Darwins Athletes

Reflect back on the movie Hoop Dreams, the documentary that followed the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players.  Combine with that the Hollywood portrayals of African American male athletes in movies such as The Blind Side, Above the Rim, Ali, Any Given Sunday, Coach Carter, Remember the Titans, Glory Road, For Love and Basketball, Jerry McGuire, White Men Can't Jump, and any other sport film which has largely features African American athletes.

Sport in the African American culture is a key factor besides family. This a a way fro many young children to stay out of trouble and make it out of their neighborhoods. Many African American children look to sports to better their families and get them out of the "hood". I know for me, I used sports as a way to stay off the streets and as a distraction to leave little room for error or time to misbehave. Sports was a let out for my anger from my family life, and just everyday issues that would cross my path. 

As we seen and see in many films that portray African American young men, we see them all having the same fight, trying to get out of the ghetto. They all talk about the struggle financially, or drug problems. In some movies, like Coach Carter we see a strong African American figure that believes in these boys to better themselves and not let the streets take them. In other movies, like Hoop Dreams and The Blind Side, we see a white man and woman coming in to help these young men. In The Blind Side, we see Sandra Bullock pushing this young man to better himself and loves him. She puts him into football to keep him away from the streets and to allow him more opportunities. She saw something in him that he could not see in himself, and once again we see he came from a troubled background in the ghetto. In this picture we see Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) talking to Michael Oher and convincing him to come stay with her and her family. This woman opened her home to this young man and helped turn his life around. In many movies we see sports as the way to motivate young African American children to push themselves to be better. 

Today sport can be very damaging if coaches stack their athletes. Some African American boys and men do not follow the stereotypical African American male. This can put a lot of stress on the player and cause a lot of self-esteem problems. This can lead many men and women to push themselves harder to please the coaches just to keep their positions from the next player looking for their positions. Coaches want coach able players, that means they want players they can mold to be the player they want them to be. As we seen in Hoop Dreams that was very damaging to Walter. He pushed himself too hard and damaged his knees more than he would have just playing the sport he knows and loves.

"You Throw Like a Girl": Sports, (Wo)men & the Gender Order II

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNjQishYOy0

I chose this video because we see two great athletes competing to be the best. In the first scene we see Dwayne Wade blocking a dunk attempt by Kevin Durant. We see Durant waking up in a sweat and pushing himself to be better and not get his dunk swatted again. These shows how belittling it is for a man to get his shot blocked. In the WNBA there are very few women that can dunk so it is not as big of a deal but for a man that makes you think you did not work as hard, and it hurts your ego. This commercial just goes to show how hard work can pay off but it also shows the competition factor that we see even off the court. Many times we see men and even women competing to be the best. In this commercial Dwayne Wade shows that he will not be dunked over. The consequence of this mentality can lead men to become angry, because it is an ego trip and many men do not being shown up by someone smaller than them. This can give men confidence issues, and positive and negative thinking. Many men will begin to question themselves to prove if they are manly enough. As in the Gatorade commercial we see both men waking up stressing out over not acceding in their goals for either dunking over one another or blocking a dunk. 

Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?

I agree to some point and disagree to some degree as well. I agree with the fact the athletes should not get paid unless it is equal across the board for all schools. This will create a whole other argument, because of course D1 schools are going to be under the impression they should be able to pay their athletes more because they bring in more money and better athletes. This will create an unfair advantage to other players and some players will just quit playing all together. Some athletes are already getting paid with a stipend from their school. I know some here at CU get $1000 and at LSU they get $2500 in stipends a month. On top of this and the free items they get, I would say no they do not need to be paid a salary. Many athletes have their tuition covered as well.

The majority of these student athletes are given opportunities that they would never be able to have if they couldn't run fast or catch a ball. From research that has been done, a lot of the college athletes cannot read over a fifth grade reading level. I feel if we want to get into the discussion of paying someone more money for what they do, I would say we need to pay soldiers more, because they are risking their lives for a country that is ungrateful and selfish. On average, retired soldiers get paid $32,000 a year. They still have to go out and find work instead of being able to enjoy their retirement and time with their family. 

