Sports Pages #13: Friday Night Lights

Countless times in movies, hollywood and so many national depictions the significance of sport in African American culture has been so important.  Many times this depiction of the lives of African Americans displays their lives in ways that it seems that the only thing African Americans can do is sports.  In no way do I agree with the previous observation, however there are several real life stories like we saw in Hoop Dreams where young African American's only chance at a better life is to succeed in sports and receive scholarships.  In those cases where young African Americans use sports to get out of there rough home life and childhood, sports are incredibly important and play a significant role in their lives.  

In the film Friday Night Lights, the story follows the world of high school football in a small town, Odessa, Texas.  The film follows the high school football team through the entire season until the state championship game, which they lose (sorry for the spoiler if you haven't seen it).  The team's star running back who 'carries' the team, Booby Miles, tears his ACL in the first game of the season.  Booby then spends the rest of the movie trying to cope with his injury and trying to keep his numerous Division I scholarships.  This is very similar to the story we saw in Hoop Dreams with William Gates.  Just as William struggles with getting good grades in school to be able to get into college we see the same thing in a powerful scene in Friday Night Lights in which Booby breaks down in the car with his uncle and cries and repeats that all he wants to do is play football and the only thing he can do is play football. 

Personally, I don't think sports are ruining African Americans, in most cases I think sports create a vast amount of advantages just as they do to other athletes.  This idea of sports ruining African Americans is rooted in the idea of the lack of advantages they have in other aspects of life.  If we really want to change this idea and not make sports such a focus maybe there should be more advocating for educational and real-world advantages to African Americans.  As far as this idea preserving race, I don't agree at all.  However, if we are going to acknowledge this and say maybe it is preserving race, then there are countless other things present in today's society that are preserving race as well.  Race is always going to be present, its not going away.  What can go away is choosing to judge, stereotype, deny, and overall let it affect the way we interact with people on a daily basis.  If we could act this way it wouldn't matter if race was preserved or not because at the end of the day disparities among races wouldn't be anything like they were fifty years ago, or eventually the way they are today.  

Gendered Sports: Football Cops Commercial

This commercial aired about a year and a half ago for Directv that I think was exclusively aired on their on demand channels.  Personally, I think this commercial is hilarious and I was dying laughing so hard the first time I saw it.  Especially Peyton Manning's line at the end when he says "He knows what it means!"  Obviously, that it was the commercial is going for, a funny commercial with two professional quarterbacks that aren't known for their acting talents.  A deeper meaning behind this commercial shows gender roles and also the fame that the American society holds professional athlete to.  Although Eli Manning and Peyton Manning are playing fake cops there still is some resemblance to the way these two men represent and stand for the city they play in.  These men and especially professional athletes in general are more popular and famed than actual police officers that protect the city.  Furthermore, there are also no women athletes in these commercials, which shows the gross inequality of men over women athletes in media.  In almost every women sport played, especially in the US, women sports continue to stay in the shadows of male sports (Rodriguez).  The only time we are likely to see women in the media with commercials and advertisements come from sexualized ads where the females exposed their bodies for whatever the product is even if it has nothing to with a person's body.  On an obscure level this commercial with the women in distress being saved by the Mannings is sort of related to the way men's sports is viewed as the savior of sports within American society.  Women's sport is viewed as this lesser form of sport and not equal to the level of play within men's sports.  Therefore, American society reinforces gender roles by men being this being made for sport and physical activity while women are seen as mere sex symbolic rather than actual superior athletes.  This may be an extreme classification of of men and women's sports, however at one time in history society was truly viewed this way.  Today I think women have made great strides in being viewed as equals and I think things are continually getting better.

Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football Players Get Paid?

