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

Salary Caps

http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0910/How-Salary-Caps-Changed-Sports.aspx

In the four major professional sports leagues, NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, three of them historically always have a salary cap. The 2010-2011 season in the NFL is uncapped and this may be due to the talks of the upcoming strike. The NFL opted out of their collective bargaining agreement with the players union to create this uncapped season. The MLB is the only professional sport that does not traditionally have a salary cap. This gives an advantage to the big market organizations such as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies. These teams are able to put together rosters of many all-star players with enormous contracts. The goal of a salary cap is to limit the amount a team can spend on players' salaries and to keep a balance in the league.

Salary caps directly affect how a player is paid and the division of contracts between the athletes. Salary caps do not influence merchandise and ticket sales as these are determined by profit. Their are different caps such as the hard and soft caps as well as the luxury tax. A hard cap means that the organization must stay under the designated amount to avoid fines, loss of draft picks, and cancellation of contracts(Neiger, 2010). A soft cap means that teams are able to exceed the cap in order to protect the rights of a player who already plays for the team. This has been named the "Larry Bird exemption'' after former Boston Celtic, Larry Bird, was kept with the team until his retirement. The luxury tax is where a team that goes over the determined total payroll pays a tax on the excess amount which is placed into the industry-growth fund. Also, there is a hard floor which means organizations must pay at least the minimum payroll to its players.

Owners must be careful and tedious in their spending of their payrolls. These owners are usually white men. Owners have the final say in contract negotiations and the signing, drafting, and cutting of players(Neiger, 2010). In the NBA, their are eight owners worth over a billion dollars.

The New York Yankees have used their high market to sign players to astronomical contracts such as Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, and Derek Jeter. They have ten players with contracts over 10million dollars and Alex Rodriguez makes a little under 2million dollars less than the entire Pittsburgh Pirates team salary(ESPN, 2010) . Baseball should implement a hard cap to spread team and player equality. This more than likely will not happen because players will not vote on this and they have already suffered a lockout in 1994.

Hopefully, the NBA and NHL continue to use a salary cap and the NFL can come up with some sort of agreement to keep a salary cap keeping players, coaches, owners, commissioner, and fans happy as well as competition fair.



Neiger, C. (2010). How salary caps changed sports. Financial Edge, Retrieved from http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0910/How-Salary-Caps-Changed-Sports.aspx

ESPN, Initials. (2010). New york yankees salary/payroll information-2010. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/salaries/_/name/nyy/new-york-yankees

Drug Testing in Sports

High School Steroid Testing

http://www.guba.com/watch/3000134868/Steroid-Testing-in-High-School-It-Doesn-t-Work

Drug testing is needed to protect athletes' health and reduce the pressure to take substances to keep up with the competitors (Coakley 2009). Drug testing at all levels has been and continues to be a joke. The Olympic, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and other major sporting organizations have never done a good job of dealing with drug testing. These leagues/organizations are based on image of the athlete, the athletes are the key to success and how their league will continue to grow. If it came out tomorrow that LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady,Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, Alber Pujols, Sydney Crosby Alex Ovechkin, and Tyson Gay took steroids, the organizations that they fall under would be under huge amounts of scrutney. It would turn fans to what was going on, and proceed to let people think, they are doing it fairly. Drug testing hasn't and will continue not to help, and here is why.

http://www.albanyherald.com/sports/headlines/100860999.html?ref=999

http://www.mesomorphosis.com/articles/anonymous/drug-testing-and-sports-03.htm

The USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) mission statement and vision states three things:

1. Preserve the Integrity of Competition — We preserve the value and integrity of athletic competition through just initiatives that prevent, deter and detect violations of true sport.

2.Inspire True Sport — We inspire present and future generations of U.S. athletes through initiatives that impart the core principles of true sport — fair play, respect for one’s competitor and respect for the fundamental fairness of competition.

3.Protect the Rights of U.S. Athletes — We protect the right of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes to compete healthy and clean — to achieve their own personal victories as a result of unwavering commitment and hard work — to be celebrated as true heroes.("Our vision/mission," 2010)

The USADA is responsible for the United States programs that are involved with the Olympics and Paralmpic games. They test these athletes often, using urine samples that are "taken unnanounced," and athletes seem to pass 99.9% of the time. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) also feels the same way about drugs use in the Olympics, but only the are concentrated on all nations who compete for the Olympics. I find it funny that there are very rarely any athletes, especially the big name athletes that ever get caught, until after the fact, i.e Marion Jones.

