UFC and Hegemony

I’m not sure if anyone saw this or not, but this month on the 15th was a UFC PPV event. The headlining match was the Randy Couture versus Brock Lesnar. Couture is a long time veteran of the UFC that kept defying the odds by winning fights against top fighters and championships. Being 45 at his last fight, Lesnar the young opponent received a title fight against Couture after only having 3 frights and losing to one. No Lesnar use to being the WWE heavy weight champion, that’s for pro wrestling. He has absolutely no technique or much skill for that matter as a MMA fighter. The only reason, he received the title fight was because of his big fan base that he brought over from wrestling. Their were many top contenders for this title fight, but Lesnar received it for the revenue the UFC would get from it. They hyped this fight to be the biggest in UFC history, when actually it was far from it. This just shows what people in power can make viewers believe. Its all about hegemony and what the media represents as the biggest thing since “sliced bread.” All they see is ratings and $$$.

Michael Zitt
KIN 332i S3200
TU/TH 12:30-1:45

High School Athletes in Academics

As I watched the gymnastics competition in the 2008 Summer Olympics, I was amazed to see the next Mary Lou Retton successfully and gracefully complete the balance beams. Shawn Johnson is your average 16 year old teenager who maintains a 4.0 GPA at Valley High School. Well what is so special about her? She just so happened to win the all-around medal at the Summer Olympics for the USA team. Shawn Johnson has been in gymnastics at the age of 3 and has been trained with the same coach, Liang Chow, since she was 6. She devotes her time training 25 hours a week instead of 40 in order to do her school work. Her parents and coach support and encourage her that education is to be number one and then gymnastics is number two.
This is an example of how a high school student who can manage and devote their time on education and can sustain that athletic ability in order to accomplish his/her success. In reading Chapter 14 on sports in high school and college, it indicates that a high school student who participates in interscholastic sports generally depends on their academic score by their social class status. With Shawn’s case, her middle-class status show that the support of her parents, her coach, and friends help her through with academics, sport participation in gymnastics and social life as an average teenager.

Rhona Barroquillo (#003001698)
22 November 2008
KIN 332i. S3200
T/TH 1230p-145p

Murder Ball

The movie Murder ball that we watched in class was very interesting because it took you into the lives of these Paralympics competitors. It somewhat touched a little bit on each topic we have discussed in class. As far as race and how the 12 different countries were out to get the Americans. It also touched on how the athletes perceive themselves and how they think they are perceived in society. One athlete said he didn’t want to go outside to get the newspaper because he was worried about what people would think of him. The sexual ability of the athletes was really interesting to hear about because I was really curious about that and I’m assuming most people are. Another thing I found interesting was the Canadian Coach’s son who was an able body person and still chooses not to play sports. It showed how children that are into sports tend to be less social or confident, that the boy would get picked on all the time because he was an outcast. This part of the film touched on children in sports.

Alexander Cartagena