This idea of Pay-for-Play for college athletes has been widely debated on both sides of the spectrum.  Many of the arguments I have seen and read that actually bring up valid points and hold some weight are the ones advocating for not paying the players.  On the positive side of paying players people refute allowing it because the athletes are already getting a scholarship of somewhere around $100,000 and they don't need to be greedy and getting more (Hartnett, 2013).  In a New York Times article by Tyson Hartnett in October of last year he points out three reasons of why it is unfair to not pay the athletes: first, many coaches of these athletes are making $100k+ a year and if their team makes it the playoffs they get bonuses; second, the "non-profit" NCAA signs multi-billion dollar contracts with TV companies; third, the athletic programs bring hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.  These back-up Hartnett's argument by showing that the coaches are making an incredible amount of money with bonuses on top and what do the players get in return for making the playoffs, nothing.  Furthermore, if the NCAA is supposed to be non-profit and be for the benefit of the athletes then shouldn't some of these billion dollar contracts be going back to the athletes.

On the other side of this argument Darren Rovell wrote an article on ESPN.com about the reasons why we should not pay the athletes.  In Rovell's article he quotes NCAA president Mark Emmert saying "The reality is schools are spending between $100,000-$250,000 on each student-athlete."  This side of the argument really tries to bring in this idea of college athletes and especially football and basketball athletes are exploited labor within in college athletics. Emmert mentions that many people have suggested that players should be able to sell their own autographed memorabilia and market themselves while playing in college.  However, he refutes that point because the popularity and greatness of some athletes is higher than others so the range of money athletes would be receiving would be based on their playing and skill level.  This, Emmert says sounds a lot like paying for play which is what the NCAA is trying to stay away from and to keep the amateur sanctity of college athletes.

This is something that I have thought about and have many times fallen into this gray area between both arguments.  On one hand I feel college athletes receive a lot of benefits from college athletics as far as a scholarship, gear, clothes, and shoes that are considered absolutely necessary for the athletes to perform.  So, in this argument I don't think the athletes should be paid at all and they receive enough benefits for it to be worthwhile.  However, I also believe that college athletics is comparable to a full-time job and that these athletes are giving up so much of their time to perform for the university that they should be paid for the everything they do.  This argument will linger on for a long time so I think I have some time to make my final decision.

High School Sport

During the time of high school sports and when they emerged social conditions looked very sexist and racist.  This is why today we see some of the women's sports in high school looked at as activities and not actual sports.  They were more sports to cheer on the men to play.  Also there are perverse race distinctions of the sports and when they emerged a lot of them were made up of white men.  As this has actually changed over time there is still some of the lingering effects that started with the creation years ago.  In the actual study from Doug Foley done in a small high school in he Texas he quotes "As in most pep raffles, on the Friday I am describing, the cheerleaders were in front of the crowd on the gym floor doing dance and jumping routines in unison and shouting patriotic cheers to whip up enthusiasm for the team. The cheerleaders were acknowledged as some of the prettiest young women in the school and they aroused the envy of nobodies and nerds. Male students incessantly gossiped and fantasized about these young women and their reputations."  This quote fully puts into perspective the type of role girls played in high school 'sports'.

Jay Coakley wrote about high school sports were supposed to embody this idea that by putting kids and young adults through sports would build character.  And not just an athlete character but one that was considered to be successful in every aspect of his (mainly) life.  He further addresses that was no need for research into actually seeing what these athletes became and what type of character they have because of this idealized quote of "sports make what I am today."  High school sports are supposed to build character and personal traits that are to set a person up for the rest of their life and in whatever they do in life, because of sport they will be successful.  However, from many scenarios we have seen about athletes that sports have built them to be such an incredible athlete that once it is all gone they have no character outside of sports.  Also, high school sports have classified the athletes as  better people than the kids who choose not to compete in sports and take part in other activities.  One part of Foley's study that the did he talks about the treatment of band members in which he entitles "The Marching Band and The Band Fags" which just about sums up what the entire section is about.  High school sports in some instances have built kids in to great young adults with lots of character and in other instances it has led to perverse socialization of athletes over non-athletes.  

Currently the status of interscholastic sports is two sided debate between the necessity of high school and/or college sports.  Some people argue that interscholastic sport is taking away from what sport is meant to be and that it also takes away from the important things in school.  On the other side of the argument are the people saying that student athletes actually do better in school and more often they graduate from high school and go to college.  

