Jenkins Conclusion

In concluding this semester’s worth of blogging, the topic of mine that generated the most discussion was the “Title IX in Social and Legislative Context” post on February 1, 2012. The question for that post elicited 10 comments from other people, and resulted in a many more opinions than I thought it would. In addition, I enjoyed blogging because it gave me a chance to bounce ideas off of other people through commenting, and it gave me an opportunity to consider different points of views and incorporate them into my own. Specifically, I enjoyed working on our own presentation very much. It taught me about a side of hockey I had not traversed before, in women, and I thought that learning the history of women in hockey was especially intriguing.       

Overall, the most interesting thing I learned in this class was about the “cool pose,” and how black athletes would use sport as a vehicle of expressing themselves in a unique way to overcome social and structural constraints/adversity. Looking back, it is interesting to see the way that trends in society can shape the progress of an underrepresented gender/group/race.  

Lastly, I hope I was able to make the class more enjoyable for all of you!

Have a good summer and best of luck,

Neil Jenkins

DFLO's Final Thought

After keeping a sports blog for the last eight or so months I've came to really enjoy writing in mine, writing comments in others, and reading feedback on my entries. Blogging has become a great way for me to write about my love of sports but also being able to state my opinion about it. Some of the topics and readings from our Sport & Gender class weren't always the most interesting or a topic I would pursue on my own, which is why it opened my eye to these topics. The media doesn’t' publicize many of these topics and after all we are here to learn so I found pretty much all of the topics to be beneficial in some way or form. I really enjoyed the more current topics and articles on famous athletes such as Kobe, LeBron, MJ, and Tiger. I enjoyed being able to blog about things that were taking place in today's sport world such as the NCAA tournament. I believe this class will help me in my career by having a better understanding of women, racism, and sexuality in sports. I will be able to see things from different perspectives and empathize with different people in tough situations. Overall, I really enjoyed taking this class and my group that I was in.
-Derek Flores

Matt Konyesni Conclusion

In this past semester I have experienced a lot and learned more than I thought I would have. I have learned how to view different topics in sports differently. It has opened my mind to new opinions and allows me to relate to different situations. What I found most useful to this class was experiencing everybody's opinions   on different topics. By listening to other people speaking about these touchy topics in class allows me to gain a full understanding of each topic. The reading that was especially interesting was the Michael Jordan article. I did not know how much he actually influence the game and also the sporting world industry. I knew that he was very big but I did not know how much he was worth and how it keeps growing.

Having a blog was sometimes difficult to write about. I did not want to offend people by writing about touchy topics that people may take offense to but I still liked to write about topic in which it allowed me to express my opinion when I could not have done it in class. Finally, I thought pretty much all of the presentations were interesting but I really liked the wrestling one. I liked it so much because it was related to class and we did not talk about it to much so with them presenting the topic it helped me learn more than what I already knew. I am going to take this class and apply it by looking at both sides of topics and opinions. I have enjoyed this class over this past semester and always looked forward to class.

Matt Konyesni

Bounty Hunters

I am writing on a topic that has taken place a few weeks ago, but it makes me mad to this day when I talk about it or when I hear about it on ESPN. The New Orleans Saints organization has taken a hit on its franchise in the past few weeks. I do not condole what they did but I think that the NFL is taking it to far. The fact that they suspended the head coach Sean Payton for the year I can understand but for the one year suspension they have put to many restrictions on the terms. He is not allowed to talk to anybody within the football world. He also has to report everytime he comes into interaction with somebody he might know inside the sports world and he can not even go into college athletic events. I do not know what he will do with having nothing to do. There are simply to many restrictions placed on the coach and I think the NFL took it to far.

The league also banned their defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely for his actions inside the locker room. I heard what he said inside the pregame talk before they played the 49ers. Yes what he said was bad and could be taken offensively but anybody who has played football speeches like that are not suppose to be taken in that form. He was just trying to get his players motivated. When a player is out on the field he does not just think what the coach says and tries to take out one of their legs or rip their heads off. It would not surprise me if every defensive coordinator in the league has a pregame speech like that. It was just that someone recorded it and the NFL does not want a bad image on them even though the leagues lives of these teams and the way they play.

