University of Kentucky "Coal Lodge"

Check out Dave Zirin on the Rachel Maddow show talking about corporate sponsors on college campus.

Mark Spitz Promoting Addidas 1972 Olympics

As I was desperately trying to finish Sneaker Wars for my book review I came across something I thought would be worthy of posting. Sneaker Wars is a true story that encompasses the journey of two brothers, Adolf “Adi” and Rudolf Dassler, who created two of the world’s most famous footwear companies, Addidas and Puma. Adi and Rudolf were constantly finding ways to one-up each other in sales and popularity.

The Olympic games gave them the chance to advertise and dress world-class athletes with their shoes. As the 1972 Munich games approached Adi Dassler wanted to get ahead. Both Addidas and Puma had slowly started to promote a line of apparel in addition to their shoe sales. Adi Dassler befriended one of the United States’ best swimmers, Mark Spitz. Being a swimmer meant walking around barefoot. There didn't seem to be any Adi could use Spitz to promote his footwear. After debating the idea of making swimwear (it deemed too complicated at the time) Adi decided to pay Spitz to carry a pair of Addidas shoes up to the awards podium and wave them to the crowd.

For some reason I didn’t believe that Mark Spitz would actually swing a pair of shoes around while receiving his medal. It seemed so out of place, but he did it. The press, coaches, Puma Co. and Addidas Co. went crazy. No one understood what Adi was thinking nor did they understand why Spitz agreed to it.

I wanted to see this for myself so I searched for a re-play on youtube. Eventually I found a short clip of Spitz waving the Addidas shoes on the podium. Watch closely, the shoes fly by the screen really fast about 51 seconds into the clip.

Copy this link into your web browser and check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V59zCvlf42w&feature=PlayList&p=21E0C6373E720A61&

C.Baldridge Kin332I S2

Football, Injury, Dog Fighting

Check out the link here!

UFC bigger than NFL?

I wanted to talk about an interview with Dana White I heard on the radio Rock 1053 to be exact. Dana White is the current President of the UFC organization. He has changed the sport of mixed martial arts and made what was previously seen as a brutal cockfight to amazing athleticism and turned it into a sport. While the major moneymakers on PPV had previously been boxing, MMA is taking over that position. White claimed that boxing is in trouble and is really losing a lot of money. The statement that really stood out to me is when White said that in 10 years the UFC would be the biggest organization internationally, bigger than the NFL. White strongly believes this because he says that MMA has the ability to cross over, every country knows what fighting is and they all like to watch it. He gave the example, saying that the game of Cricket would never become popular in the U.S. He also pointed out the fact that nobody cares about the LA Dodgers in Europe. He claims that UFC will become so dominant over all over sports that it will break international barriers. I find White’s statement very interesting, he actually convinced me. I understand where he is coming from; every culture has their own different types of martial arts or combat of some sort. MMA has already made a lot of money because people want to see a good fight. Unfortunately more blood means more money in our culture.

NBA Players Return to College

Check out the story on the http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/sports/basketball/06nba.html?_r=2.

bigger, Faster, Stronger

While in class we was watching the movie "Bigger, Stronger, Faster". The movie illustrates the con and pros about using anabolic steroids in sports, which given the time that we had to watch the movie we were only got to watch mostly about the pros of using anabolic steroids. It has made me realized that everything that I have learned about anabolic steroids was from the media which brought a point in my head, why didn’t I research on this issue instead of listening to the media? After getting educated on this I've come to realize that it has affected my theory on society. Initially in my theory paper 1, I sided my beliefs with the critical theory, however this movie has made me to change my beliefs in the interactionists theory (Which focuses on the experience rather than jump to the problem). The reason why I'm basing my belief on the interactionist theory is because this movie has reinforced my idea that I can't believe what is around me until I do my own research. Overall, even though we did not get the chance to finish the movie we should all learn that we should thoroughly research an issue before making a blind judgment based on what the media or anything tries to portray it as. - Sophearun D. Kou 332I T, Th 1230-1:45 Sec 03

Injury, Overconformity, and Football

I think I saw one of reasons why American football could not become very world wide sports in this article. I did not know the average playing period of pro-football player. 3 years are very short. Human life can be 70 years or more, but player can play football for 3 years. I can not even graduate university within 3 years, by the way. I also read about Dementia problem of NFL, but I really doubt about the article. I can not believe higher Dementia rate is showed of because of football. In fact, there are even more risk factor of injury in football game. The similar risk factors appear in even high school or college football, so I understand why other countries can not encourage playing football. This is too dangerous to play for most people.
In US, pro-football player can have big money possibly, even if playing period is very short. However in other nations, pro-football league may not guarantee such big money and risk factor is the same. it is very hard to encourage football and it is more efficient way to encourage other sports. Even if American football become more popular in the world, biggest American football country will be US eternally.
Keiji Ino Kin 332 sec 2

WNBA Playoffs

Last week I scheduled to meet some friends at UCLA for dinner, and found traffic to be busier than normal. Upon parking in the lot closest to Pauley Pavilion, I ran into three women dressed from head to toe in LA Sparks gear. I asked if there was a game, and they said that it was not only a game, but the playoffs. Curious, I asked why the game was not being played at Staples Center, where they play their regular season home games. One of them stated that Britney spears had a concert, and then went on to say, "but if it was the Lakers... Well, nevermind I am sure you would not be interested," implying that as a male I would not understand their chagrin. I eagerly asked them to continue, noting that I knew, as well as they did that if the Lakers, or even the Clippers were playing a playoff game that the game would be scheduled around Britney Spears, but REMAIN at Staples. The discussion drew roots in both Critical and Feminist Theories, or Critical Feminist Theory, if you will, since both power relations and issues of gender were central to our discussion. Later, while discussing the issue with my friend (who admittedly got his MBA from Anderson Business School), he basically reinforced Conflict Theory when responding to my point that women in sport are often treated like the unwanted step child. He concurred, pointing out the revenue generated by WNBA events does not match those of the NBA. Discussing this with my students later, they noted that we could tell young girls that they could do anything that a male wants for a career, but perhaps not in the same spaces and with the equal access as males. We found it both interesting and ironic, especially since i was able to discuss theoretical frameworks introduced in higher education to K-12 students, yet they were able to grasp the basics of three of the theories discussed in our Theory I papers.
AR Mateo