men, her dominance spoke for its self.

 

If we as a sport society don't recall these moments, and give woman the respect they do deserve we are going to lose out on a huge part of sport history. There are plenty of women out there not getting the recognition they deserve and there are women out there that I would take against a lot of guys who play the same sport. The point is if we don't start to recognize the Billie Jean Kings of sport then we are slowly going to decay woman's sport, which has been a huge boost for moral and equality stemming from where this country once was. This could lead to several other parts of life becoming more developed, such as CEO's, or business owners, or even as the President of the United States. Sports have been a huge boost into other things for men and has shaped our society, the same needs to be done with woman.

 

Why we honor her. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.womensconference.org/billie-jean-king-2/

 

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, New York: McGraw Hill.

Steelers dress three African American Quarterbacks to start 2010 season

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/are-the-steelers-the-first-nfl-team-with-three-black-quarterbacks/

 

In the NFL prior to 1974, there was never an African American starting quarterback. James Harris, who played for the Los Angeles Rams, was the first black quarterback to start a season(Shepherd, 2010). The integration of black athletes into sports was a slow moving process. Even today, black football players are primarily used in the skill positions such as running back, wide receiver, and defensive backs and are not seen in great number in the thinking position such as quarterback and even kicker or punter.

This under representation of black quarterbacks parallel the lack of black coaches and owners. There have been great strides in improving the proportion of black to white quarterbacks as well as coaches. The Rooney Rule makes each team in the NFL have to at least interview one African American candidate for the coaching position if they are looking to hire a new coach.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been very progressive in improving the proportion of black to white coaches in the NFL. Dan Rooney is a member of the NFL Diversity Committee. After the retirement of Bill Cowher, the Rooney family hired Mike Tomlin, an African American, in 2007. Tomlin made an immediate impact by winning Super Bowl XLIII and being named 2008 Motorola Coach of the Year. Tomlin is the tenth African American head coach in NFL history.

In addition to the hiring of Mike Tomlin, the Pittsburgh Steelers achieved another milestone in breaking down black quarterback representation barriers. This season, Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for the first four games. For the first time in NFL history, an NFL team dressed three African American quarterbacks in Dennis Dixon, Charlie Batch, and Byron Leftwich(Dubner, 2010) . Pittsburgh has had an African American quarterback in Kordell Stewart under Bill Cowher but never has had three play in any one season. Dixon, Batch, and Leftwich all saw time in the first four games of the season and led the Steelers to a 3-1 record. Also, emergency quarterbacks for the Steelers are Antwan Randel-El and Hines Ward, both of African American decent(Dubner, 2010) . Perhaps with this proven availability to win with black quarterbacks, the rest of the teams in the NFL will give chances to African Americans lessening the gap between black and white quarterbacks as well as coaches.

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

 

Dubner, S. (2010, September 10). Are the steelers the first nfl team with three black quarterbacks? [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/are-the-steelers-the-first-nfl-team-with-three-black-quarterbacks/

 

Shepherd, J. (2010, June 30). Top 10 greatest black nfl quarterbacks. BlackTopTens.com, Retrieved from http://www.blacktoptens.com/?p=4695

Winning at all Cost

As a previous collegiate athlete and spectator of sport, I have thought many times what it means to, "win at all cost." What does that phrase even mean? Training harder, eating better, playing harder, leading yourself before you lead others. Its something that phases an athletes mind, some take it to heart, and some take it, well, some take it to the injection. With saying that, this all means that steroids have become the biggest means to an end, the biggest mean of winning at all cost. In 2010 no one is shocked to hear someone has used steroids especially after the 2007 Mitchell Report, that the MLB put out, with names such as; McGuire, Sosa, Palmerio, Bonds. Marion Jones was also another name linked to steroid use representing the US in track. Recently, the NFL has had its share of problems with recent Defensive Rookie of the Year Brian Cushing, and former Pro Bowler Shawn Merriman with failure to pass drug test dealing with steroid use and illegal substances. Needless to say athletes today and their "will to win," has crossed the line into obsession.

http://www.health.state.ny.us/publications/1210/ ("Anabolic steroids and," 2010)

http://espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/steroids.html(("Anabolic steroids," 2010)

Today you never know who is using PED's (performance enhancing drugs), or who is doing it right and training their bodies to be the best athletes they can be. Some athletes frequently take two or more anabolic steroids together, mixing oral and/or indictable types, and sometimes adding other drugs, such as stimulants, painkillers, or growth hormones. This is called "stacking." The athlete believes that different drugs will produce greater strength or muscle size than by using just one drug. What they don't know, or choose to ignore, is the damage to the body that abuse of these drugs can cause ("Anabolic steroids and," 2010) . The effects of right now are far greater of the effects later. Athletes would be willing to give up their lives and future all for the glory of being the best, or being the greatest.

