Garrett Costlow

At the cheerleading gym that i work at we rent out the gym to a youth popwarner cheerelading team and after 0bserving their practice i notice that compared to my teams that are allstar teams that pay the money to get the proper coaching, the youth team has a lack of disapline and quality coaches. The coaches are just parents of the kids that "think" they know what they are adoing and talking about but they really dont. this Shows how parents try to get to involved with their kids sports that they even try coaching. It also shows hows the diffrence of the parents being able to pay for true coaching and quality coaching. The technique that the youth teams were using wasa very poor. They are just trying to throw their skill with out knowing really how to do it correctly. This is caused because the parent that is coaching them thinks they know what they are talking about but they really dont. Another thing i noticed was that the youth team though that they were the best team arouand when in fact if they were to compete in an allstar competition then they would most likely come in last place. I feel that these athletes need to move over into the allstar teams if they truly like the sport so that they may progress better and to know what they were doing.

Media in Women Sports

I saw on sportscenter last week that the WNBA's Houston Comets have been discontinued as a franchise. I was very surprised to see this. The Houston Comets were one of the eight original franchises in the WNBA and actually won the first four titles. Some of the greatest players have gone through their organization. Nonetheless, no one was willing to buy the organization as a result of the mediocre seasons they have had over the past two years. I thought it was interesting this story barely even made headlines. Even one of the guys on sportscenter joked, "hey you don't think this gets enough coverage?" Although he is joking it is true. This would be a huge story in the NBA. Imagine if a teams like the Lakers or Celtics all of a sudden were discontinued. Just because it is in the WNBA, no one payed to much attention to it. The whole segment about this took less than 30 seconds on sportscenter, yet the whole next hour was about how Plaxico Burress (receiver for the New York Giants) shot himself in the leg. This further demonstrates how under covered women's sports really are
Kory Hoertz
Kin 332i Sec 03

Race Ideologies in College Sports

Race has become a huge factor in profiling athletes as they transition from college to the professional level. Tim Teabow (Quarterback for the Florida Gators) and Tyler Hansborough (Basketball foward for the North Carolina Tarheels) were both national players of the year in their respective sports this past year. Tyler Hansborough won the award last year and came back for his senoir season. He has broken many records at UNC and is about to break the all-time scoring record at the university. He is presumed to break the all time scoring record for the ACC also. Though he has all these invidual records, Hansboroughs game symbolizes hardwork and teamwork.
Although he has proven himself, Hansborough is not expected to be drafted very high or be a great player in the NBA. He puts up the numbers, and his team (UNC) is always ranked at the top of the nation, but he is an American-born white player. The trend in the NBA is that most of the players are black, and the white players come from overseas. He has all the qualities that translate into a solid player, but simply the color of his skin will make general managers reluctant to draft him.
Tim Teabow was the youngest player ever to win the heisman trophy last year and could possibly repeat this year. He has done things as a quarterback that no other player has ever done. He runs for as many touchdowns as he passes and is a complete player. He is durable and plays as hard as anyone in college football. Once again though, he is white. Typically for quarterbacks, it does not hurt ones NFL dreams to be white. But the style he plays is not typical for white quarterbacks. Usually white quarterback stay in the pocket and try to win the game with their arm. Teabow is the anomoly and gets it done every way he can. Again, there is a very good chance he will not go high in the draft even though he has proven himself to be the top player in the country.
Kory Hoertz
2084_LBCMP_KIN_332I_SEC03

Sean Avery

On Tuesday, December 2nd NHL hockey star Sean Avery was suspended indefinitely. Not for rough play or unsportsmanlike conduct, but punished for rude remarks he made regarding an ex-girlfriend. In a personally instigated press conference, he made the statement that, "I'm just going to say one thing. I'm really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada. I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my (former girlfriends). I don't know what that's about, but enjoy the game tonight." In place of (former girlfriends) Avery actually stated, "sloppy seconds." When NHL commissioner Gary Bettmen heard about the comments, he immediately retaliated to keep the Dallas star from playing in Tuesday night's game. Actual length of his punishment was determined on another date and resulted in a six-game suspension. I think that it is really good that Bettmen acted so quickly and efficiently in order to establish that crude comments about women would not be tolerated within the organization. Issues of gender ideology and women being seen as sex objects were raised as Avery's deviant actions took place. Avery is known for his ability to talk "smack" to other players as a way to get inside their heads, but there is a difference between competitive banter and demeaning remarks about women.

-KatieS
KIN 332I S3200

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