Scrapbook Item 10: Gender and Sport: How Equitable are Opportunites for Women in Sport

Here is a link to the related article on the topic: http://www.wnba.com/news/2011_draft_espn.html.

The topic of equitable treatment in women's sports was discussed in class on April 12, 2011, and also in the book on pages 232-240.  This article states that the WNBA will have their draft televised once again for the 2011 season, and it will be from the campus of ESPN.  The problem is that the draft will be on at 3 pm on a Monday afternoon.  This gives no one a chance to watch the draft since most people are either at work or school at this time.  If this were to happen with the NBA draft, there would be sever backlash from millions, but since it is the WNBA no one puts up a fight.  Equality has to exist in all aspects of sport, not just on the playing field, and if ESPN is willing to have the draft on site why can't they have it in prime time.  The existence alone of this league over the last 15 years shows the progress women's sports has made.  As a country we have come a long way since the times we talked about in class when women could not even compete, or no one thought they were equal to men, but there still is a long way to go.

The WNBA and other women's professional and amateur leagues may not even be in existence today if it were not for government legislation.  In Coakley's text on page 232, he says that the new opportunities for women's sports have been fueled by this legislation, and without it women's sports still may not exist.  Coakley lists other reasons on page 233, citing the health and fitness movement, women's rights movement, and also increased media coverage as factors of increased participation.  The participation may have increased, but women's sports still do not receive equitable treatment.  The WNBA draft as mentioned before is not in prime time, while the NFL draft will take up three days of evening programming.   Also the best WNBA players barely make 100,000 a year, while average NBA players are making five million dollars.  The salaries have to do with the popularity of the sport, but the media needs to do a better job with women's sports leagues.  It all starts with the media.  Women's teams and leagues will never by popular if the games are never on for us to see.

Recent WNBA top draft pick Maya Moore.

Scrapbook Item 9: Traditional Race Logic Used in Sports

Here is a link to an article related to the topic: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/casey-ganemccalla/athletic-blacks-vs-smart_b_187386.html.

We discussed the topic of race logic in class on April 7, 2011, and this topic is covered by Coakley in the text on pages 282- 292.  In the article above, the author talks about how race logic is present in sports, but more importantly how these thoughts are being broken.  These ideologies included in the article are the same ones discussed in class, and they say that whites earn their athleticism through hard work and dedication, while blacks are naturally gifted athletes and are not concerned with education (This is also discussed on page 283 in the textbook).  When racial ideology is talked about most people talk about biology, and say blacks are wired better.  When this topic came up in class we said that there was no evidence proving this to be true, and the main reason blacks dominate in some sports has to do more with culture rather than biology.

In Coakley's text on page 286 the link between racial ideology and American culture.  He says that African Americans believe that the only way to become successful is through sport, since opportunities outside of sports are slim.  Many blacks believe it is their destiny to be good at certain sports,  and they are highly motivated to do so. When this topic was discussed in class it was said that blacks concentrate in the revenue producing sports, and in sports where there is not a high need of equipment.  Both of these reasons would lead them to basketball and football.  Also these two sports are filled with black role models, where as sports like golf and tennis are not.  Lack of role models may also be a way to explain the lack of black NFL quarterbacks.  As stated in the article, there are only a handful of good African American quarterbacks, with only one Super Bowl winner ever.  This may also have to deal with culture where blacks are not looking up to Dan Marino and Joe Montana, but rather to non quarterbacks such as Emmitt Smith or Jerry Rice.  Race ideology will always seem to be present in the United States as it has worldwide for centuries. As a society we must realize that just since the color of your skin says that you should be good at one thing should not limit your opportunities, whether it is the business world, or in athletics.

Scrapbook Item 8: Race and Ethnicity; Are They Important

Here is the link to the article dealing with this topic: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2011/03/warren-moon-criticism-of-cam-newton-is-blatant-racism/1.

We discussed the issue of race and ethnicity in sport on April 5, 2011, and this topic is covered in Coakley's text on pages 278-284.  This article is an example of the role of racism, discrimination, and stereotypes in sport and that they still exist today.  Cam Newton is being compared to other black quarterbacks who have failed in the past due to lack of work ethic, and being all about themselves.  The other white quarterbacks in the draft are not receiving the same criticism even though fellow draft prospect Ryan Mallet has tested positive for cocaine, but his character is hardly questioned. 

Jemarcus Russell, former quarterback
who Newton is being compard to.

This way of thinking is a result of stereotyping an individual on his or her race or ethnicity.  As we discussed in class a stereotype is a fixed idea about a group.  The reporter who wrote this article has a fixed idea that all black quarterbacks are lazy, fake, and can not be a leader.  This same reporter came down hard on Tim Tebow last year, but he did so on his football ability and not his character.  This individual is stereotyping Cam Newton since he looks like former failure Jemarcus Russell, and other black quarterbacks who have failed. 

This idea is also mentioned in Coakley's text on page 281 in which he discusses racial stereotyping.  He says that people judge all individuals into from one group the same way (which the reporter from this article has done).  He goes on to say on page 282 that these stereotypes are used by people who do not have an opportunity to get to know someone, so they just go ahead and generalize them based on race.

Scrapbook Item 7: Deviance in Sports

Here is the link to the article dealing with this topic:  http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110408&content_id=17514236&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb.

The topic of  deviance in sport is discussed on pages 175-184 in Coakley's text, and was discussed in class on March 29, 2011.  During class on this day we talked about deviant behavior in sports, including the use of performance enhancing substances, and the different leagues drug testing policies.  Manny Ramirez who is featured in this article is a great example of an athlete showing deviant behavior in sports.  His actions on the field were continuously out of line during his career, as he would go to the bathroom during games, and not act professional. Now he has tested positive for a banned substance for the second time, and would have received a 100 game suspension if he did not choose to retire.  By threatening to suspend star player Manny Ramirez before he chose to retire, this shows that Major League Baseball is once again serious about their drug policy after their policy was a joke up until recently.

 

In class on March 29 we learned that the definition of performance enhancing drugs was; any substance taken that is not prescribed by a doctor, and does specify the purpose of improving performance by increasing strength, power, speed, and endurance.  With the announcement of Ramirez’s positive test, not many fans were surprised at all since drugs have become rather common in the sports we watch today.  In Coakley's Text on page 180 he says that the reasons athletes do in fact dope is to maintain their level of greatness, prolong a career, meet others expectations, and to receive financial rewards.  All of these factors contribute to Ramirez’s drug use.  He was an aging Hall of Fame player who was making millions of dollars a year.  So if he could take a substance and remain playing at a high level, why wouldn't he?

As noted above Ramerez conducted himself in a deviant way while on the field as well.  In Coakley’s text on page 177 Coakley suggests that players may do this on purpose to create a ‘commercial persona”.  He says that athletes use their bad behavior as a way to gain fame, and endorsements, which Ramirez did throughout his career.  He used his bad boy brand to receive endorsements and become one of the more popular players in the world.

Manny Ramirez comes out of the bathroom during the middle of a game at Fenway Park.  This is just one of Ramirez's many acts of deviance throughout his career.