Conclusion

This experience in blogging has been very interesting. I have enjoyed being able to reflect on the different readings and topics we discussed during class this way. It is something very different, and a great way to communicate my thoughts and feelings. I like how I am able to view other members of the classrooms blogs and see how they feel a well.

After taking this class, I have really learned a lot about sports and gender. I really never realized all of the different issues the two together were concerning. From the very beginning of this class, I knew it was going to be interesting. The controversy of Caster Semanya. This is the story of a runner who was competing with females. She had some of the characteristics of females, however she also had some of a male. She absolutely dominated in her running events, and that really brought the question to whether she was truly a woman up in the air.

This brought on the debate in the class of whether humans born with certain male/female organs should have to compete with their gender. However, there is so much more to such a simple question. There are males and females on this Earth and that's it...Right? Wrong. There are many different ways that certain individuals can be looked at. There can be females with Y Chromosomes, and males with two X's. It is a very different topic to debate, but what if a male used to be a female?

Where is a transgender supposed to compete? There is no category for transgenders, but it would be discriminating for them to not be allowed to compete. Then again, you can't have someone born as a male compete as a female...can you?

This is just one example of the many debates we had in class that I found very interesting. Another debate was whether or not Michael Jordan should have been a political influence while playing. My thought has always been no. Being politically neutral was the smartest thing for him to do. His response once was, "Republican's buy sneakers too" when asked to speak on behalf of the democratic party.

Michael Jordan was such a phenomenal athlete, but more importantly, he was a role model. Instead of preaching about politics and racism, he preached hardwork and practice. He talked to children about how working hard can get you anywhere. His story of getting cut from the high school basketball team his freshman year, and wanting to prove the coach wrong and working extra hard is one that all parents tell their children about.

Another topic which we spent lots of time discussing was disabled athletes. The stories that were brought up were inspirational. Especially the one about "the kid can do it all on one leg." This is the story of Adam Bender, a young child who had to lose his leg before he was one year old. But this never stopped him from anything he wanted to do. He wanted to play soccer, he played soccer, wrestling, he wrestled, and baseball, he was amazing at. During the video which was on his website, you got to watch him in action. He played catcher and threw out a runner, and when he was at bat, he got an infield single. Even though he does have a disability, he set that aside and just did what every kid wanted to do.

Overall, I do think that this help will help me for the rest of my life. It has taught me to have open views and respect other peoples opinions. I have always been a very strong opinionated person. I find myself often-times debating with others before I really give them a chance to give me their reasoning. With this class, I have had to listen to many views which I strongly disagreed with. But with this class, I was able to learn to listen more before I give my input. I have found that even people with different views from my own still can make good sense for the things that they believe in.

This class has been very beneficial and I am very glad I took it. I got to learn about many different topics such as gender issues, the way media portrays sports, racism, disabilities, and much more. Each topic had different articles that were all very interesting to read. I would never have known who Michael Messner was if you had asked me before this class. After this class, I know about this sociologist who's primary studies are sport and gender. He has come up with some incredible theories and has done lots of different research. All of his studies are very in depth and filled with great information. Overall, I highly reccomend this class to any future students and I promise you will learn a lot about numerous subjects.

Yao

It is amazing to see how far Yao Ming has gone since coming into the United States. Although he has not been that absolute dominating player in the NBA that some people may have expected, he still has lots of room to grow. But even more important, is what he has done for the Asian community. He has become a hero to many, and is huge for business. With China having such a huge population, expanding the NBA international to China is huge for the market.

Where there are lots of people, that usually means money. This is exactly the case for the NBA and Yao Ming. The NBA is very smart in that it is making many steps towards bringing a bigger fan base to China. There are over 2 billion television stations in China, and marketing the NBA and Yao Ming to China will bring the NBA lots of money. Yao really is the perfect thing for the NBA.

Not only does Yao open the door for Chinese basketball players, but he also opens the door for other international players. To me, I love international basketball players; their competetiveness beats almost any American player in my opinion. This is great for the NBA. It gives them the chance to really expand globally. Something that differentiates the NBA from other professional sports leagues, is its willingness to market all over the world. It has players from literally every nation.