I have shared my opinion, but i want to know what you think about the topic. Do you agree with my thoughts, or disagree?

Bubba-licious

This past Sunday there were two main sporting events that made the weekend a great one. First, the national championship for hockey was on Saturday. The two teams competing to be named national champions was Ferris state and Boston College. I watched the game with my brother while I visited and we both agreed that we thought Boston College had the advantage over Ferris State for the soul fact that some of them had experience in this situation. The outcome is what we expected even though it was a very close game until Boston College took over the game in the later minutes in the third period.

The second reason why this weekend was a great one is due to the Masters and the drama that it entailed on Sunday. In one of my previous blogs I wrote about Tiger winning his first tournament of the year and what it could mean for the Masters and what if would win the Masters what kind of impact that would have. Although, I would have liked to see Tiger win the Masters I don’t think he could have brought as much of excitement as what Bubba Watson did. Coming into the final round being three back at six under he managed to shoot a 68 which was four under for the round which led him into a tie against Louis Oosthuizen. On the sudden death hole they both drove it near the woods with Bubba in the pine straw. The shot that basically won him the major was his second shot on the sudden death hole. He did not have a clear shot at the green at all but he was still able to hook the ball more than 30 yards putting him in the position to sink his birdie putt and becoming the 2012 Masters champion.

This win the past weekend was his fourth career PGA tour win which propelled him into the fourth spot of the world golf rankings. This is great win for the young and promising golfer winning in the state where he played college golf at. 

Matt Konyesni

March Madness

It's been a great few weeks with the exciting play of college basketball known as March Madness. The final four is this weekend and we have matchups between THE Ohio State University vs.Kansas, and also Kentucky vs. Louisville. The storylines are made for the movies in these games. The Ohio State and Kansas is a rematch from earlier this season in which Ohio State lost without its All-American forward Jared Sullinger. Sullinger is playing his best basketball of the season and was named the most outstanding player in the region. Point Guard, Craft won Big Ten defensive player of the year honors and has been on a lock down mission since the tournament began. I'm looking forward to rooting the buckeyes on to a national championship this year. The Kentucky vs. Louisville matchup features two of the best coaches in the country in John Callipari of Kentucky and Rick Pitino of Louisville. Callipari is known for always getting the best incoming freshman and making a run at national titles. Rick Pitino is in his 12th season as the head coach at Louisville and has a national title under his belt already.  I'm picking the Buckeyes and Kentucky for a rematch of last years sweet 16 for the national title game. There is going to be great TV to watch on Saturday night and I'm going to be glued to it.

-Derek Flores

WELCOME BACK TIGER WOODS

Over the weekend arguably the greatest golfer ever, Tiger Woods, ended his two year PGA win less drought by capturing the Arnold Palmer Classic. He did it in dominating fashion also. Tiger showed up for Sunday's final in his usual red attire, but this time he had back his stare. You could tell when watching him Sunday just how focused he was on his game. Tiger was on a mission. A mission to win, a mission to show the world what they have been missing for the last two years. Tiger wanted to prove a point, not only to the fans, but to himself. He needed this win more than ever. Tiger hasn't been the same since his life fell apart during his scandal.
 Everyone knew that his golf game would suffer, they were just didn't know how long. Well, now we all have the answer, 923 days. That was the time in between his PGA tour wins. But does this mean the old Tiger is back? Only time will tell. I'm not even sure if it's possible for the old Tiger to exist anymore. I think we are on the verge of seeing Tiger 2.0. I don't believe he'll ever be feared on the tour like he once was. Other golfers have seen his "mortal" side, and are no long intimidated the way they once were. But with The Masters right around the corner we will be able to see how Tiger reacts to his recent win and the pressure that will be on him to show why he was the number one golfer in the world for so long.

