Justin Choi

I have recently through this class have been converted to the critical theory to look at sports because of the effective way i feel that it solves the many and abundant problems found in sports. It feels as though it was created for the people in terms of creating a better sports environment and overall general sport experience. I hated certain theories such as the functionalist theory because it seems made for no one in particular and it only supported and helped a few people who looked at sports through a certain perspective. I also could not believe that many of the problems in sports is created by this relationship it has with society and the economy. I was even more surprised that these problems were fixable yet nothing was being done because of things like greed or the lack of willingness to sacrifice little for the benefit of the whole. Much of which can be found rooted in the people with power or the top of the social class with the general population losing out. Hopefully by translating critical theory into real life answers, we can use this to better our sports and its relationship to society.

Lionel Messi Breaks Gerd Muller's Goal Scoring Record

Three days ago Lionel Messi broke Gerd Mullers goal scoring record from Muller in 1972 having scored 85 goals in one year playing for Bayern Munich and now, Messi having scored 87 goals with Barcelona in the year of 2012. It is amazing that in 40 years no other player could step up and beat that record until Lionel Messi was born. Messi has become the best player in the world right now and he only continues to rise and rise as he wont stop scoring, only to set the record higher. He of course could have not done any of it without his supporting teammates who place and give him the ball where it needs to be so he can work wonders. I believe he is the best player in the world because he has found the way to connect well enough with his team on the field so he can be as successful as he is. Messi would have not had all the opportunities to score without his teammates specifically Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez being the head of the team. It amazes me how they all combine together to become unstoppable. Shoot for 100 goals in 2012 MESSI!!

Jennifer R.
KIN 332I

Kyle Burgoyne

I have recently changed my views of sports and some life questions from the functionalist perspective to the sociocultural perspective.  The only part about the sociocultural perspective that I don’t like is the fact that it makes social change seem extremely difficult.  This is due to the fact that to want social change people have to have such a unique set of internalized beliefs about the world to actual one; want the same change, and two; be willing to do enough to create such a change.    Those two characteristics just seem so rare in combination.  People might talk and talk and talk about social change and put something on paper about having both those characteristic but until action need to be taken, nothing anyone can say or put on paper really means anything.  All we can hope for is that those people whom are indirectly affected will see how directly they are affected and internalize the belief that they should bring about change too.

Kyle Burgoyne

I was watching the Colbert report and Colbert was interviewing an individual and asked him, “Why every part of our lives has politics involved?”  So I got to think about whether or not I think that was true, since in class were had just been discussing ideas about what parts of our live don’t actually have politics involved in them.  I’ve also been thinking about political and/or social change.  I kind of agree with the idea that there is politics in every part of our lives, and I think that correlates with how everything needs to be judged for “what it means” in society.  When it comes to politic change, I feel like the only way to fight for change it to either fight fire with fire or fight it with water.  Fighting fire with fire simply means using the exact same rules and judgments to fight the political and social system around me on those terms.  Fight fire with water would mean to completely separate myself from the grounds and terms of those political and social systems and fight them on my own terms.  So I can either make everything in my life involved with politics and this social judgment system around me or I take separate every part of my life from politics and simple not care how the system judges me. 

Women in sports

From a young age we are taught that in sports boys are suppose to be better than girls. Genetically boys are bigger, stronger, and faster but in no way does that make them better. Society tells us that boys and girls are not to mix in the sporting world, and if they do it is simply not normal. Women have been fighting for respect from men when it comes to sports for many years, and to this day the battle is still going. Women sports are not as respected as male sports, they don't get nearly as much media press as men, we hardly ever see any female sports being played in primetime, and the ones that are, are normally women's volleyball. The inequality of women sports is a big issue in the sporting world. For example this year in the Olympics the women's basketball team had won 4 consecutive Gold medals going into it. They were picked to win their 5th, making history because no other team men or women had ever done what the women's basketball team had done. The mens team had so much talent, they were blowing out team's by 50 points. Game after game they continued to dominate as well as the women's team. Yet all we heard or saw was the male games being televised and how they had so much to prove from when they only won the bronze in 2008. Even after the women won the Gold we still didn't hear anything about them, and Diana Taurasi had been quoted in the paper saying that women's sports, no matter how successful they were still didn't get the respect they desereved. I have always wondered why this was the way it was. If a women could prove that she could play the game and play it well why wasn't that sport socially popular among men. I will admit that I prefer mens sports over women's sports, because they may be a little more exciting. But I have never thought that mens sports should be more respected over women's sports. If anything women's sports should be more highly respected then mens due to everything women have had to overcome. The film Kick Like A Girl shows perfect examples of how girls can succeed in a "boys world." The girls go from an all girls division to a boys division to get more competition. They prove that they can compete and they succeed. From my personal experiences I can relate to the movie in that I played on an all women's team in a mens basketball league. We were told that we shouldn't play in this league, that girls couldn't compete in a man's sport, that we would get hurt, we would lose every game. I think for us we took it as motivation and we ended up winning 2 consecutive league championships. After the first season the attitude towards us in the league changed. The men respected us more, realized that just because they might have been bigger and stronger didn't mean they had more skill then us. I wish that more people in society would learn to see that women can play sports just as well as any man can, and hope to see more positive change in the progression of women sports in years to come.

