This past weekend wide receiver Andre Johnson and cornerback Cortland Finnegan were ejected in the fourth quarter of the Tennessee Titans – Houston Texans game for degenerating into an all-out brawl. Down 17-0, Finnegan appeared to be frustrated and was taking out his aggression on Johnson by hitting him up and underneath the helmet on running plays. Ultimately, these scuffles resulted in Johnson ripping off Finnegan’s helmet and punching him multiple times in the head before the officials could separate the pair. Now that the NFL has had the opportunity to review the incident the ejection has resulted in 25,000 dollar fines for both players but no suspensions. Why is it okay to rip off an opposing player’s helmet and punch him in the head? In any other context, punching somebody in the head would be considered assault and would result in a criminal trial. I do not understand why Roger Goodell, the Commissioner of the NFL, did not suspend either of these players during an era when he is attempting to crack down on personal conduct. Ben Roethlisberger, Brian Cushing, Vincent Jackson, and Santonio Holmes are all major players that have been suspended for multiple games this season for violations ranging from DUI’s and substance abuse to questionable lewd behavior. Assault seems to fit nicely into this spectrum, however, no suspensions.
Jonathan A.
Kin 332I Sec. 3017
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Shin-Soo Choo free of South Korean military obligation
Shin-Soo Choo who is an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians was recently told by the military of South Korea that he no longer has to meet his requirement to serve in the military.In South Korea, every citizen has to serve 2 years in the military before age 30, but Choo, 28 was exempt from this due to him helping his country win the gold medal in the Asian Games.
This relates to what we've been reading because race and social class play an integral role in sports. Choo was willing to accept the countries rules and serve in the military, taking two years off of baseball because of his allegiance to the country of South Korea and not wanting to give up his citizenship. Also, even though Choo was playing baseball internationally and giving the country one of the few star players overseas, that was not enough to exempt him from his military service. It wasn't until he helped his own country win a medal that the decided to waive his obligation. It would be interesting to see what would have happened, had South Korea had lost and received the silver medal in the Asian Games.
Levi L.
kin 332I.S3200
This relates to what we've been reading because race and social class play an integral role in sports. Choo was willing to accept the countries rules and serve in the military, taking two years off of baseball because of his allegiance to the country of South Korea and not wanting to give up his citizenship. Also, even though Choo was playing baseball internationally and giving the country one of the few star players overseas, that was not enough to exempt him from his military service. It wasn't until he helped his own country win a medal that the decided to waive his obligation. It would be interesting to see what would have happened, had South Korea had lost and received the silver medal in the Asian Games.
Levi L.
kin 332I.S3200
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Drunk Man Tackles Little Boy
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Boy-tackled-Cleveland-Browns-New-York-Jets-111710
Recently the New york Jets played the Cleveland Browns in a football game that concluded in a 26-20 Jets victory; however that was not the main news headline from the event. Prior to the conclusion of the game, an eight year old boy who was wearing a New York Jets jersey was visciuocly tackled by a boozed up grown man wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey in the parkinglot. That leads to the question: is sport spectating dangerous these days. Well I feel this incident is redicoulous and the grown man who tackled the young boy should be prosicuted. The father showed a lot of composure during the incident by showing his son fighting is not the answer, instead fleeing was the answer.
Another point that needs to be mentioned is the excessive alcohol assumption during professional sporting events. For example, if the drunken man in this scenario was unable to obtain alcholic beverages in the stadium, the boy may have not gone through this unescessary tramatic event. Realisticly alchol would never be absolete fromn sporting venues because of the excessive advertisments and profits to be made by the different organizations. Yet another interesting thing is what Browns President Mike Holmgren said when he got here was, "home-field advantage and a fan-friendly environment is very important," Gulkis said." With that being said, the man disregarded the incident by saying it was just unfortunate, but that's good for home field advantage. I feel this could be interpreted by the conflict approach in which sports are controlled by the people in power. I feel this is a tragic event and that more should have been done for justice. No real issues were ever brought to light because of this and I feel that is a shame.
Tyler H.
Kin 332 2104 sec 03.