-Derek Flores

Madness

This time of year is truly crazy. In the sports world I do not know how anybody could complain on the headlines. Normally the main topic in March is just the basketball tournament but this year there is the Peyton Manning dilemma in which what team he would decide to play of which could be the rest of his career. I do not think that anybody would expect to pick the Denver Broncos though especially with the media saying that it could be Tennessee or San Francisco. His decision is a very large one especially with Tim Tebow finishing up as their quarterback this past year. Now the question is with Peyton In is Tim out? And if so where do you think he is going to go?

The next thing making this March so crazy is the tournament that makes and breaks dreams in college basketball. The first two rounds have been very exciting and have had a few surprises and upsets that nobody saw coming. The Duke Blue Devils were defeated as a number two seed and several other teams “choking” on teams that should have been an easy win. The great stat that sticks out in my mind is how many teams are left in the tournament that are from the great state of Ohio. Ohio State was expected to make it this far but not so much the other teams especially Ohio University.  Xavier has looked good in the tournament even with a bad ending to the season but have had a strong showing in the tournament. Finally the last two teams from Ohio are Ohio State and Cincinnati which they have to play each other in the sweet 16. I think it would be great for this states basketball reputation if one or more teams move on into the next round.  The real question is will a team advance to the next round and if so which team will it be? I really would like to see anybody advance but I think it would be great if Ohio advanced even if it a long shot for who they are playing. With their win it would be great for their university and for the MAC conference.

I hope all of you enjoy this tournament just as much as I do. 

Matt Konyesni

The Blaming Game

            It is that time of year again when college basketball teams put their heart and soul into making it to March Madness tournament. People from all around the country whether they are huge basketball fans to just the occasional follower of the sport print out their brackets and try to guess who will win the whole thing. The Men’s tournament gains a lot more recognition and attention for its tournament than the ladies do for theirs. When the brackets came out for both genders on both ESPN channels all they talked about was the men’s bracket. About 5 years ago it could have been argued that this was different after Don Imus made his comments about the Rutgers Ladies basketball team. In which he called them by names such as “nappy headed hos.” After Imus said his statements on his show there was a huge outrage against him and his show.

            After making those comments he apologized in which he tried to excuse his comments on the African American society saying that those terms are used in lyrics for rappers in their songs and it is a cultural saying. He also pointed out how black movie directors such as Spike Lee say the same or similar things in his movies. In my opinion this reasoning or excuse on why he said these things is not justified at all. It goes with the old saying my dad would always say to me “if somebody was to jump off a bridge, would you do the same thing?” This can also be implied in the music and film world. By what he is trying to reason is that since rappers talking about shooting people and selling narcotics is alright to do in real life because they said it in a song that was put out to make money? Another example would be in the movies if somebody robbed a store it doesn’t mean it is alright to do that in real life. He was better off on just owning up to what he said instead of him trying to put the blame on somebody else.

            In your opinion do you agree with my statements or do you disagree with what I have said and think he justified his actions. If you think he justified his actions please explain so maybe I could get a better reasoning on this topic.

Matt Konyesni

The Chosen One?

Lebron James was on the cover of Sport Illustrated when he was still in high school. He was drafted number one overall straight out of high school and was dubbed "The chosen one" by the media. Then before playing a single game, signed a multi-million dollar contract with Nike. Lebron is considered by some to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He has won numerous of individual accolades, however now in his ninth season he has not yet won the championship.

Michael Jordan was a guest on the Oprah show and talked about how young athletes today are handed endorsement contracts before even playing a single minute of professional ball. He stated that they are paid on their potential rather than their work. I believe this applied to Lebron. Today he has proved that he is worth the millions that Nike, Gatorade, and McDonalds pays him. However, before he even graduated his mother took out a loan based on his earning potential to buy him a Hummer for his eighteenth birthday. This actually caused an investigation to see whether Lebron was receiving illegal benefits. I don't believe companies should endorse athletes before their career actually starts. Many sponsors have lost money on a "bust." I believe that there are plenty of proven athletes out there to endorse already. I would want to make sure the athlete has a good morality and has proven himself on the field of play. Do you think athletes of high profile should get major endorsements before they even play?