-J'Nay Almaguer Hawthorne
Kin 332I 12:30-1:45 PM T-Th

Social Class and Sports

All the time I hear people classify sports based on race. African Americans play basketball, Hispanics play soccer, whites golf/ski/and race (cars, quads, motorbikes). You hear and see it so often that one begins assuming that your race determines what sport you will play. Most teenagers would assume that their fellow black student peers are good at basketball just because the NBA predominantly consist of black athletes. These general assumptions are examples of racial stereotyping and the lack of understanding between social class and sports. As we have learned ones economic resources determines what sport they play and where they play. Sports requires money in order to have an organized team, facility, and equipment. Therefore, social class determines what sports people play not race. Perhaps every sport has a more of cultural influence on a specific race but maybe thats because it was the only sport available at the time rather having to involve with biology. For example, Zirin points out that there was a period in the Bronx where danger lurked the streets and basketball was the only thing keeping kids off the streets along with Hip Hop. Families that are socio-economical disadvantaged cannot afford to place their child in sports that requires great expenses such as skiing and motorcross. Lower class families allow their children to play in sports that are provided in school or in city leagues which normally consist of soccer, baseball, and basketball. Therefore, we see a division of race in sports. Race in a sense shows the standings of individuals in economic terms. Statistics shows that minority groups such as blacks and latinos are considered lower class while white are middle/ upper class. It is important to make the relation between minorities and the lower class. Most minorities are lower class because they are discriminated in our systems. They are discriminated because of their race as every non-white individual is seen as a risk for failure (racial ideologies; blacks and hispanics stereotypes). People say that we are biological given the gift to play certain sports but the truth is society not biology has divided people in sports. It so happens that certain social class determines what sports we play. As we continue to see certain racial groups dominating specific sports in the U.S.,  we are reminded that the gap between the rich and poor still exist. 

Valerie A.

kin 332i Tu/Th 12:30 -1:45

This season the NBA released new guide lines for "anti-flopping" in the game. Flopping can be loosely defined as a player falling over, flailing out, or pretending to be hurt, faking a very physical play, where in real life nothing of that intensity really happened. The reason for a player 'flopping' is to hopefully be able to get the ref to make a foul call in their favor, which results in benefiting his team through gaining possession for his team, or extra free throw shots. The punishments for players who 'flop' are as follows: violation 1 = warning, 2 = $5,000, 3 = $10,000, 4 = $15,000, 5 = $30,000, and 6 or more could lead to suspension. Clearly the NBA believe 'flopping' to be a shameless act that take away from the honor and hard work that comes with playing in the NBA. Vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson quoted "Flops have no place in our game -they either fool referees into calling undeserved fouls or fool fans into thinking the referees missed a foul call". Although I first thought this new rule to be excessive and unnecessary, I now think that it is a good idea because it does take away from the prestige that comes with playing in the NBA. Players playing in this league are talented enough and are getting payed large amounts of money to display their talent at their fullest potential. When players try to fake these calls, it shows that they are not able to utilize their talents alone to try and win games. 'Flopping' to try and win games is unfair to the opposing team who are playing with the game with hard work and honor! This new rule reminds me of the functionalist view and how it values the positive characteristics that can be learned from sports that can be carried over to everyday life to positively contribute to the stability of society. 'Flopping' is not a positive characteristics that can be learned from sports as it works to fake our refs and fans into thinking that something happened when it really didn't. This type of action would not benefit society. Hopefully, creating these fines will influence players to be more aware of their actions and not let their desire to win affect how they carry themselves on the court, and instead have them continually focus their efforts on bettering their skill to positively contribute to the game and positively influence the game for years to come!

Matthew Tong KIN 332