The other major organizations such as NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL all drug test their athletes. All of the drug test are to be unannounced so that the test is at random. Until the Mitchell report was filed in 2007 for the MLB there were never any stories about athletes and their use of steroids. Over 100 players on the list were to have positively tested for PED's that we as the fan base never even heard about, until Conseco wrote Juiced. How man people do you think in the NFL or NBA or even the NHL tested positive for steroids that has been unsaid or undocumented. The 'Steel Curtain' of the 70's were to have said to been all on steroids, starting with big bad Jack Lambert. Guys in the MLB werent punished because steroids werent illegal, and dont count the NHL and NBA just because guys are skinnier and dont need to be as big, because you can almost count on there being plenty of athletes to have tested positve.

Sure, there have been a few players in the past couple years to have been tested positive, like Brian Cushing of the Houston Texans, David Ortiz of the Boston Redsox, as of late even Tiger Woods has had the finger pointed at him for steroid usage. A trend here and now is that athletes wont get caught cheating, they wont get caught using because of the technology is to far ahead in their advantages. There are too many outs for athletes to get using seroids.

Testing is ineffective because athletes are one step ahead of rule makers nd testers. By the time substances are banned and tests are developed to detect them, athletes are taking new substances that tests cannot detect or are not calibrated to detect (Assael, 2005, 2007b, 2007c; Bell, 2008; Sokolove, 2004b; Zorpette, 2000). Every steroid that is made is already a step ahead, they are growing in the sense of being undetectible. The question is, will there be a time where steroids will be completely undetectible and all athletes wont have to worry, or, will there be a super test that will detect anything and everything.

Lets see how serious some organizations are about steroid testing, and the whole fair and clean play act. Major League Baseballs Player Association has long been against blood testing. The current drug plan and labor contract run until December 2011, but the union has said it would agree to a validated urine test for HGH. The NCAA’s executive committee has approved cost-cutting changes in the drug-testing program.Future repeat tests will focus on sports and athletes at higher risk and eliminate the advance notice given to those schools and individuals facing additional tests.Ephedrine will be eliminated from all test samples, and future steroids testing at NCAA championships will target higher-risk sports (Press, 2010).

Its been made clear that drug testing isn't a huge priority to these leagues, image is everything and as long as they are more concerned with how they look now and not how their organization should look then they will continue to pretty much tell their athletes that they dont care just as long as they dont get caught. Which is damaging sport for now, and maybe in the future.






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

Press, A. (2010, August 17). Wada chief: mlb drug-testing program a joke . Albany Herald, Retrieved from http://www.albanyherald.com/sports/headlines/100860999.html?ref=999

Our vision/mission. (2010, November 11). Retrieved from http://www.usada.org/?gclid=CInEg-mqs6UCFYbb4AodlzI_Xg

Title IX: Quinnipiac Volleyball

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/07/21/sports/doc4c4734ff92939185795573.txt?viewmode=fullstory

 

Title IX was passed in 1972 and it is a U.S. law prohibiting gender discrimination in schools that
receive federal funds through grants, scholarships, or other support for students. For schools that do not comply, they can be withdrawn from a school engaging in intentional gender discrimination in the provision of curriculum, counseling, academic support, or general educational opportunities. This law was passed to update the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The goal is to give equal opportunities to girls and women as boys and men athletes have. After much initial controversy, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) developed additional legal clarifications in 1975. This states that high schools had one year to comply with regulations and universities have three years to comply before they are punished. In 1979, the OCR created three legal tests to assess compliance with Title IX. They are the proportionality test, history of progress test, and the accommodation of interest test(Coakley, 2009). Title IX has remainded to be a debated topic between high schools, universities, and the Title IX committee. This law has given female athletes better opportunities to participate in sports and has led to a dramatice increase in women sport participation.

