Athletes asked of too much

Being an athlete draws a lot of attention to yourself. Especially if you are Michael Jordan or LeBron James. When someone like Michael Jordan becomes famous they expect them to do things they are not educated in. For example many were upset when MJ would not support a candidate for Senate from North Carolina. Why? Why should he have to pick to endorse someone? I thought his job was to play basketball not to speak politics. If Michael Jordan wanted to be involved in politics then he would have gone to school for it. Getting someone involved in something they are not educated in can be hurtful because they may not have a clue on what they should say. If giving money to various charities is not enough than people have high standards and expect WAY tooooo much from athletes. What about going to speak to sick children or help co host an event? Athletes do their fair share of those activities. It only makes sense to have someone involved in something they are educated in. It seems that politicians or organizations are maybe trying to use athletes; “If Michael Jordan is supporting me than so should you” type thing. I do believe sometimes athletes are asked of too much sometimes. And it is always the famous athletes who are getting criticized. They are human too, they have families and life’s to live outside of their sport. There is only so much that someone can do. There are bigger things in life to worry about people.

Jason McElwain (J-MAC)

It stinks that people have to be born with a disability. Why does this happen? Why can’t everyone be equal, but different ? I am blessed to not have any physical or mental disabilities. The story I would like to talk about is about a young man who caught everyone’s attention just three years ago. His name is Jason McElwain or “J- MAC” and he has autism and that enabled him to play sports at a high level. As at very young age J-MAC had trouble interacting with other kids, but was able to develop social skills by his teen years. J-MAC loved basketball, and became the manager of his high school’s team in New York. He accepted the fact that he was unable to compete, but being around the game very helpful to J-MAC. It was not till February 15, 2006, the last home game of the year, that J-MAC got to show off his basketball skills. J-MAC played in the last four minutes of his high school’s division title game. He made a total of six three pointers and one two pointer for a total of 20 points a game.
When I first heard this story I probably watched it ten times on ESPN and then on Youtube. It was just an amazing story with a truly sweet ending. This just shows nothing is impossible, reach for the stars no matter what stands in your way. A few weeks after the game J-MAC met former President George Bush. There is also a book that has been written by J-MAC called The Game of My Life. There is also a movie in the works, which will be produced by Magic Johnson. The time line for the movie is still in the works as contracts and scripts still have to be finalized.

Homecoming Symposium

For the Homecoming Symposium I attended two events, Michael McClave of IMG and Jordan Strack of WTOL/BCSN. I went to see Michael McClave because he works in the golf division at IMG and the golf business is what I am looking to go into. Going to see Jordan Strack was just for fun and to see how he got his career started at such a young age at 24. I will be telling you about my experience with Mr. McClave of IMG.
Michael McClave got his undergrad in Accounting from Bowling Green State University and continued his schooling at BG earning his MBA.M.ED in Sport Administration. During college Mr. McClave was very pro-active in getting experience. He worked for the Cleveland Browns and also interned with IMG. He later was hired by IMG after posting his resume on Monster.com and had an inside connection at IMG.
At IMG his main job is to invoice all clients and their agreements, which means who sponsors his clients. He has to analyze the contracts of his athletes and collected funds from customers and his clients. Mr. McClave is responsible for making payments to his clients, projecting revenues on a quarterly basis, understand tax laws and treaties of other countries and communicate with managers regarding clients and they upcoming obligations.
I learned that IMG was formed with a hand shake with golfer Arnold Palmer and founder Mark McCormack, which started a contract. I also learned that IMG got rid of their football, baseball and hockey divisions. They then picked up college sports to replace those three divisions. Another fact that I learned was IMG represents 1,200 athletes, models and celebrities. I liked the fact that I was able to learn about another job in the golf business and this opens up my horizons. Also he was able to give us advice on finding a job and to dream big. I would have liked to hear more about other jobs at IMG that are in the golf business, but other than that it was a great time.

Should males be able to play on female's team? Should femals be able to play on male's teams?

Okay so lets answer the first part of the question. I do not believe males should be able to play on female teams. Why do I feel that way because men are stronger, bigger and faster than females. There could be the factor that comes into play that “oh he was not trying hard because he was playing against a bunch of females”. Or if a male were to be good at the sport, like field hockey and scored so many goals per game, who would care? No one, because it was against a bunch of girls. When would we know if a male was playing hard? If they did play hard then they would be looked at as “jerks” or needing to grow up. I know if I played on a female’s team or played against them I would go all out! If males want to play on a female team they should only be able to practice.