Recently the New york Jets played the Cleveland Browns in a football game that concluded in a 26-20 Jets victory; however that was not the main news headline from the event. Prior to the conclusion of the game, an eight year old boy who was wearing a New York Jets jersey was visciuocly tackled by a boozed up grown man wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey in the parkinglot. That leads to the question: is sport spectating dangerous these days. Well I feel this incident is redicoulous and the grown man who tackled the young boy should be prosicuted. The father showed a lot of composure during the incident by showing his son fighting is not the answer, instead fleeing was the answer.
Another point that needs to be mentioned is the excessive alcohol assumption during professional sporting events. For example, if the drunken man in this scenario was unable to obtain alcholic beverages in the stadium, the boy may have not gone through this unescessary tramatic event. Realisticly alchol would never be absolete fromn sporting venues because of the excessive advertisments and profits to be made by the different organizations. Yet another interesting thing is what Browns President Mike Holmgren said when he got here was, "home-field advantage and a fan-friendly environment is very important," Gulkis said." With that being said, the man disregarded the incident by saying it was just unfortunate, but that's good for home field advantage. I feel this could be interpreted by the conflict approach in which sports are controlled by the people in power. I feel this is a tragic event and that more should have been done for justice. No real issues were ever brought to light because of this and I feel that is a shame.
Tyler H.
Kin 332 2104 sec 03.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Cal-Berkley Cuts 5 Athletic Programs
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/sports/29cal.html?_r=1
The New York Times had published on September 28, 2010 that Cal-Berkley was forced to subsidize 5 sports programs for the upcoming seasons. Men’s baseball, rugby, gymnastics programs have been taken away due to budget cuts. Many can blame the economic recession and because money losing sports have been a burden on Cal-Berkeley. These cuts will be leaving Berkley with only 24 sports programs and affect 163 out of 800 student athletes. To comply with Title XI, woman’s gymnastics and lacrosse programs were also cut. This apparently will save Cal-Berkley 4 million dollars a year, but will highly affect the athletes that lost their scholarships and coaches that lost their coaching jobs. Berkeley offered to help the current athletes with scholarships transfer to new schools with hope of receiving a new scholarship. The school will offer these sports in a club atmosphere, but the students will need to pay if they want to play. Hopefully the sports programs that were affected by the cut will overcome this milestone and attempt to reestablish when funding for Cal sports increase. Although only 14 of 120 university sports programs made money in 2008-09 years, all the athletes in any sport program will tell you that the experience to play at a college level is priceless.
Juan Valencia Kin 332I. CSULB Fall 2010
The New York Times had published on September 28, 2010 that Cal-Berkley was forced to subsidize 5 sports programs for the upcoming seasons. Men’s baseball, rugby, gymnastics programs have been taken away due to budget cuts. Many can blame the economic recession and because money losing sports have been a burden on Cal-Berkeley. These cuts will be leaving Berkley with only 24 sports programs and affect 163 out of 800 student athletes. To comply with Title XI, woman’s gymnastics and lacrosse programs were also cut. This apparently will save Cal-Berkley 4 million dollars a year, but will highly affect the athletes that lost their scholarships and coaches that lost their coaching jobs. Berkeley offered to help the current athletes with scholarships transfer to new schools with hope of receiving a new scholarship. The school will offer these sports in a club atmosphere, but the students will need to pay if they want to play. Hopefully the sports programs that were affected by the cut will overcome this milestone and attempt to reestablish when funding for Cal sports increase. Although only 14 of 120 university sports programs made money in 2008-09 years, all the athletes in any sport program will tell you that the experience to play at a college level is priceless.
Juan Valencia Kin 332I. CSULB Fall 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Should College Athletes be Paid to Play?
