Female Athletes trading sides to promote their demise from equality

What I have found interesting now that I have taken the women in sport class is how most women want to be equal to men in every aspect except for the dominate role – which is odd to me. To me it is a complete oxymoron because there is no way for women to become equal to men if women themselves accept and look for the dominant male figure in their personal relationships or elsewhere. That mode of thinking and subsequent actions confirms that mode of thinking does nothing positive for women at all. In fact it reinforces the social construction of the submissive, helpless woman, which is exactly what feminists like me are fighting against.
Also how top female athletes who are powerful, independent, dominant, highly educated, and considered to be intellectuals are selling out their entire sex to please the needs of their own pockets and perverted men. By women posing as sex objects for the sole purpose of male eye candy – pleasing the needs of perverted men – only to diminish their athletic ability in the eyes of society and promotes their primal instincts. By promoting their primal instincts, it depicts these women as wild animals who cannot control their sexual desires because they don’t have the mental capacity that can think past an orgasm. We all know sex sells and makes big bucks, but how long will money satisfy their soul knowing that the only thing that they promote for women all over the world, including themselves, is that women are worth noting more than male personal pleasure. I’m just wondering when female athletes are going to wake up and stand up for themselves and stand for a cause that is invaluable to any monetary denomination. If equality is what they want then female athletes need to stop degrading their entire sex for personal gain, because that is what fuels the patriarchal thought process of society to hold women beneath men. Most men fear dominant women and they will do whatever is needed to keep their superiority over women, and with the help of female athletes who traded sides to aid in male desires and their own pockets, male domination will continue to prosper forever. Media is what molds the minds of the uneducated world to the point of what they see must be true. So if the world sees naked top female athletes posing in provocative positions all the time in the media, and not depicting their ability, performance, and or accomplishments then what is the world to think of women in general????

Jason Montgomery
005032363
KIN 338I
Section: 0771/0768
2:00-3:15 T/R

Rene Portland's Controverseal Rule

For just under 30 years, Rene Portland was the head coach of the women's basketball team at Penn State University. She has brough the program much success with over 20 NCAA tourniment appearances, a Final Four appearance, multiple conference championships, and two conference tournament titles. She is among a short list of women basketball coaches to reach over 600 wins at one school, giving an overall record of 606-236 at Penn State. Although she was praised for making and keeping Penn State women's basketball a winning program, she was the centerpiece of a huge controversy.
She had only three rules for her players to abide by as she was head coach; no drinking, no drugs....and no lesbians. She forbid her players from associating with any lesbians even if they were straight women. As we saw in the film Training Rules, Jennifer Harris accused Rene Portland of kicking her off of the team because Rene believed her to be lesbian. Harris reported that her coach was threatening, intimidating, and hostile toward her just because of this assumption. Rene Portland was fined $10,000 along with other consequences, and was eventually forced to resign from her position at Penn State University. Aslo, in the film Training Rules, there were many other victims to Portland's demeaning attitute toward lesbians. There were a few other girls who suffered discrimination from Rene, or who were threated by her knowing that she had the power to kick them off the team, make transferring hard, and make playing anywhere else nearly impossible. Some girls were so afraid that they hid their sexual orientation and lied that they had boyfriends back home. I'm sure that there has been many other cases on the women's basketball team at Penn State under the reign of Rene Portland that have suffered this unfair behavior. One of the twins that we saw in the film state that Rene Portland stripped all of her love for the game away from her and that she had no desire to play anymore and she thanked Rene 100% for that. It just makes you wonder how many other girls she had threatened or discriminated against or even kicked off the team because of their sexual orientation. Jennifer Harris got kicked off the team because she was just accused of being a lesbian. Jennifer Harris is straight. How many other straight girls did Rene Portland kick off the team because she believed them to be lesbian, or because they were just simply associated with someone who was a lesbian? I appreciate Jennifer Harris being brave enough to stand up to Rene Portland and file a lawsuit. This new must have helped so many of her former victims when they heard the news. If I was one of them I would feel just. It is unreal that Rene Portland got away with doing this to so many girls, ruining their hopes and dreams just because of sexual orientation. And not knowing how many other girls hopes and dreams she sent down the drain makes it ten times worse when you think about the possibilities that may have happened.
Danielle Coffman
KIN 338i Section 06