-Derek Flores

The Jordan Effect 2/20

For today's class, we covered a phenomenon called "The Jordan Effect," which rules that "the world's greatest basketball player is also one of its great brands" (Johnson & Harrington, 1998, p. 128). Based on the idea that Jordan was not only the greatest basketball player, but also one of the most profitable brands in history, it was noted in a video included in the lecture that the media knew this as well, and shielded him from any negative publicity as a result. One ensuing question that Dr. Spencer posed to the class asked, "would Jordan have been the 'icon' he was if he had not been protected by the media?"

Personally, my opinion is on the fence in this regard. On the one hand, I think that if reports were released displaying him in a negative light, they would have been blown out of proportion by the media, magnified by critics looking for flaws, and over-exaggerated by some extent of the public. However, on the other hand, if Jordan really was the "teflon athlete" of the century like some claimed, I feel as though a good majority of the public and of basketball fans specifically would be able to overlook the few negatives he had, and celebrate his amazing accomplishments on the court. Therefore, his image may have been reduced, but in the end, his icon-status would still live on.

As a follow-up to this question, NBA Executive VP Rick Welts released a statement which reads, "When Michael (Jordan) retires, he leaves having changed the public's view of what role athletes can play in society" (p. 130). I, for one, agree with Welts; the impact that Jordan had on fans, media, and businesses who watched him play was astronomical. They saw that one player and one player alone had the capability to leave an athletic, personality, and brand impression on a grand scheme as big as the world, and would influence people's behaviors, views, and purchasing decisions today and for most likely the remainder of our lifetimes.

With all that being said, do you think that Jordan would have been the icon he turned out to be if he had not been guarded and/or protected by the media? Also, do you agree or disagree that Michael Jordan defined the role of Black Athletes in our society, and retired having changed the public's view of such?

Until next time,

Neil

P.S. - Even if you don't comment, please be sure to share your opinion on this weeks poll, located on the right-hand side of the blog!

Sport & Disabilities

Hey everyone I hope that everybody is enjoying this lovely valentines day with all of this snow! On that note I would like to talk about a topic that we covered in class on Monday. Our class discussion was about people with disabilities and sports. Dr. Spencer first started class of with an activity which had us write down athletes that we know of that have disabilities. In which I was surprised about the amount of athletes that were brought up and how many of them were females. I do not follow a lot of women's sports but I did recognize some of the people that were up there. Then, she asks a question that really struck me and made me think and that is what I want to write about.

Dr. Spencer asked us if our experiences in sport would differ if we had a disability? at first I thought no not at all but then I really did think about it and made me realize how much tougher it would have been to compete. I played at a high level my whole life which was a challenge in itself and then if I had a Disability it would have been way harder. I am afraid if I was in that situation if I would have even continued playing or gotten discouraged from everybody else who had an advantage over me. My other thought though was if I had a disability would it have made e try even harder just to prove to everyone that it does not matter as long as you try.

In my personal opinion I believe it would have motivated me even more that what i already was and it could have made me a better athlete in a sense and a better person by being able to realize what a great opportunity everybody has to play sports because some people do not get that chance. Another factor that led me to think this was my families support knowing my dad he would not have let a disability stop me he would have done everything possible for me to succeed just like what he did for me when I was growing up. My brother once had what I would consider a disability in which it sidelined him for half a hockey season and a full baseball season. After watching what he went through and what my dad did for him pushing him to get back on his "horse", I know he would have done the same because now even after being sidelined for an entire season my brother is playing college baseball.

My question to the readers is whether or not they agree with me. If you do explain why. Or if you do not, I would like to know your reasoning.

Matt Konyesni

Budget Allocation

On Monday we did an in-class assignment that had to deal with creating a budget for a high school's athletic program. We were to take the money we had and try to best meet each team’s needs. First we decided which teams would hold a fundraiser to supplement the budget. We decided that the best idea would be to have the four teams with the most members to hold the fundraiser. These teams were football, men's and woman's swimming and men's and women's track and field. The teams raised $15,300 and along with the $20,000 donation our total budget was $155,300. The total expenses that the teams needed were $151,350. This left us with $3,950 left over to spend on other items the teams wanted. When we started this activity we decided we did not want to cut any programs and we weren’t going to use conference rank as a deciding factor. We were going to try to be as fair as possible. We ended up giving extra money to the swimming teams and both men's and woman's track teams. These three teams help fundraisers to help raise money for everyone and got some from it.