This morning on the way to work, via radio, I heard Keyshawn Johnson say, “If we just pay college athletes we will solve all the problems.” This quote came while he was taking a stand in the debate about if Cam Newton accepted $200,000 to play football at Auburn University. Cam Newton allegedly told Mississippi State that he would not sign his commitment letter to the school unless they paid him to play. He later signed with Auburn. In recent news, Josh Luchs had spoken out about his illegal payments to college athletes. Luchs, a former sports agent, claims that he paid every athlete he represented at least $1000 a month to play collegiate sports. While Keyshawn Johnson was playing football at USC, Mr. Luchs approached him and attempted to recruit him. Luchs offered Keyshawn thousands of dollars but he declined to take the money. If Keyshawn Johnson denied money while he was a college athlete, why did he have a sudden change of heart? Mr. Johnson has always believed athletes should be paid for their services. Instead of illegally accepting money from sports agents, Mr. Johnson believes the NCAA, and individual colleges, should pay all of their athletes for their contributions to the college athletic programs. Individual colleges and the NCAA are making millions of dollars off the work of each athlete and the athlete is only given a scholarship to show for it. Colleges can not only sell merchandise with the athletes’ number on it, but they also get major TV and advertising contracts due in large part to the athletes. So I ask you, if the NCAA, Coaches, and athletic directors can earn huge sums of money for what the athletes are accomplishing, shouldn’t the athletes receive some additional funding as well?
Ricky Malott
KIN 332I
Ricky Malott
KIN 332I
Transgender Athlete Kye Allums
Kye Allums is the first transgendered basketball player in NCAA history. He was born a female in Hugo, Minnesota, with the name of Kay-Kay Allums. He still has all the female body parts and is currently playing basketball on George Washington University women’s basketball team. He never felt right when he was a younger girl. His mother would force him to wear dresses and act like all the rest of the girls at school, but he would go behind her back and wear sweats and sweatshirts to school. When he began college he was a female but did not feel as if he belonged a female. At first he attempted to call himself a lesbian but soon did not feel like he fit in with the lesbian crowd. It wasn’t until his mother asked him “Who do you think you are, young lady,” that he realized he was not a lady. Since that point he has corrected everybody who calls him a girl and made it clear to all his teammates and coaches that he was in fact a boy. The team has to deal with potential problems for the upcoming season, including locker room and restroom restrictions. Kye is eligible to play on the women’s basketball team as long as he does not receive any type of hormonal treatment. The NCAA regulations state that “schools are advised to consider the gender classification of student-athletes’ state identification documents, such as driver licenses and voter registration, to determine appropriate participation.” At the end of the 2010-2011 basketball season Kye Allums plans to have sex-reassignment surgery and still play on the women’s basketball team in 2011-2012. His last game in collegiate athletics is in April 2012, after the game he plans to begin hormonal treatment to complete his gender transformation.
Ricky Malott
KIN 332I
Afternote... while researching this topic, I came across the website www.outsports.com. It is a website for gay sports fans and athletes to share stories, discussion, and photos. Very relevant to socio-cultural topics, Check it out.
Ricky Malott
KIN 332I
Afternote... while researching this topic, I came across the website www.outsports.com. It is a website for gay sports fans and athletes to share stories, discussion, and photos. Very relevant to socio-cultural topics, Check it out.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
U.S. National Swimmer's Tragic Death
On Saturday October 23 the swimming world lost a very talented Olympic hopeful, Fran Crippen, 26. I have had the great pleasure of meeting Fran when i began coaching with the Mission Viejo Nadadores 5 years ago.
Fran and other National Open Water swimmers were competing in the Swimming World Cup and were in the United Arab Emirates when he passed away. For the first week following his death, many reports did not have any details surround his death or were unsure how an athlete in his peak would suddenly pass away.
Athletes whom were interviewed were quoted saying that the swimming conditions were too warm and that there were not enough rescue boats. Within USA swimming and FINA (International Swimming Federation) there is a minimum temperature for athletes (which is about 74 degrees F) but not maximum temperature for competition. As a former athlete, I know what it feels like to swim in water that is a bit too warm. You have a hard time breathing and your muscles are a bit too relaxed. I could not imagine possibly swimming in water close to 90 degrees and having to swim a 10k (about 6 miles) especially in the ocean.
The swimming community and friends have really come together to honor and appreciate what Fran has done, as well as are asking for FINA and USA Swimming to find what really happened in the UAE.
Fran's body was brought back this past week and his funeral was held in his home town of Philidelphia. New reports from an autopsy done by USA Swimming showed that Fran passed away from heat exhaustion and not a heart attack, which was reported by the autopsy done by FINA in the UAE.