Granted many college athletes give up family time, and vacations like pro athletes, they do not play to the same level of intensity. College sports is like working towards a bachelors degree in undergrad, you are preparing for the world and the next level to get a good paying job. They are working towards their degree in Sports to hopefully go to the big league and get their dream job. Many college athletes won't even make it to the big leagues so there is no need paying them until they earn it. 

High School Sport

American culture is the only culture that funds inter-school sports programs. This has lead the emergence of high school sports. I know personally I benefited from the funds given to high school sports programs. Since the emergence of high school sports, this has grown a lot since the first day. There are more and more sports being introduced to schools and opening more doors for students to better themselves and get a higher education from these programs. I know volleyball pushed me to do well in my education, and to do well in basketball, because basketball was my off season sport to keep me in shape for volleyball. Sport helps to create a community and sense of belonging for many teens who come from troubled backgrounds or even those who want to be themselves, and can't because of their social groups. Sports is healthy for the development of a high school student for multiple reasons. As I have said before it motivates students to excel in the classroom while also keeping them out of trouble. Also this is a great form of exercise.

Interscholastic sport is a huge role in high school sports experience. Many students do not plan to play sports after high school so they shoot for the stars and want to win state games, get the ring, trophy and the Letterman jacket. I know I wanted to do all I could in high school, and I knew I was not going to play in college. Unless I went to Nebraska to play volleyball then I would continue, but I wanted to stay close to my mom so I stayed here and I refused to play for CU. There is also the aspect of partaking in the Friday night games or being apart of the fan section in games. This gave many students a sense of belonging and family. On the flip side, sports made it eye opening how cut throat things can be when competing for positions. If you do not show what the coach is looking for you will wither be benched most of the season or cut completely from the team. This pushes players to be the best they can be and not go half speed. Go hard or go home is that motto. 

Problems associated with interscholastic sport are many people believe sports will become their child's only focus and their academics will take a toll, but little do people know many coaches believe if you cannot excel in the classroom you do not play simple as that. I know for my high school we had weekly report cards and if it was not what the coach wanted we did not travel that week, which was not only heart breaking but it was embarrassing because if you were still in school when the team left everyone knew it was because you were not excelling in the classroom. Sometimes we could not wear our jumpsuits on game days if our grades were not correct. This pushed us and we even had an off period to do a team study hall so we could help one another and keep our grades up this way if one of us failed we all failed. We were a team and we had one another' backs like a family. The only solution is dependent on the coach, the athlete and their family, for the simple fact if the coach says you need to maintain this class average and if you don't you will be cut or benched that week can really push students to give their all in the classroom. I know I did, plus my mother said if I do not keep my grades up she won't allow me to practice until my grades got up so I made sure to stay on top of my school work. 

Once the Cheering stops: The life of a retired pro-athlete

After doing some research and hearing stories, the life of a retired athlete is dull and boring. All the parties, ladies constant money flow, making it "snow" at clubs begins to die, and many of these athletes are left with nothing. Many of the men who spoke about their first check and the things they bought, it was sad to hear them say it was a show but not for the fans and groupies but for the teammates. It was a challenge to have the new hot thing before anyone else has it. To buy mom and dad a nicer house that they can grow old in, and for some to get their families out of the hood, but they fail to realize that once that money stops flowing in like that, how are they going to afford the house payments and the car payments? Who is going to share that huge 20 bedroom mansion with you when the money stops. The tailored suits stop coming in and all the taxes, paying your managers, etc you are left with half of the money you were expecting. Many athletes do not plan to save money for the long run, they think hey I will have this money coming in weekly, so hey let's just blow money. These athletes were not prepared for the after life of being a pro athlete. They are living for the moment, and not for the future. I would tell them to be realistic, yes the designer gear and watches being all "blinged out" does sound great and makes you feel good knowing you have the money, but when the other teammates who were competing and end up with nothing to show for it on the end, then you are screwed and thinking dang that was not worth it. Buy a simple house with a yard, rooms for every kid to have their own space, bathroom and bedroom, a yard for the kids and the dog, one car for you, one car for the wife and than the family outing car. Three cars max, you don't need six to eight cars for one house hold and you really do not need a huge mansion with bowling alleys, and all this space when it is just for you and you have no one to share it with. These people end of being the loneliest and unhappy. Personally I believe athletes are paid way too much money when we have soldiers who return home and still have to find work to support their families and get paid about $35,000 a year. We make a big deal out of the treatment of athletes but we have men who are putting their lives on the line for this country and there is no big deal made out of these men having to work min wage jobs and not being able to relax after serving their time. I think the priorities of the American culture is backwards and needs to change. The fact athletes go broke after the league does not surprise me. They need to pay better attention to their money and only buy things that are realistic and can live off of that money after retirement. 