Some problems with interscholastic sport is that it changes the student culture within the school, often giving popularity and fame to athletes.  This then tends to glorify the athletes and puts all other students not in sports as the other and they don't fit in.  This type of behavior is what starts what was previously mentioned about the marching band being called band fags.  Not only does this create a hierarchy among the activities students participate in, but it also creates a hierarchy in gender, orientation, class, race, and ethnicity.  These are the problems that people emphasize that are wrong with interscholastic sports.

I think one solution to one of these problems is that schools and especially coaches and anyone or anything reinforcing these sports as better than any other interscholastic activities needs to stop that and actually do the opposite.  These people and institutions that are in charge need to a better job making all interscholastic activities as important as the next.  There is no reason why football needs to be placed as a superior sport or activity to band or anything else.  I think helping this equality of activities will also help to slightly get rid of the sexual orientation put-downs that we hear so much.  There are any problems with interscholastic sports, but there are also a lot of the great things that sport has done for students and I don't think those need to be overlooked either.

The Great American Football Ritual:
Reproducing Race, Class, and
Gender Inequality 

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

A majority of the time the life of a retired athlete is not pretty at all it usually this struggle of running out of money and finding a job that they can actually make a living with the skills they have outside of the playing field.  Athletes have a very difficult time trying to find a job when they leave the league because most of the time they haven't made any connections during their sports career that could set them up with an actual career.  They also see a lot of difficulty in being able to save money during their career with fraudulent investments that actually hurt them in the long then actually setting them up with a stable financial future.  Like quoted in the ESPN 30-for-30 the men often talked about the constant spending on cars and luxury items that they didn't really need and eventually it hurt them.

These men also face a lot of problems when they transfer from playing into a retired life because they don't have any real world work experience that is actually valued in the workforce or business world. Like the New York Times article Eric Knott had talked about how people saw baseball on his resume and they though of it as a career gap and that he didn't have any experience.  Most of the time this is the kinda thing that the athletes face of not having any help in their transition to a whole new life.  A lot of this comes from no successful organizations or incentives that come from the respective sports leagues foe the players.  Although, this maybe seems to be changing with a couple business and entrepreneurial classes former players can take that was brought up in the New York Times article, there is still a big gap that players are trying to make it through.

Furthermore, I think the athletes are struggling so much because some of them only see a few years of college, if any, depending on the sport, which in turn causes them to have no real world skills that are applicable in the business world.  Also, I think there needs to be a lot more help coming from the leagues themselves.  Even relating to the previous sports pages post, maybe Roger Goodell could focus a little less on spending millions of dollars on a foreign football team or more foreign football games and focus more on the retired players who sacrifices themselves for the leagues that are now having a hard time raise their families because of their financial troubles.  This side of sport cultures I think is considered the dark side.  This is the side of sports that people 'like to forget' because people want to see professional sports and athletes as these superhuman people who give us this entertainment and live lavish fantastic lives.  However, that isn't the case these athletes maybe do live these lavish lives for a few years but there comes a point where they cannot play anymore and when that happens they are thrown into a world of unfamiliarity and a no-income lifestyle.  This harsh reality of retired athletes, beyond the medical issues of playing the game, is a dark side to sports and US sport culture that will never truly be better and perfect, but it can be improved with the right programs and help from the corresponding sport leagues and major actors within those leagues.

I have thought about this and a lot of what I feel was expressed in talking about the the dark side of retired athletes.  Retired athletes need more help and more programs that can set them up for their future.  Another harsh reality is that the American people would like to believe that every athlete would be as well off as Michael Jordan with his enormous shoe contract that has made him more money since he's retired than ever did when he was still in the league.  So many people before have compared sport to war and athletes to soldiers and in all honesty this connection of the players retiring and finding a job and soldier coming back from war trying to find a job might be the closest one yet.  Many soldiers have gone to serve before college or served as their college and service is much appreciated but anther harsh reality is that there are so many veterans that struggle everyday when they come back from war.  This all sounds to similar to athletes, maybe there is a program that can help both.

