Why the Inequality?

Did you know in each of the past 7 Super Bowls at least one of the two teams playing was led by an African American head coach or general manager? In 2002 the NFL implemented the Rooney Rule, a rule that requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate when they have a coaching vacancy. Since the rule was instituted, the amount of African American coaches went from a total of 2 head coaches and 0 general managers, to an all-time high of 8 head coaches and 5 general managers in 2011. However, despite the success of African American leaders in the past 7 seasons, progress has been halted. This past offseason saw a total of 15 openings combined between head coaches and general managers. All 15 jobs went to white candidates. The question is, what more can be done that will break the unconscious bias toward minority coaching candidates? How much more success is needed to get more minority candidates hired?

Aaron Wheeler

KIN 577 

LT 24

LGBT Acceptance - Personal Views Allowed?

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9315572/adrian-peterson-minnesota-vikings-says-gay-marriage

An article on ESPN.com came out today about Adrian Peterson, last season’s MVP of the NFL and his stance on gay marriage. Peterson was quoted saying, “that’s not something I believe in.” Peterson also went on to say he has gay relatives and he loves and supports them, he just personally does not believe in gay marriage. Some readers have come out strongly against him saying he contradicts himself and he can’t say he loves and supports his gay relatives and also say he doesn’t believe in gay marriage. The problem I have with some of the negative reactions is the idea that you cannot be accepting of people who may do controversial things while still maintaining your personal beliefs. Peterson never said that he doesn’t think gay marriage should be legalized, he just said it’s not something he believes in. I think it is entirely possible to love and support other people and support their freedom of choice without always agreeing with them. Not everyone who doesn’t personally believe in gay marriage is an opponent of gay rights.

Aaron Wheeler

Kin 577

LT 24 

Recently I researched the burnout phase in youth sports and noticed how much the children or young adults don't really have a voice on the matter. We don't reallly hear  the stories from the children until it is too late and they are injured to where they can not return to the sport or until years after their collegiate career is over and they are done with the sport. I know that in collegiate athletics athletes may go to athletic trainers or sport psychologist to discuss what they may be going through and to try and figure out ways to help them through their problems. collegiate athletes are not who I worry about in a situation like this, but I worry about those athletes at the high school level and lower. When parents at times are their coaches at this age or level and the school or club team do not have resources to have a team sport psychologist. who becomes their voice when they are going through the stress or the burnout phase and how do we make this available to high school teams and club teams?

Shanelle S.
KIN 577
LT 24

Student-Athletes compensation

Throughout the class I have done an extensive amount of research on whether student athletes should be paid to play.  Surprising enough I am still on the fence of this debate.  When you see student-athletes at schools like USC living the luxurious lifestyle and potentially getting additional benefits the norm student body wouldn’t receive all while playing a game they love. It’s hard to believe that they should be paid in addition to their scholarship.  I do believe student-athletes are amateurs and shouldn’t be compensated with a pay check.  These athletes aren’t being obligated to go to college and can get to the professional level through other avenues.  On the other hand, I believe the issue relies on the NCAA organization and finding a way to regulate earnings and disbursements.  College coaches should not be making the million dollar incomes they are and I believe if coaches and administrators weren’t being paid these outrageous salaries then that would sub-side some of the debate on whether athletes should be paid.

Ashley B.
Kin 577

Title IX

After reading the Title IX readings, I realized I didn’t understand the guidelines of Title IX.   It was astonishing to me that the NCAA doesn’t regulate compliance of Title IX or has any consequences when institutions don’t comply with the three part test of proportionality, continuing practice, and showing effectively accommodating.  I find it unbelievable how much football institutions spend on their football and basketball program, it is extremely unnecessary for the high profile status with hotel and food accommodations that these athletes are getting especially when men’s programs are being cut.  I don’t understand how the NCAA doesn’t see this as an obvious issue.  It’s hard not to think that the NCAA is a corrupt organization that is just looking to make money and since women’s sports don’t bring in the revenue then they turn their head to situations regarding Title IX but are all over improper student-athlete benefits.

Ashley B

Kin 577

Native American Mascots

I never really put much thought into the topic of Native American mascots. Recently we have seen this topic discussed a lot in the media. With the recent attacks towards the Washington Redskins, owner Daniel Snyder just announced this month,  "We'll never change the name. It's that simple. NEVER — you can use caps." It is sad how insensitive he is toward the use of this racist and derogatory team name. The fact is, people are being offended by these mascots. Just because not all Native Americans feel offended and some even “support” their use, does that make it okay to ignore the feelings of the percent that are hurt and find it an act of racism towards their people? We need to respect others by banning these derogatory names and stop celebrating in such a mocking and offensive way. There has been a decrease in the amount of teams using Native American mascots, but will we ever see the day when we will finally do away with this act of racism?

Danielle Hamilton

KIN 577

LT 24

Should College Athletes be Paid?

After listening to all the debates I found myself thinking about this topic in particular. Is the treatment of these athletes fair? Should the rules be changed to help these athletes receive money they “deserve” for their hard work? Being a student-athlete is a full time job. These athletes are attending school, completing homework assignments, committing hours to practice, traveling for games, and are expected to be happy receiving a scholarship, that is if they even receive one. With their school load and responsibilities to their team, can we expect athletes to have time to work to receive an income to support them? These athletes bring in money to their schools yet see none of the profit. NCAA makes a profit from these athletes. An example is they use the images of these athletes in video games yet give 0% to them from the huge amount of money they generate. Can we really claim that the treatment of these athletes is fair? Should they at least receive a stipend as an athlete?

Danielle Hamilton

KIN 577

LT 24