Quinnipiac University tried to reach compliance with Title IX by dropping its' womens' volleyball team and adding competetive cheerleading to its sports teams. Members of the volleyball team filed a lawsuit against the school stating this made them not compliant with Title IX. In July 2010, U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill ruled that competitive is not an official sport for schools looking for ways to meet Title IX gender-equity requirements. Underhill gave Quinnipiac 60days to come up with a plan to keep the volleyball team and comply with gender rules. While counting roster sizes, Quinnipiac would count each member of the cross-country, and indoor, outdoor track teams which in some cases had female athletes that participated in all three sports being counted multiple times. Underhill ruled that these female runners may only be counted once(Cloutier, 2010).
“This victory gives force to the law that has opened doors for women over the last 30 years,” said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut. “Today’s ruling requires QU to stop playing games with the important principle of equal opportunity for women.”(Cloutier, 2010). This case will serve as a guideline for schools across the nation to use and possible model with lawsuits of universities not complying with Title IX requirements. Over the past 8 years, there have been 50 cases dealing with Title IX compliance(Lopiano, 2005). This number will continue to grow to enforce equity between men and women athletics.

Title IX Question and Answers: http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Title%20IX/T/Title%20IX%20Q%20%20A.aspx(Lopiano, 2005)

The 95 page Quinnipiac University Title IX Decision: click in the article to view pdf format:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/07/22/quinnipiac(Moltz, 2010)

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

Cloutier, B. (2010, July 21). Quinnipiac title ix case: school must maintain women's volleyball program . New Haven Register, Retrieved from http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/07/21/sports/doc4c4734ff92939185795573.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Moltz, D. (2010). Key title ix ruling. Inside Higher ED, Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/07/22/quinnipiac

Lopiano, D. (2005). Title ix q&a. Women's Sports Foundation, Retrieved from http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Title%20IX/T/Title%20IX%20Q%20%20A.aspx

Government and Athletes

Do you ever wonder what happened to the athletes of old, and what some of them are doing today? Well, some of those athletes who were once big time and have left the sport world, do to injury, age, or other circumstances have tried to find their way into some type of government.

http://china.globaltimes.cn/editor-picks/2010-09/575254.html

http://www.careerathletes.com/whyathletes4.php

Looking back on history there have been many correlations between sport and government being connected. Champions of professional leagues go to visit the White House, and give the President of the United States a jersey with their name on the back. Also, a lot of times presidents (most commonly) throw out the first pitch of a ball game, or do a coin toss at center field. Either way, both political leaders, or athletes get a lot of hype when the two come together, but, does that make a good mixture for athletes to enter into government positions.

As sports grow in popularity, government involvement usually increases. Many sports require sponsorship, organization, and facilities - all of which depend on resources that few individuals possess on their own. Sport facilities may be so expensive that regional and national government's are the only entities with the power and resources to build and maintain them (Coakley, 2009). With government helping sport, and sport promoting government, like athletes for Obama, it makes a good segway for those athletes at the end of their careers to jump into government, right?

I don't believe athletes are a good fit for government for a few reasons:

1. Half of the athletes that want to run for office got into their colleges for athletic ability not their SAT scores.

2. The popularity they have gained from sport is the only popularity that have going for them, not what they believe in their political views.

3. Their spot that they get is more based on their sport reputation, rather then their political representation.

While some argue that athletes like Deng have the ability to do good work in this field, others label the practice as "exchanging gold medals for official titles (Baijie, 2010). There have only been a few athletes who have been successful going from sport to government: Bill Bradley (New York Knicks, U.S. Senator), Jesse Ventura (WWF, Minnesota Governor), Robert B. Mathias (Two-time Olympic gold medalist, U.S. Congressman) ("Career athletes," 2010). Other athletes have tried but have not been elected, such as Lynn Swann.

After a professional career, athletes either face a lot of down time or a lot of rehab. With that down time and their already given popularity they feel they can just jump into government and serve there, because they like everyone else want change and feel they can do it. What makes them any different from another person that has an idea? The same thing that makes them different when it comes to crimes and felonies, they are an athlete, so does that mean they are suitable for a government position, if its just a popularity contest, then yes, absolutely. People want to a leader that is going to do more then just win the popularity vote, especially now, where times are tough and money is tight, people want results. An entire nation on their back is a little more then just a city or state, they now have to pick up the slack for everyone.

 

Athletes aren't what we need in office, we need people who have devoted half of their lives just spending time studying and finding ways to better life, and better the decisions people will have to make. Athletes entertain, they do not delegate decision that could put millions of people out of jobs, or spend billions on a war in the Middle East. Athletes need to entertain and political advisers need to stick to politics. The two work well when they support one another but don't do one another.