 

When Jose Conseco (a former MLB player, and bash brother with Mark McGuire) came clean about using steroids and how he influenced others to take them, and help them take them, the entire sporting world came to a screaming halt. Conseco released a book, Juiced, which talked about how he took steroids and helped other players around the league take steroids. His, book has been said to be a leading contributor in the Mitchell Report that was done in 2007. In turn the report set off a major buzz around leagues for athletes abusing PED's.

The visibility and resources associated with sports today have fueled massive research and development efforts, and this has dramatically increased the number and availability of performance enhancing substances (Coakley, 2009).

With the widespread and availability of steroids athletes don't even bother to think twice before using them. The definitely don't think of the side effects that come with power. Some of these side effects include:

• Increased blood pressure
• Impaired liver function
• Tumors
• Increased rate of muscle strains/ruptures
• Mood swings
• Depression("Anabolic steroids and," 2010)

Specifically for Women problems can include:

• Increased risk of cervical and endometrial cancer
• Increased risk of osteoporosis
• Temporary infertility or sterility (reversible)
• Altered sex drive
• Birth defects in future children
• Changes in fat distribution
• Growth of facial and body hair
• Deepening of the voice

For Men these problems can be:

• Temporary infertility or sterility (reversible)
• Altered sex drive
• Prostate enlargement, and increased prostate cancer risk
• Irreversible breast enlargement
• Painful erections
• Shrinkage of the testicles
• Reduced levels of testosterone ("Anabolic steroids and," 2010)

Athletes today want to be the best, they want to succeed to the best of their ability so that in 20 or 30 years people can look back and say, "wow they were great at what they did." All these athletes have done now has taint their own history and possibly damaged the history of what was once there. The kids today growing up looking at their idols are getting the wrong idea and thinking to get ahead what do I really have to do? There could be generations at stake. So ask yourself this, what is the real way to win at all costs, is it taking something that is illegal and could cost your career, or is really putting in the extra effort, and pushing your body beyond limits that it has never seen.

Anabolic steroids and sports: winning at all costs. (2010, March 08). Retrieved from http://www.health.state.ny.us/publications/1210/

Anabolic steroids. (2010, September 06). Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/steroids.html

 

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, New York: McGraw Hill Companies Inc.

Violence on the field: Illegal hits in the NFL

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81b9666c/article/nfl-players-adjust-to-crackdown-on-illegal-hits

Official NFL Video on Player Safety
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/09000d5d81b80962/Player-safety?module=HP_headlines

The NFL has always been a violent sport. This violence in the sports we love help define our nation as a violent nation. Although on the field violence such as illegal hits, fights, and even offensive language are not the same as murder, rape, and burglary they both parallel America as a whole as a violent society.

Recently, the NFL and Roger Goodell have decided to take a firm stand against illegal hits in the NFL. Canadian sociologist Mike Smith identifies four categories of violence in sports and they are brutal body contact, borderline violence, quasi-criminal violence, and criminal violence. These illegal hits and illegal acts in the NFL fit all four of Smith's categories(Coakley, 2009).

NFL players such as James Harrison, Brandon Meriweather, and Dunta Robinson have all been fined thousands of dollars for these brutal illegal hits. These players along with other NFL players have been vocal about their displeasure with these insane fines. They state that now players are thinking about how to hit instead of just reacting which is changing the way that they have always played the game and in fact causing them to be slower. Fines that add up to 50,000-75,000 definitely have players second guessing their tackling styles because these fines are around 4 games checks. Another argument to these illegal hits is that now players will be tackling lower increasing the chances of knee and ankle injuries(Associated Press, 2010).

 

Nobody disagrees that player safety is a must in the NFL, just that the NFL is a little fine happy with certain hits. Almost any violent hit to the quarterback gets flagged and fined nowadays in the NFL. Helmet to helmet hits on a defenseless receiver should and are illegal and need to be taken out of the game, but solid tackles that just so happen to be on the quarterback should not be flagged and left as a legal part of the game. The same hit on a running back remains legal but if that hit was applied to a quarterback the chances of a flag go up drastically.

The fining and sending of the tape describing what is legal and what is not legal, definitely has left its mark because the week after the video was sent, there were no fines or illegal hits in all of the 13 games played(Associated Press, 2010). The question is, does this stricter calling on illegal hits make players change their style too much and leaving fans unhappy? Players may think twice about their attack, but the using of the helmet and launching of their bodies at opposing players heads does not need to be in the game of football. Safety is the most important part of the game and needs to continually be a striving point of the very physical and dangerous NFL. Fans of our violent country love seeing these enormous hits, but would not be happy if one of these hits led to their favorite players being concussed, paralyzed, or even worse killed.

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.

Anderson, R. (Producer). (2010). Nfl videos: player safety. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/09000d5d81b80962/Player-safety?module=HP_headlines

Associated Press, Initials. (2010, October 24). Nfl players adjust to crackdown on illegal hits. Retrieved from http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81b9666c/article/nfl-players-adjust-to-crackdown-on-illegal-hits