Sports, Politics and the Olympics

The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico is widely known for the student massacre and the racial protest from some of the athletes.  Many athletic events happened that are still remembered to this day as their records still stand or the results were so shocking the will always be remembered.  One of the biggest events was the Student massacre at Tlateloco Plaza in which student protested the incarceration of the leaders of the National Student Strike Committee as well as the PRI's lavish expenditures on the Olympic Games.  The students were murdered in cold blood by white-gloved paramilitary forces and army platoons.  At this time there were many opposing reports so the actual number of deaths vary, but a good estimate was 337 students.

http://www.olympic.org/photos/yaaat005

From Sage and Eitzen's Chapter their idea of Sport as a Vehicle of Change in Society seems to have a to of similarities with the 1968 games.  The reason I think this is because that is partially what the leading political party in  Mexico (PRI) was trying to do.  They wanted to show the rest of the world that they were emerging and that it was time to get rid of that third world title that had been associated with them for so long.  However, the students and people in opposition to the PRI believed there were many other welfare issues that should be addressed long before they bring the Olympic Games to Mexico City.  I also think the Sport and Nationalism idea by Sage and Eitzen was comparable to the '68 games because it was actually the reverse of what was in the chapter.  Essentially after the massacre there was a lessened sense of nationalism from the people of Mexico and especially students and people that disliked the PRI, which actually grew into more opposed political parties after the massacre and the games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute

As far as the statement regarding sports as being completely devoid of politics, I do not agree nor do i completely disagree.  I think that little league and the lower levels of sports that essentially don't involve the sport as an occupation are the purest, nonpolitical forms of sport.  However, keeping in line with the Olympics I believe that these glorified higher levels of sports revolve around politics.  For example, In a Scholarly Article by Andris Zimelis title Let the Games Begin, in the 1968 Olympic Games were one vote shy of being canceled because of the massacre of hundreds of students in Mexico City that were politically revolting against the Olympic Games.  Although the games were a success, there was still a lot of domestic political unrest in Mexico City because sport.

London Calling: The Globalization of the NFL

The NFL is keen to expand overseas because sports and especially in America are all moving towards this idea of Globalization of the sports world.  Sports nowadays are hugely dependent and focused on money and viewership.  As much as it bothers me to say it, it seems that all the people in the sports world care about is making money.  I think the NFL chose London for several reasons.  One being that Wembley stadium houses enough fans and is a good location geographically for the NFL.  Also, London has a big concentration (from the recent popularity and attendance at the last games) and in terms of money it has been successful for the NFL, which is why some people think it should be a permanent thing.  The previously mentioned aspects are factors that are facilitating the NFL overseas and for good reason.  However, I think social media is also playing a big part in the increased amount of NFL fans and popularity in London.  One London newspaper writes about how Facebook, Twitter, and Google all have offices in Shoreditch and are helping the popularity of American Football.  One blogger in London Jamie Cutteridge and his friend David Dickson started an NFL blog called Any Given Sunday Night that was originally planned to just give people information about the game and what was going on in general.  However, the blog spiraled out of control and is now one of the main sources for fans to find out instantaneous scores, highlights, and updates.  The blog and much social media in and around London has this mentality of "no fan gets left out".  This is the type of snowball effect that has been happening since 2007 when the games started in London.  Some drawbacks to the expansion to London were brought up perfectly in the article by Bill Barnwell in which he brought up everything from travel time, affects on the players from traveling, players not wanting to live abroad, the cost of living abroad, should the teams abroad be allotted more cap room, should players get cost of living pay, players refusing to play for teams abroad, and will they even sell out the stadium eight times a year?  All these points are very valid and I think most of them are too important to try and make adjustments.  And if these adjustments were done then the game would change radically and personally I would be disappointed with Goodell and the NFL.  This dark-side aspect of the game that has been brought up before, is really apparent in the expansion talks.  This league is called the National Football League for a reason, it is an American game in which American teams play each other.  The NFL has really seen ultimate low for me personally with trying to put a team in London.  The reason this is a low is because it is another reminder that the NFL is really all about money.  And not for that love of the game that most of experienced when we were little.  The game is supposed to be pure and in the greatest sense a form of art.  The game now in the NFL is so much about money and expanding and making it so extraordinary and amazing.  However, I think the game itself is both extraordinary and amazing but its hidden behind the shadows of money, expansion, and greed.

How Social Media is Helping the NFL Grow in London