Fran always had a way of making you feel like what you had to say mattered, regardless of his own opinion. He had this spirit that would lighten the room and would do things that would always make anyone smile or laugh. The last time I say Fran was at Pan Pacifics, an International meet held this past summer in Irvine, CA. I hadnt seen him in almost 3 years but he came up to me and gave me the biggest hug and we were able to chat for a bit before USA swimming officials wisked him away. Just the thought of him always makes me cry and to know how many lives he has touched (especially the little swimmers from Nadadores) is very heart-wrenching. But he will live on though those whom have met him and those you looked up to him.
Fran and other National Open Water swimmers were competing in the Swimming World Cup and were in the United Arab Emirates when he passed away. For the first week following his death, many reports did not have any details surround his death or were unsure how an athlete in his peak would suddenly pass away.
Athletes whom were interviewed were quoted saying that the swimming conditions were too warm and that there were not enough rescue boats. Within USA swimming and FINA (International Swimming Federation) there is a minimum temperature for athletes (which is about 74 degrees F) but not maximum temperature for competition. As a former athlete, I know what it feels like to swim in water that is a bit too warm. You have a hard time breathing and your muscles are a bit too relaxed. I could not imagine possibly swimming in water close to 90 degrees and having to swim a 10k (about 6 miles) especially in the ocean.
The swimming community and friends have really come together to honor and appreciate what Fran has done, as well as are asking for FINA and USA Swimming to find what really happened in the UAE.
Fran's body was brought back this past week and his funeral was held in his home town of Philidelphia. New reports from an autopsy done by USA Swimming showed that Fran passed away from heat exhaustion and not a heart attack, which was reported by the autopsy done by FINA in the UAE.
Fran always had a way of making you feel like what you had to say mattered, regardless of his own opinion. He had this spirit that would lighten the room and would do things that would always make anyone smile or laugh. The last time I say Fran was at Pan Pacifics, an International meet held this past summer in Irvine, CA. I hadnt seen him in almost 3 years but he came up to me and gave me the biggest hug and we were able to chat for a bit before USA swimming officials wisked him away. Just the thought of him always makes me cry and to know how many lives he has touched (especially the little swimmers from Nadadores) is very heart-wrenching. But he will live on though those whom have met him and those you looked up to him.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/champion-us-swimmer-fran-crippen-mystery-death-11961747
Celebrating the Crippen Clan - Swimnetwork.com
Celebrating the Crippen Clan - Swimnetwork.com
Asami Uzawa
Kin 332i Section 2796
Monday, November 1, 2010
NFL laying down the hammer on players
Randy Moss has become one of the lastest players who recently received a fine by the NFL. We recently we found out that players that were called for a helmet to helmet penalty would receive fines. However, the leagues is taking drastic action on players outside of the field as well. A few weeks ago, player formerly known as Chad Johnson was fined for a tweet he made on Twitter outside of the field. The league saw it necessary to take action. Is the NFL getting involved too much with how players behave?
More over, Randy Moss was fined $25,000 for failing to appear in front of the media last week after the game was over. He came out this weekend expressing his disgust with the league and said he would no longer answer questions to the media for the rest of the season unless he conducted the interview himself. "I'll answer my own questions. I'll ask myself the questions and then give y'all the answers." Though it might seem amusing, the man is right. A $25K fine seems too excessive for the reason they're handing it out. Worse things happen and fines of that amount are not handed out. Now one day after this announcement, Randy Moss was released from the Minnesota Vikings. It's hard to tell if Randy is a victim of his own actions or just scapegoat for everything that is wrong with the league right now. I don't know what's happening in the league but it's been really interesting so far. We'll wait to see how it all plays out towards the end of the season.
Enrique Arcos
KIN 332I Sec3
More over, Randy Moss was fined $25,000 for failing to appear in front of the media last week after the game was over. He came out this weekend expressing his disgust with the league and said he would no longer answer questions to the media for the rest of the season unless he conducted the interview himself. "I'll answer my own questions. I'll ask myself the questions and then give y'all the answers." Though it might seem amusing, the man is right. A $25K fine seems too excessive for the reason they're handing it out. Worse things happen and fines of that amount are not handed out. Now one day after this announcement, Randy Moss was released from the Minnesota Vikings. It's hard to tell if Randy is a victim of his own actions or just scapegoat for everything that is wrong with the league right now. I don't know what's happening in the league but it's been really interesting so far. We'll wait to see how it all plays out towards the end of the season.
Enrique Arcos
KIN 332I Sec3
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