Baijie, A. (2010, September 20). Former athletes face stark choices. Global times, 1(35), Retrieved from http://china.globaltimes.cn/editor-picks/2010-09/575254.html

Career athletes. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.careerathletes.com/whyathletes4.php

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

The Media and Sport

Anymore its impossible to turn on the television and not see something dealing with sports. Sports have taken over the media. Athletes main source of income isn't their contracts they sign, its their endorsement deals. Athletes appear on commercials all the time to sell products. Companies like Nike, Gatorade, and Under Armor are very big endorsers of athletes.

http://whiskey-jim.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/13144606/13625889

Sport is visible through:

• Movies
• Magazines
• Radio
• Books
• Newspapers
• Internet

During last summer's NBA free agency period LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh were the three biggest names in the free agency market. Chris Bosh, did a documentery about his talks with other teams, and LeBron James held an hour long special on ESPN called, "The Decision," to tell the entire nation where he was going to go. Millions of people tuned in to see just where LeBron would be playing, and then was followed up by a two week long segment on ESPN and other mainstream sport shows about his decision, where still thousands tuned in.

Although people often access online sport content to complement content they consume in traditional media, many now use new media to replace traditional content. This shift in consumption patterns concerns people in media companies that broadcast live sports world wide, becasue their revenues in the past have depended on controlloing this content and maintaining large audiences to sell to advertisers (Coakley, 2009). Companies use sports to advertise. In professional soccer both over seas and in North America, teams have sponsors that are branded on their unifroms.

Corporations and other companies use sport for a huge advertisement scheme. Pervasive national marketing and exposure tends to make the pinnacle of any sport top heavy. Media focus on big league baseball provides more dollars to the top while robbing farm leagues of viewers and attendees. In baseball Double 'A' games go unattended while potential fans watch the Yankees on TV (Jim, 2009). Companies use sport as a huge marketing tool. At the half time of the Super Bowl, is where a lot of major companies put advertisements, such as Doritios, and Pepsi. Segments sell out quickly for this for the fact of media exposure. Millions of people follow what their favorite athlete does, which they see on t.v., newspapers, magazines, or other forms of media. The influence is HUGE.

None the less media has been greatly influenced by sport and sport has allowed media to excel greatly. Athletes have used media to their advanatge, like Terrell Ownes, and Chado Ochocinco with their t.v. shows they have on VH1. Sport is a vehicle for success, which is why companies have jumped onto the cash cow and have been riding it and will continue to ride it until its dry, and if society continues to go the way its going sport will only grow, and companies revenues will grow through sport.

Jim, W. (2009, February 17). The media and sports. Retrieved from http://whiskey-jim.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/13144606/13625889

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

Pay to Play: Cam Newton Scandal

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/520752-todays-college-football-pay-to-play-or-penalize

Deviance in sports is running rampant. From on and off the field violence, to illegal recruiting, to illegal activities athletes are engaged in, college sports are getting out of control. Recently, athletes such as Reggie Bush, LeGarrette Blount, and Jeremiah Masoli have been exploited by the media due to there illegal and deviant activities both on and off the field. Also, this past off season stirred up an illegal agent party allegation. All of these are giving college sports a negative light on each. (Coakley, 2009) The most recent scandal is Auburn's Cam Newton accepting illegal funds and being illegally recruited in getting him to play for the Tigers. Cam and his father are accused of telling Mississippi State that it would take money for Cam to play for the Bulldogs. "He said it would take some cash to get Cam," Bond said. "I called our athletic director, Greg Byrne, and he took it from there. That was pretty much it." Also, while at Florida Cam was accused of cheating on tests and stealing some one's laptop(Ruben , 2010) .