As for should females be able to play on male teams? Absolutely not. Lets face it females will get hurt and if they do the males will be considers as “jerks” and “***holes”. There are sports for females and males for a reason. There is a reason why females play against females and why males play against males. Does playing against males make females tougher?… Sure ask BGSU Women’s Basketball Coach Curt Miller. There is a male practice squad that plays against the women through out the season during practice. He wants his ladies to out tough and be more physical then his competition. If females want to play on a male team, they should only be able to practice. A female is not proving anything by playing on a males team just like a males playing on a female team. If a female was playing against me I would be playing hard.

Title IX

Title IX in a Nutshell explained how Title IX become a law and the different court cases. We know that the law came about in 1972, but it was not for sports. It was original for education purposes, federal financial aid and allegations of sex discrimination. Not until 1979 did Title IX get geared towards women’s sports. With that the Policy Interpretations was formed which is the yardstick with which to measure the attainment in a sport programs of the goals found in the regulations (Carpenter). There is then a three prong test, one of the tests has to be followed by the university or college in order to be in compliance with Title IX.

Does Title IX make things harder for high school and college Athletic Directors? Yes, but this law makes things far for everyone. It is not far for the men’s basketball to get new jerseys and the women’s team does not. Going back to the high school days and guys and girls basketball; I remember a rule was made to have some of the girl’s games on some Friday nights before the guy’s games to a bigger crowd at the girl’s game. It worked for the most part. It helps when you have a good team because that is an added incentive. There were also times during the winter when I played baseball we had to alternate the gym times with the softball team. One week baseball would go after school and the next softball would go after school. It all worked out.

WWE: Dominant Hegemonic of Masculinity?

The article Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE was designed to look at the messages that are implied about manhood by television professional wrestling with the 118 WWE programs. Going off that, the article is looking at the masculinity and the way in which manhood is accomplished. What was found is that WWE in fact support does support the opinions of manhood (dominant hegemonic of masculinity). The dominant hegemonic of masculinity means violence, aggression, success and achievement (Soulliere, 2006).
I would tend to agree with what was found. If this study was not done the opinions of people for the most part would not change. In other words they would not think that WWE was a non dominant hegemonic masculinity. When I and I am sure other think of WWE and anything to do with that, think of a big strong guys with very little weaknesses. They would still believe dominant hegemonic of masculinity is what makes WWE so powerful and so fun to watch for most people. It is so popular that fans of WWE will pay a fight on paper view television. The fight may cost $50 dollars, but last only about 10 minutes. The other reason a lot of people, manly males would watch WWE is for the women; males, like the fact of two girls fighting in their bras and underwear. As for me I was never a WWE fan, I never got into the whole fake fighting period. There was plenty of other television shows on T.V.

Thursday Auguest 27

Reading Taking Sports Seriously I came across the sentence that says "Michael Jordan is perhaps the most recognized face in the world" (Gorn, Oriard 1995). That sentence is so true because when I was growing up MJ was right in his prime and it was all over the television. I believe the one asset that made Michael an icon besides flying through the air is his shoe and clothing line. When you see a pair of Nike shoes you know if they are "Air Jordan’s" right away with his logo. In another part of this article it talks about the relationship between athletics and culture and their work is ghettoized (Gorn, Oriard 1995). We touched on this in class, about how ghettoized means not being taking seriously. This relates to when someone may ask you your major and you tell them Sport Management... They may say "Really, what can you do with that?"

The other article that we read in class today was The Gender Trap. To be honest I never have thought about this and never knew this went on. I never knew the IOC did sex testing for the Olympics. It is very hard to believe that 1,000 babies are born with an intersex condition (Saner 2008). If I were to have a babe and it was an intersex, I would choose right away to make it either a boy or a girl. I would not let the baby grow and pick which sex it would like to be. This would cause so much conflict during their youth years. Then there is the people who have a sex change. If a person has a sex change, they should never be able to compete in an Olympic even ever. I do not agree with the IOC who says the person has to wait at least 2 years after their operation to be able to compete. Sorry God made you a certain way and that is the way it is!