After completing this assignment we learned that there are ways to be fair and strive for equality when coming up with an athletic budget. Through donations and fundraising events everyone can share the money and continue with their athletic programs. Do you think that teams that were ranked high in their conference should have gotten the extra money to purchase items they wanted? Do you also think that teams such as football and basketball should have gotten more money because they bring in more money?

-Derek Flores

Title IX in Social and Legislative Context 02/01/2012

Hello, class!

For today's in-class discussion, each group chose a question to answer for the reading entitled, "Title IX in Social and Legislative Context" by Carpenter & Acosta (2005), which was in-large-part about the emergence of AIAW, NCAA, and governance in women's sport overall. The question that our group selected was, "In 2004 intercollegiate competition for women is characterized by full seasons, paid coaches, financial aid, and more similar funding for equipment, uniforms, and travel. Find a few negatives among the positives."

To summarize, our collective response to this question was that negatives of intercollegiate competition for women include various areas of athletic and academic pressure, such as pressure on athletes to perform on a (now) national arena, pressure to bring in additional revenue to the school via athletics, the possiblity for diminished/poorer grades due to increased travel, and even newfound pressure on coaches to, as Derek (DFLO) put it, "perform or get fired," bringing into play a new sense of job security. Finally, we felt that although females are deserving of equality in sport, introducing intercollegiate competition for women may impact males by reducing the amount of scholarship funding that could possibly go to deserving male athletes.

With that being said, my question to the rest of my group (and as well to the rest of the class) is: Can you think of any other negatives that may result from intercollegiate competition for women being introduced? Also, as a follow-up, do you think that the positives outweigh the negatives, and for what reasons?

I look forward to reading your comments!

Neil

Carpenter, L.J., & Acosta, R.V. (2005). Title IX in social and legislative context. In Title IX (pp. 93-114). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Females in sports 11/25/12

In class on Monday we continue talking about sex, gender, and sexuality. The class just finished talking about sexuality and then a statement was brought up. According to McDonaugh and Pappano, “We should not sort athletes by what sex they are, but rather by their skill, interest, and ability in relation to the particular sports they wish to play” (Mcdonaugh,2008,p. 10). After Dr. Spencer presented this statement she had a few questions on this statement which included if we agreed or disagreed with the statement and why or why not?

              In my opinion I do not necessarily agree with there statement. In some sports I can see this being possible but in the same respect in others it wouldn’t. This especially in the higher levels of sport because of the strength and speed of the athletes. I don’t think many if any females would be able to reach the level and some of the male athletes and this is not based of just a male’s perspective because I know some females that would agree with me. In non contact sports such as tennis or golf girls would be able to compete because it has been proven but such contact sports such as football or soccer where natural speed and strength is needed to compete day in and day out. I would like to see girls compete at a higher level but I don’t see it happening just due strength and speed and not talent because there are plenty of girls that have a lot of talent and even more than guys.

                My question to whoever reads this is would you agree with my thoughts, and if you do is there anything you would like to add? If you don’t agree please explain your thoughts and maybe it would change my thoughts on this topic.

McDonagh, E., & Pappano, L. (2008). What’s the problem? In Playing with the boys (pp. 1-37). Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press.

Derek Flores Introduction

Hi- I'm Derek Flores and I'm a Junior at Bowling Green State University. I'm keeping this blog for my Sport and Gender class. I'm a sports management major with a specialization in General Business. I'm from Fremont, Ohio which is only about half hour away from Bowling Green. My favorite teams to follow are pretty much any Cleveland professional sports team and The Ohio  State University. My favorite sport is football and I love to go to the Browns games (most of the time). I have season tickets in the dawg pound. My favorite part about going to the games is tailgating for about four to five hours before the game even starts.