Cam left Florida to go to a junior college in Texas called Blinn College. While at Blinn, Cam is reported to telling the Bulldogs that multiple schools have offered him $200,000 to attend their school, but since he had such an interest in Auburn that he would sign for $180,000. Cam, his family, and Auburn deny these accusations. "I'm just trying to protect my son's interests, because he's fought very hard to get back where he is," Cecil Newton said. "It's a hell of a fight when people give up on you and think they'll never see you or hear from you again." Currently, Cam Newton is the starting quarterback for the #1 Auburn Tigers and is the leading candidate for the Heisman trophy. The downfall of these accusations is that they may negatively affect Cam's status in the Heisman committee's views. This will more than likely hold true after the recent finding and stripping of former Heisman trophy winner, Reggie Bush. Auburn coach Gene Chizik reiterated that during his Tiger Talk radio show Thursday night. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on it," Chizik said. "But here's what I can and I will this say very loud and very clear: Cameron Newton is eligible at Auburn University, period. End of story.'' (Forde, Low, & Schlabach, 2010)
Illegal recruiting and accepting of illegal funds from universities and boosters is become more and more present in college athletics. This brings up a related topic on whether college athletes should be paid to play or if the rules should be enforced stricter. The outcome of this accusation may heavily influence which way the NCAA goes with this delicate situation. Illegal recruiting/paying to play cannot be swept under the rug any more and a concrete decision needs to be made.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5765214

Ruben , H. (2010). Cam newton and today's college football: pay to play or penalize? . Bleacher Report, Retrieved from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/520752-todays-college-football-pay-to-play-or-penalize
Forde, P, Low, C, & Schlabach, M. (2010). Cash sought for cam newton. ESPN News, Retrieved from http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5765214
Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.

Religious Schools

"Glorify God by educating and ministering to a diverse community of students for the purpose of developing servant-leaders, transforming society for the kingdom of Christ," states Geneva College's Mission Statement. A Reform-Presbyterian school in Beaver Falls, PA. (Geneva,2003)

Coakley states "Religious schools use sport for promoting spiritual growth, recruiting new members and promoting religious beliefs and organizations, and promoting fundamentalist beliefs and evangelical orientations," (Coakley, 531). Both the mission statement and Coakley have a common denominator in wanting to instill a positive influence through religion and sport. Schools like Geneva College, do so by incorporating religious works into their curriculum.

Athletes, coaches and teams use religion in sport through multiple purposes such as:
1. To cope with uncertainty
2. To stay out of trouble
3. To give meaning to sport participation
4. To put sport participation into a balanced perspective
5. To establish solidarity and unity
6. To reaffirm expectations, rules, and social control on teams
7. To assert autonomy in the face of power
8. To achieve personal and competitive success
9. To market games and sell tickets
(Coakley, 2009)

If we go off of Coakley's nine purposes we can see the differences between colleges that instill religion and colleges that do not. Colleges such as University of Miami, Florida, University of Florida, and University of Pittsburgh are all universities that have been in the news recently for troubled programs. Where as programs such as; University of Notre Dame, Duquesne University, and Oral Roberts University that do center their learning mission around religion have been news free of troubled programs. As Coakley put in his nine rules these school are teaching their student-athletes to establish solidarity and unity, while also keeping intact social control, rules, and respect to authority.



Christian colleges, universities, and bible colleges.  (2010). Retrieved from
     http://www.college-scholarships.com/christian_colleges.htm
Mission statement.  (2003, May 27). Retrieved from
     http://www.geneva.edu/page/mission_statement
WPXI, . (2010, August 4). Pitt football star pleads guilty to disorderly conduct in s. side brawl. Retrieved
     from
     http://www.wpxi.com/news/24306304/detail.html
Coakley, J.  (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY:
     The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Religious Organizations In Sports

Schools have also adopted the idea of hiring outside organizations to help bring in another element of religion to help educate athletes on how to apply religion within their sport.  Two major examples of these outside entities  are FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and Athletes in Action.  These Christian groups "promote spiritual growth, recruit new members and promote religious beliefs and organizations, and promote fundamentalist beliefs and evangelical orientations", (Coakley,2009). 

These groups all have mission statements depicting their views on religion through sport.  FCA was started in 1954 and their mission statement is, " to present to athletes and coaches and all whom they influence the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church".  FCA also holds their values, Integrity, Serving, Teamwork, and Excellence as very important tools in serving the Lord through sport.

The impact that these programs have had are very great on college athletes across the nation. FCA's numbers have been very positive in the last year from Jan. 1, 2009 - Dec 31, 2009:
Total Reached in Eight Months: 1,834,875Faith Commitments: 35,159One Way 2 Play - Drug Free! Decisions: 34,712TeamFCA Commitments: 3,694
(FCA, 2010)
With numbers like these, it has made a positive impact on college campuses. The spread of religion in sport will continue to increase with the dedication and help of others outside of the university walls. The hope is to help college athletes, not only better themselves but to better the students around them, in hopes of creating a more positive, and unified team.

