Monday, November 22, 2010

UConn Women Setting Records

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=12217174



In class we talked a great deal about Women in sports and how they don’t receive nearly the same amount of privileges and opportunities that men do. We also talked about how Women’s sports don’t receive nearly the same amount of coverage that Men’s do. This however has changed a little bit in the recent weeks. The Women’s UConn Basketball team is coming ever so close to setting a new record for most consecutive wins in college basketball history which is held by UCLA. The UConn women already hold the record in terms of Women’s basketball however if they can get to 89 wins they will surpass all of College Basketball in terms of the streak. While we did talk about how women’s professional sports are hardly covered by the media this has received some great attention from especially ESPN as it is a phenomenal feat. ESPN has been tracking all of their games and following each win in some depth as the streak has gone on and shows how perhaps somewhat the trend of coverage of Women’s sports may be changing. Coakley talks about in his text how women’s sports may not be seen as “real” or as good as men’s sports(262) however should the UConn women pull off this streak and get to 89 wins it would help prove that there is no difference at all between men and women’s sports and that they are both equal. A women’s team breaking a men’s teams record will help a great deal in supporting the fact that women can be just as competitive and just as good as men.

Childress out and Frazier in for the Minnesota Vikings

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5838652



One of the topics we talked about in class we’re how African Americans are underrepresented in most sports especially at positions of high authority. Well today that changed for the Minnesota Vikings, the Vikings fired their head coach Brad Childress and promoted Leslie Frazier. Frazier who has been interviewed for seven head coaching position in his career, and was the Vikings Defensive Coordinator is now their new head coach and he is an African American. While there have been different African American coaches that have won Super Bowls (Mike Tomlin and Tony Dungy) this is still a somewhat new thing to have a Black head coach. There has of course been a recent movement to have owners interview Black candidates for open head coaching positions due to the Rooney rule which states that this must take place, and this will most likely take place with Frazier if he does a good job. While this is still not a ownership position like we mostly talked about in class it is still great for Frazier’s career. In class we discussed how many young African American’s don’t see other African Americans in positions of high status normally this could help change that ever more for young kids and teens who may someday want to be a head coach and are fans of the Vikings. Coakley also talks about how things like this are good to continue to get diversity at the higher positions in sports organizations. (310) Things like Frazier becoming interim head coach only help that even more.

Aisam awarded the Arthur Ashe Award

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7407657-aisam-earned-arthur-ashe-award-for-the-second-time




In class we talked in good detail about Race and Ethnicity in sports and how it has grown over the years. We also talked about how little the general public know about Black History when it comes to sports. Arthur Ashe was the 1st black tennis player to win the grand slam. Ashe’s name is on an award that the world governing body of Men’s Tennis hands out every year titled the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the year award. This year’s winner which was just recently determined is Aisam-ul-Hag. He received this award because he and India’s Rohan Bopanna have been pairing together in tournaments all year spreading the message of peace through tennis throughout the world. Aisam is the only person in the history of the award to win it twice. While this is great for Aisam it further proves the little knowledge of black sports history at least from my point of view. One of the main objective of us talking about Race and Ethnicity in class was to show us how little we know about black sports history and how it too affected the way sports are laid out today. This is only further show with the Arthur Ashe Award and how important it is to the world of Tennis and proves to me how little I did know about black history before we talked about it.

Cam Newton Allegations

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/05/cam-newton-investigation-_n_779367.html


Deviance in sports happens every day whether it’s at the Professional, college, or high school level. In class we talked about some of the different things that take place and that are considered deviant in sports. One of those that we discussed was the illegal recruitment of college athletes by schools. This has become a widely discussed topic concerning Cam Newton the QB of the Auburn Tigers whose father has been accused of receiving money from the school to have his son play football there. While Newton hasn’t actually gotten in any trouble as of yet and he may not it’s a great example of how common this is. Even if Newton’s father didn’t receive any money there are countless times where this takes place and just goes untouched or is unknown by the general public. A prime example is Reggie Bush who recently had the Heisman taken from him because he and his family received money from USC to have the RB play football for them. This also could be very bad for Auburn as well, Coakley talks about how not only athletes are the ones at fault for deviant behavior but all people involved in Sports are. Coakley talks about how sports administrators take and give bribes to help their team in any way possible which is in full affect with this situation. (178) While as I said nothing has been proven and hopefully nothing will come of it; it still shows just how prominent deviance is in sports every day.

T.Ocho show taken to the Next Level

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2010-09-06-terrell-owens-chade-ochocinco-tv-show_N.htm



In class we talked about how athletes are now not only looked at as athletes but also as stars and celebrities. This is extremely true whether liked or not by Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco. The two who are well known for their “diva” like attitudes on the field with specialized celebrations and skill on the field as well have used the media to become TV stars as well. Not only do Owens and Ochocinco have their own shows on VH1 during the offseason they also now have a show on versus the T.Ocho show. These two have used their often time in the spotlight to endorse themselves and garner even more TV time then just on the football fields on Sundays. We talked about how athletes have used social networks like Twitter to communicate with fans and Owens and Ochocinco are two of the most known to do so in the NFL. Coakley too talked about how the media has enabled athletes to become global celebrities and benefit from windfall income related to their popularity.(407) Owens and Ochocinco have taken that to the next level with their show, and prove just how popular sports are today and how the majority of sports fans want to know what is going on all the time.

Glee following the Super Bowl Touchdown or Pick 6 for Fox ?

http://www.collider.com/2010/11/17/glee-super-bowl-episode-michael-jackson-thriller/


In class we talked a lot about the Media and how exactly the media affects sports today, one of the topics we discussed is how the Media uses big sporting events not only to make money off of the event itself but also to promote its own programming. This is clearly true with the Super Bowl, stations often put their most popular and or up and coming shows on right after the Super Bowl to promote interest and to get more viewers. The same can be said this year following Super Bowl 45, Glee one of Fox’s big new shows is set to follow the Super bowl this year on Fox and is going to use the game itself to try to spark even more interest in the series. On top of that the episode is going to have Michael Jackson’s ever popular Thriller song featured in it. Personally I think this is quite a risky move by Fox, while I personally have no problem with the show Glee many of my friends think the show is dumb, and as Coakley talks about in the book TV Stations often use the advertising time to advertise for males, things like beer, life insurance trucks and cars and computers.(411) While I think it could be a success having Glee follow the Super Bowl I think it could also be a big turn off for some who don’t particularly like the show. However I do think that in the end it could be a good idea for Fox.