Sport, Politics and the Olympics

During the 1968 Mexico City, Mexico Olympic award ceremony, two U.S. African American winners used some symbolic references to Black Power which steered up a lot of controversy. During the singing of the National Anthem, the two gentlemen Tommie Smith and Carlos held up their fist to symbolize Black Power, and went to the blocks without their shoes on, but instead with Black socks on to symbolize Black poverty. Carlos wore a necklace to symbolize, those who were lynched and never prayed for, and those who were thrown off boats and never found, this was worn for the suffering of Black people. He also wore his suit unzipped which represented the Blue Collar workers. Tommie Smith wore a Black scarf representing Black pride. After the singing was over, they were booed and were no longer seen as Americans, but were seen as Negros. When they were medalist holders they were expected to keep their beliefs to themselves, but all they were doing was giving thanks to those who came before them and allowing them this opportunity to be where they were on that day. I find it amusing how Black people are expected to keep their mouths shut and stay in line, while White people are allowed to give thanks to whoever and they are given free range to do whatever. These two gentlemen were not bashing on anyone or their beliefs, they did not even say anything, their actions did the speaking, and too many people took offense to this. They are proud to be Black and no matter what happened to them, they would never forget where they came from and where they are going.





I believe Sport and Nationalism is one of the five political uses sport, because they used  Track as their way to bring unity between Blacks and Whites. When the medals were awarded to these two gentlemen, Smith stated "If I won, I am American, not a Black American, But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro." They had to respect of America as long as they abide by the rules that were given and did nothing to empower Blacks, to give them hope that anything is possible. During this time period there was a lot of racism going on, and this was their way of saying Black Pride no matter what you say.

As far as the statement "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference," I strongly disagree with this, especially after reading about this Olympic event and how even if no words are being said, people still take offense to things. Even in today's society we see a lot of Military references and support of the Military. In class we discussed the similarities between football and the Military. These are very similar, you are going into war to fight a battle and leaving everything on the field. Even when a player gets injured, they have that mentality no man is left behind. When a player gets injured, everyone takes a knee and stands by their fallen soldiers side, praying and hoping for the best. They wait for this to be taken out of harms way and then the battle continues. Whether we want to believe this statement or not, I strongly believe subliminally politics will always have some kind of influence.

London Calling: The Globalization of the NFL

 

This article is no surprise to me. I knew it was a matter of time before the NFL expanded globally. I personally do not think the NFL is thinking about all the scenarios in this situation and the toll it will have on the players. First and foremost, yes it will bring in a lot of money for the NFL but it will also cost the NFL even more money to fly teams to and from the United States, and passport cost, etc. All the little details will add up when you think about how many players there are in the NFL. The money they are gaining from going to London they are losing it for the expenses going into the game. Personally, I feel as though the main reason they are expanding to London was from the time the 49ers and Broncos played and the fan base brought a lot of people surrounding London a chance to see a game in person. Plus that is a lot of money that will be going into the players pockets.  The main reason the NFL wants to expand is the money, all the founders see is the large dollar signs. A small portion of their decision is the fans surrounding London, but it is mostly about money and politics. People are not thinking about the toll it will have on the players bodies. From London to America they will be spending a lot of their season on the go, and the time change will have a huge affect on the way teams play. When players land when it is supposed to be night time, it is day time in London. Plus in London they would have to play late night games to be able to broadcast it during GMT. Before reading this I did not know they put a cap on the salary, I think there should not be a cap on how much they can make, especially once again because of the toll on their bodies and their families.