First off I would like to start by saying I feel that these blogs were very beneficial to us because it let us look back and review what we have talked about in class and take that information and share it with the rest of the class and others. I really enjoyed going through sport management 221 because I really like learning more about sports especially how sport has evolved and changed over the past 100 years. Although I had to get myself out of bed at 9:00 A.M every Tuesday and Thursday it was worth it because I got to learn more about the history and philosophy of sport. Next, what I really enjoyed about the class is the ethical presentations. I feel that these presentations given every time we had class were very interesting and I really liked listening and participating in the discussions after them.
After taking this class and looking back I can honestly say that I have learned a lot and some of the information that was taught can be beneficial. I say this because I am going into the sport management field and by learning about the history of sports I feel that it will give a better perspective to me about the sport I want to work in. I hope I can keep updating this blog in the future when major events happen in sports because I actually do enjoy writing a blog to get my feelings out on different situations. Finally I would like to say I am looking forward to next semester when I will be taking Sport and Gender with Dr. Spencer.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Circus on the ice
The 2009 NHL playoffs are in full gear as the first round just ended. I know a lot of the people in the SM 221 are not followers of hockey but I am sure a lot of you that watch ESPN have heard of the story I am about to talk about. In the first round two top notch teams played each other in a hard-hitting death match that lasted all seven games. The two teams that played were the chippy New York Rangers and the highly talented Washington Capitals. The series started out with New York dominating with their physical play. The series then turned around when super star Alex Ovechkin started lighting the lamp and put his team on the board. This brings me to the ethical issue that occured during this series . During game 5 at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C the New York Rangers were getting rocked 4-0. Coach of the Rangers John Torterella was getting quite upset and he took his anger out on the fans by throwing a water bottle at fans behind the bench. He was suspended by the NHL for one game. Ethically this is horrible, where is the respect. First of you are a coach in the NHL, you need to keep your composure and have respect for the fans. You don't see players throw their stick over the glass after they get hit and the fans cheer. It was reasonable for the NHL to suspend him and I hope he regrets what he did to the fans.
The second ethical issue that occurred during this series occurred during game six in New York. I will tell you that playoff hockey is in my opinion the best sport to watch during the playoffs. The players crank it up a notch and there is so much speed and hitting. There is a player for the Washington capitals by the name of Donald Brashear. Brashear is what hockey analyst call him a goon but this goon can excite a team through a fight or a big hit in which he was trying to accomplish. During game six a player for the New York Rangers was skating down the middle of the ice and passed off the puck. Donald Brashear came out of nowhere and blindsided him knocking him out and breaking a bone in his face. Although the playoffs are full of hitting and intensity the player for the Rangers didn't even had the puck. The NHL suspended Brashear for six games. This is kind of a harsh punishment because the Capitals need Brashear for his high intensity hits because it could cause a sway in the game. But I mean if you watch the video I will post at the end of this you will see that why the NHL suspended him.
Women's sport
Chapter 13 is all about the rise and decline of organized Women's sports. Radar goes through the topics of the athletic girl, early women's basketball, and the arrival of women sport's heroes. The first discussion on the athletic girl talks about the rise of women becoming more involved in athletics, and touches upon such athletes as Babe Didrikson, and Mary Outerbridge who started a ladies club in Staten Island. The next topic talked about is women's basketball and how it really started to increase. There was tournaments for girls that helped increase the popularity of the game for women. Finally, Radar discusses the topic of the women sport's heroes. Some of the women sport heroes listed were Gertrude Ederle, Suzanne Lenglen, Helen Wills, and of course Babe Didrikson.
I feel now women's sports are still on the rise. More and more women are becoming known as great sport athletes. I feel that my little sister has great potential to play professional women's golf, as long as she doesn't get burnt out. She was very close last year of making it to state as a freshman, and she can already beat me (I hate admitting that). Looking at other woman that have cam through the ranks are such athletes as Mia Hamm the soccer player, Annika Sorenstam, Lisa Leslie and many more. Sport for women have also came through the cracks tremendously in the past decade. The WNBA came into effect and was world know, the LPGA is also a very big association of Ladies golfers, and other sports such as soccer and tennis. Some heroes that can be looked at now in women's sport are women such as Annika Sorenstam who in my opinion is the Tiger Woods of women's golf, Lisa Leslie who is the equivalent to the Michael Jordan of women's basketball, and finally Mia Hamm, the greatest female soccer player that United States has seen. I feel that all of these women are heroes to sport because they broke through the barrier of sex and have become great athletes in their sport. Many young girls look up to these athletes and hope to be like them someday.
I feel now women's sports are still on the rise. More and more women are becoming known as great sport athletes. I feel that my little sister has great potential to play professional women's golf, as long as she doesn't get burnt out. She was very close last year of making it to state as a freshman, and she can already beat me (I hate admitting that). Looking at other woman that have cam through the ranks are such athletes as Mia Hamm the soccer player, Annika Sorenstam, Lisa Leslie and many more. Sport for women have also came through the cracks tremendously in the past decade. The WNBA came into effect and was world know, the LPGA is also a very big association of Ladies golfers, and other sports such as soccer and tennis. Some heroes that can be looked at now in women's sport are women such as Annika Sorenstam who in my opinion is the Tiger Woods of women's golf, Lisa Leslie who is the equivalent to the Michael Jordan of women's basketball, and finally Mia Hamm, the greatest female soccer player that United States has seen. I feel that all of these women are heroes to sport because they broke through the barrier of sex and have become great athletes in their sport. Many young girls look up to these athletes and hope to be like them someday.
Keeping tennis a classy sport
In chapter 12 Radar discusses how the sport of tennis goes public. Tennis started off with the English upper classes and rich Americans that played the sport on their prestige estates or in exclusive clubs. Tennis really started to become a public sport when two tennis players hit the scence, Big Bill Tilden and Suzanna Lenglen. Although tennis started becoming more of a public sport I feel that the game of tennis is still a sport that is very classy. If you go to a tennis match such as Wimbeldon, or the U.S Open, everyone is casual attire, and respect the game by being quite during the match until a player scores.
Looking at tennis a few years back there was a female player by the name of Anna Kournikova. Kournikova a very attractive Russian tennis player was in my opinion gave a negative impact on the classiness of the sport of tennis. She was in news tabloids, posed half-nude in magazines along with having dramaic problems with other sport celebreties. I strongly feel that tennis should be kept the way it is without her. Tennis is a very classy sport and by having her doing all of these controvesial acts gives tennis a bad look. I mean yes there are no rules that say she can't show off her body, or have a good time but I feel that it is an ethical issue that she should just play the game, and let the game stay classy. I previously talked about this in another blog about Danica Patrick. I may sound contradicting because there are woman that like to show off their body but in the sport of tennis I think that it just shouldn't fly.
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