Unfortunately for Yao, in my opinion, he has not put up the numbers he is capable of. He has so much potential. I mean, anyone does who is 7 feet, 6 inches tall. But with height that great, it makes it difficult for him to run the court. He visibly is more exhausted than other players out there, and I can guarantee you it is not because he does not work as hard. But the important thing is that no matter what kind of numbers he puts out onto the basketball court, he is an inspiration for not only the NBA, but for other international players who have the same goals and aspirations as Yao does.

Kid Can do it All on One Leg

"Kid can do it all on one leg" is a very inspirational story by Mike Fields. What touched me the most was watching the video attatched to the story. Watching Adam Bender play baseball is an amazing sight.

Adam Bender lost his leg due to cancer when he was one year old. He refuses to use a wheelchair and did not like using a prosthetic leg. He is simply just like any other 8-year-old. Filled with energy from the second he wakes up until the second he falls asleep. However, he has one thing that many other 8-year-olds do not have.

And that is competitiveness. Speaking from someone who has coached little league baseball, none of the kids have the desire and will that Adam has. You can see it in the video in the article. He hustles, takes on collisions at the plate, and swings for the fences.

This is a story that any parent should share with their children. It teaches young kids that they can do anything they want, as long as they put their mind to it. Especially in sports. In sports, it is all a mindset. My old football coach used to say that the game is 90% mental, and I truly believe that. If you walk onto a field knowing you are going to lose; you probably will. If you go out onto the field believing yourself and you teammates, that may be the difference of a couple inches, which is enough to win a football game. The same goes for Adam, who believes in himself and goes out there and competes every play, not holding anything back. You can tell from the video that he is more competitive then anyone else on the field, giving him a huge advantage.

Introduction

My name is Mike Slonoff and I am currently a junior at Bowling Green State University, majoring in Sport Enterprise and minoring in General Business. Throughout the course of my life, sport has always played a major role. Everything in my life has revolved around sports in one way or another, and I intend for this to continue for the rest of my life, hopefully working as a sport agency or in the front office of a pro team. I grew up loving baseball more than anything, playing Little League and traveling after I felt I was good enough. Then one day I became scared of the ball. I do not know exactly how that happenned, but I stood in the batters box absolutely terrified one day, and I never recovered. I finished my season and vowed to never play again.

After my end to baseball around 7th grade I picked up basketball, which truly is my favorite sport. I played traveling from 7th grade through freshman year where I played on the school team, however I quit when I realized short, white, Jewish kids don't play in the NBA. My parents never let me play football till high school, but once freshman year came, I began playing immediately. I randomly became quarterback freshman year, but as sophomore year came rolling around and the coaches realized I couldn't see over the offensive line, I moved to slot receiver which I played through my senior year.

Sport and Gender should be very interesting as is almost all sport management core courses. I hope to get out of this course a better understanding of sport and gender alltogether; whether it be the way male and female athletes view eachother, the way they view themselves, or the way society views the different genders.

If I had the chance to see one male professional athlete play, it would have to be Ray Lewis. With Ray Lewis comes heart, intensity, determination, and more desire to win the game than anyone else on the field. He plays every play like it is his last, even though ultimately he is the one who is ending games for the opposing teams star athletes with his ferocious hits. You can see it in his eyes whenever the cameraman zooms in on him. To Lewis, there is no holding back, whether it be sacrificing his body by filling a gap and taking on a fullback running full speed into him (where ironically it is the fullback who ends up on his back), or meeting the runningback at the line of scrimmage, who will quickly try and find his way to the sidline before he gets popped. He can read the eyes of the already fearful quarterback to intecept a pass, and he causes even more fear to that unlucky reciever who realized that their route is over the middle. EVERYBODY on the field has to pay attention to Ray Lewis. His pregame motivational speeches are always "mic'd up" on ESPN to try and capture the passion in his voice while all of his teammates look up to him for support. This is because he is the best at what he does, and it is all through the hardwork he puts in day after day, to ultimately be the most feared linebacker in the game.

What I'm talking about....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd3sNvKC_jU

Defining what "sport" really is may be one of the hardest assignments I've ever done. To me, sport is many of things. First of all, it must require physical skill. (So to the question earlier in class, Chess is NOT a sport). Not only must it require physical skill, but there must be competition. If it's not a person you are competing against, you have to be competing against a clock. There has to be a playing surface, (field with boudaries, courts with meaninful lines). Sport must have rules to abide by. It cannot just be a bunch of kids running around aimlessly. And finally, sport must be institutionalized.