FCA Official Presentation Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnq-jFXmVzY

The NCCAA ( National Christian College Athletic Association) was incorporated to provide a Christian-based organization that functions uniquely as a national and international agency for the promotion of outreach and ministry, and for the maintenance, enhancement, and promotion of intercollegiate athletic competition in a Christian perspective (NCCAA, 2010).  The NCCAA focuses on not only assisting the student-athletes in sports but also in life in general through their "game plan" consisting of dedicated and caring leadership, national competition, international outreach and ministry with athletic teams, discipleship programs and materials for student-athletes and coaches, and conferences on current key issues. The link below shows NCCAA's statement of belief: http://www.thenccaa.org/statement.html



Coakley, J.  (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY:
     The McGraw-Hill Companies.
About athletes in action.  (2009). Retrieved from
     http://www.athletesinaction.org/about/
About the nccaa.  (2010). Retrieved from
     http://www.thenccaa.org/about.html#Mission%20Statement
FCA. (2010). Annual impact report. Retrieved from
      http://www.fca.org/AboutFCA/AnnualImpactReport.lsp

Religion and Sports: what is legal and what is not

There are many situations between religion and sports that are not clearly defined as legal or illegal. In 1962 the Supreme Court banned organized prayers in public schools, which meant, prayers may not be legal when they are said publicly and collectively at sport events sponsored by state organizations, such as public schools (Coakley, 539). Although in 1992 this still upset two families and they decided to bring this decision back to the Supreme Court, stating that it was in violation of the first amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." In turn this allowed public prayers in schools as long as it wasn't to convert anyone, nonsectarian and general in content. Although, this decision was not upheld for sporting events. An appellate judge ruled that sport events were not serious enough to require the solemnity of public prayer, stating prayers are inappropriate" (Coakley, 539).

This decision of the Supreme Court was not an effort to separate religion and sport but to make sure that it was not forced on to anyone who didn't not want apart of it. Which is why organizations and schools have been founded on religious beliefs for kids, who wish to further their education on the bases of that religion.

Although if you looked at a lot of individual athletes before a game or big event, they prepare them selves with prayer. Most players will take a knee close their eyes and say a short prayer, some may cross themselves in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; but, none of these things are forced on to anyone else, which is within the guidelines set by the Supreme Court.

Mormon student-athletes that attend universities primarily BYU (Brigham Young University) have to fulfill a mission trip. What that means is that students for two years generally go to another country and volunteer their time and services; such as building churches, libraries, homes, providing health care and education, while also preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (N, 2009). These students who are called to these missions who are athletes are not penalized any years of eligibility, in some cases resulting in 20 plus year old freshman/student athletes. This is just an example of students being able to do works for their religion and colleges and universities not penalizing them for fulfilling religious duties (Bruner, 2010).

Case: New Mexico State Sued by Three Former Players
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/60238/college_athletes_persecuted_for_religious.html





Bruner, R. (2010). What is a lds mission?. Retrieved from
        http://lds.about.com/od/programs3foldmission/p/lds_mission.htm
N, A. (2009, February 20). When sports and religion collide. Retrieved from
       http://sportsjabber.net/2009/02/20/when-sports-and-religion-collide/
Coackley, J. (2009) Sports in society. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Religious Athletes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS8qqNnR3aM (Tim Tebow answering a question about saving "himself," for marriage)

In today's era it is not uncommon to see players show their religion on the field, before, during, or prior to the event. A sport where you see religion most commonly "center staged," is in football, both at the college and professional level. Players such as Tim Tebow, and Sam Bradford really took the next step in showing their religion on the field. Tebow, who is now back up quarter back for the Denver Broncos really changed how religion was seen in college sports. He wore eye black under his eyes and wrote verses from the Bible that really motivated him. Sam Bradford, now the starting quarterback for the St. Louis Rams, wore his verses on his tape like most athletes do.