I picked current athletes that I would want to see. A woman I would like to see in a major match would be Serena Williams. She has dominated the sport of tennis for ten years and is very powerful. To see her in the finals of a major would be an experience of a lifetime. The male I would like to see right now would be Tim Tebow. His sport is much different than tennis because it takes a whole team to be dominate, but I think watching him work his "magic" would be quite a site.

My first expectation of this class is on myself, I want to earn an A. I have taken two other classes taught by Dr. Spencer and I know that this class should be exciting and full of great conversations. I'm sure the topics we will cover will be interesting and I love when we have very current topics. I don't really have any concerns with this class besides not being able to watch VHS. I'm looking forward to a great semester.

Introduction for Neil Jenkins (SM4250)

Hello, Classmates! My name is Neil Jenkins; I am a junior here at BGSU, majoring in Sport Management with a specialization in General Business and a minor in Food/Nutrition on the side. As a passionate follower of hockey for my entire life, I choose to stay in Sport Management because it will best lead me towards achieving my ultimate career goal of one day becoming the General Manager of an NHL team.

      Originally from Washington, D.C., my father first began to involve me in Capitals hockey at the ripe age of 5, and we have held season tickets with the team ever since (a total of 17 consecutive years). Because of this, I am a Caps fan first and foremost (as diehard as they come, in fact), but constant exposure to the sport throughout my life has also led me to be a general aficionado of hockey overall.

      On the first day of class, the male and female athletes that I chose were Wayne Gretzky (hockey) and either of the Williams sisters (tennis). The reason why I would pay to see these athletes out of any is because at their prime, they were the most dominant players for their respective sport of their generation, and their accomplishments will always be remembered as something special. The enthusiasm, skill, and passion with which they performed were exceptional bar none, and it would be thrilling to watch two of the most gifted players to ever play their sport in action.

      My expectations upon taking this course are to make valid connections between topics discussed by Dr. Spencer, and how they relate to the sport of hockey at both a youth and professional level. I wish to leave this class with information that is meaningful for my ideal career in professional hockey, and more overall knowledge that I can add to my Sport Management repertoire here at BGSU.

     Lastly, I hope to provide interesting information through my blog posts throughout this course, and hope they provide a good read to those who do!

     See you in class,

             Neil Jenkins

             neilj@bgsu.edu

Matt Konyesni - Introduction

Hello, my name is Matt Konyesni. I am currently a junior here at BGSU and so far I have no complaints about the school or the people I have met over the past three years. I am from North Olmsted, Ohio which is around the Cleveland area approximately like 15 minutes away from the city. I am a sport management major and a marketing minor. After this semester I only have one semester left here at school because I am graduating early, which is exciting to go into the real world and start working for a living.

While attending high school I played three varsity sports which consisted of hockey, baseball, and golf. hockey was my favorite sport to play and still is. As a freshman I started on the varsity hockey team in which I was nervous about because of my age. I quickly adjusted to the game and fit right in with the team. I share a school record with my friend who also started as a freshman with most career wins with 98 wins, I also never missed a game due to injury or illness which I am proud of. Hockey was the only sport that i stood out in during high school but it was definitely my favorite to play and to be apart of.

One male and one female athlete I would like to see in person would be Tiger Woods and Hope Solo. The reason why i would like to see Tiger Woods play even with him struggling is because of his confidence in his game where he has gone through so much in his personal life but he is confident he will be the same player as he once was. In my opinion he is going to be back to his dominant way. his swing is off but it should not effect him for to much long because an athlete just doesn't forget everything that they have learned over night. The reason why i would like to see Hope Solo is because of her dominance on the field. She is a very attractive person also so that does not hurt when I watch womens soccer. In my opinion i think that i would still watch her play even if she was not that attractive just because of how good she is.

My goal for this semester is to receive an A in the class so I continue to have a decent GPA within my major. So far i have enjoyed all of the SM classes so I am expecting to enjoy this class also. My concerns for this class are the blogs. I am not really sure what we are suppose to do and when I have to comment on others blogs. for example I am not sure if I have to comment on some one else introduction. Another thing I am concerned is just doing well because I want to finish off college strong.