You see a lot of uses too in football of guys crossing the goal line for a touchdown and instantly either kneeling to the ground and saying a small prayer and signing themselves with the cross, or pointing straight up to the heavens as a token of appreciation of letting them get that score. Across the NFL as well players are not afraid to show their religion, players like Troy Polamalu, Deion Sanders, Reggie White. Religion has become a part of celebration, a way to glorify God fro the gifts these people were given.

Christianity isn't the only type or religion practiced in sport today. Recently ESPN did a story on the Abdullah brothers, two brothers who play safety in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals, and Minnesota Vikings. Hamza and Husain practice Islam and this past preseason Ramadan (the holiest month in the Islamic calendar) fell during mini camp. Ramadan is the month where the Koran was revealed to the prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him.(Farrar, 2010) During this time Muslims throughout the world fast. "From sunup to sundown, we abstain from food, water, anger, fighting, and were also supposed to maximize our good deeds," (Farrar, 2010). During mini camp, where football camps run all day the brothers were not able to eat or drink anything during the day and during practice. The taxing that hits takes on a person body is incredible and dangerous, but to be true to their religion the Abdullah brothers practiced Ramadan as if it were just another month.

Michael Irvin: 2007 Hall of Fame enshrinement speech: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/halloffame07/news/story?id=2961687


These athletes face many challenges and ridicule.  Shirl Hoffman describes Christianity as being based on an ethic that emphasizes the importance of means over ends, process over product, quality over quantity, and caring for others over caring for self.  But power and performance sports emphasize winning, final scores, season records, personal performance statistics, and self display (Coakley, 2009).  Where do athletes draw the line?  Every athlete wants to be the best that they can be and to win the game they participate in.  Athletes with serious religious beliefs do more than try to make just themselves better but to improve the entire team even the team they are competing against.  This is a good quality to possess as a teammate, but does this take away from the ultimate peak a religious athlete can reach?  These are challenges religious athletes face on a day to day basis.  Another challenge is ridicule, as shown previously in the Tim Tebow clip.  Soft spoken, spiritual players may be categorized as too soft or mean enough to play at high levels.  This is proven wrong by Troy Polomalu.  Year in and year out, the soft spoken safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the top players in the NFL.  He does so while staying true to his spiritual beliefs and not playing dirty and taking cheap shots.  It is proven that athletes can both be religious and successful.



Coakley, J.  (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY:
     The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Farrar, D. (2010, August 21). Abdullah brothers balance faith, football, and fasting. Retrieved from
          http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/A-brothers-balance-faith-football-and-f?urn=nfl-264192

 

Sport as religion, do fans and athletes take it to far?

A lot of sport fans really take a being a fan to a whole new level. We can't begin to tell you how many times we have walked into someones home and see team paraphernalia everywhere. People today live or die for the teams. Living in "Steeler Country," has shown me how much this is really true. Ryan and myself have seen many tattoos that say "sixburgh," or tattoos for every Super Bowl won. Fans today make sport their religion, they like to wear a jersey on a certain day, or a color for a certain event. Fans and athletes really live or die for their team/sport.

Coakley explains several similarities and differences between religion and sports.
Similarities

• Sports and Religion both have places for gatherings. ex: churches and stadiums
• Perfection in body, mind, and spirit
• Hierarchical systems of authority and structured organizations
• Rituals before, during, and after major events
• Heroes and Legends about heroic accomplishments
• Give meaning to people's lives

Differences

• Religious beliefs, meanings, rituals, and events are mystical and sacred.  Sports are fundamentally clear-cut and secular
• Religion pertains to the pursuit of eternal life.  Sport seeks victory through physical performance.
• Religion involves faith in one's beliefs.  Sport involves competition to establish superiority.
• Religion emphasizes humility and love.  Sport emphasizes personal achievement and conquest.
• Religion acknowledges the sacred and supernatural.  Sport highlight a collective commitment to here and now.(Coakley, 2009)

We believe in some cases athletes absolutely take their actions too far, but we do believe that sport and religion can and should co-exist.  Fans and athletes should be dedicated to their sports team as well as their personal spiritual beliefs, but they should not take sports as a life or death situation and become hostile and violent.  We believe college athletes such as Tim Tebow and Ryan's ex-quarterback at Edinboro University, Trevor Harris, set great examples as student-athletes and apostles of Jesus Christ.  Athletes of all religions should be accepted and not ridiculed nor criticized and should be giving the opportunity to put their spiritual duties before sports activities.




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