Syracuse Allegations

Following all the news in the Sandusky-Penn State case, this last week a new sexual molestation accusation emerged in sports. Two former ball boys of the Syracuse Orange basketball team accused current Associate Head Coach Bernie Fine of sexually molesting them over their course working with the team. Two things stuck out at me with this. First, the timing. Why now? Nearly 20 years later before any report or anything. Seems odd that the ball boys are just coming out now after the Penn State scandal. But maybe because of that, they were more comfortable coming out to the public and saying what happened to them. Only they know. The second, was that during the ball boys interview (now a grown middle aged man), he seemed kind of off to me. He was very hesitant with his answers, and maybe he was legitimately nervous and distraught, but he just didn’t seem right to me and seemed to be thinking about his answers way too hard. Overall I am questioning these claims, but will not formulate an opinion until all of the facts are out. On a side note, I do respect Coach Jim Boeheim for standing by his comrade, stating that these allegations are the first he has heard of them and until he sees more evidence he will not abandon his long time friend and co-worker. We will see what he does if and when more facts backing up the ball boys surface.

-Dan Lewis, KIN 577

Proud to be a 49er

I realize that it's late in our class time together, but this is as good a time as any to share this story with the class. As many of you already know, our women's soccer team is in some uncharted territory as they have won not only their first NCAA Tournament match this season, but now have won three in a row to make the Elite Eight. This season has been amazing to watch as a fan, and a sportswriter. I've had fun covering this team since their first game at USC, and things have only gotten better from that opening win.

As they prepare to travel to Duke for their national quarterfinal match, I wanted to share this story with you that one of my editors wrote last year about a current 49er player, Nadia Link. She's not just any 49er player, but the leading scorer on the team, who has tied the school's single-season scoring record with 16 goals this year, and worked out with the US Soccer Women's U23 team a few weeks ago.

http://www.gazettes.com/sports/article_1a9a29de-b5a2-11df-abd9-001cc4c03286.html#.TsrzF2B8ujU

I know it's a bit of self-promotion to share a link (no pun intended) from a place that I've been working for, but I think it's a tremendous story of resiliency, belief, and determination. It reflects some of the themes that we've talked about in class, and it has happened at the school we are all proud to attend. It should hopefully give everyone a bigger reason to root for her and the rest of our 49ers as they play for a trip to the Final Four this Friday.

If you haven't seen her play, there are plenty of highlight videos out there (thanks to GazettesSports.com #shamelessplug) that showcase her skill. I think that she is a great example of an athlete that men can root for and women can relate with on a much different level. Her story is very unique, but it involves something that can only happen in women's athletics, and it sets a certain precedent as far as sticking with people through their hardships.

The best news of all is that our season isn't over yet, and Link will return to Long Beach next year as she is only a junior. I hope you have found this to be an interesting look at one of the best athletes in Long Beach. Good luck to our 49ers! Go Beach!

Tyler Hendrickson

KIN 577

The Sandusky Case

The whole Jerry Sandusky case is becoming increasingly interesting, yet unfortunate. Since news broke that over 10 men have stepped forward claiming that Sandusky sexually molested and raped them when they were young boys, Sandusky has responded. In an interview with Bob Costas, Sandusky stated he was innocent, yet did shower with a few boys and “horse playing” while in there. To say the least, the interview was bizarre, and whoever is representing Sandusky needs to check themselves. Another rumor circulating the internet is that in addition to the sexual acts being accused of Sandusky, is that he was “pimping” out young boys to big time Penn State boosters. If this were true, this would be unbelievably disgusting. But, there has been no facts supporting this, so I will not jump to conclusions. Another piece of information that has surfaced this past week, is that Sandusky’s backyard oversees an elementary school playground. Whether this is coincidence or planned, this adds to the bizarreness of this case. If it were planned, then this man is truly sick and needs help. Another thing to think about is whether or not the creation of the Second Mile Charity was to sustain Sandusky’s sick lust for young boys. Hopefully the creation of the charity started off with good intentions of helping young under privileged boys, and not bad intentions of taking advantage of these young boys. Regardless of what is true and what is not, I am sure much more information will surface over the next couple of weeks.

-Dan Lewis, KIN 577

Human Trafficking vs. Fundraising

I think we all can agree that the act of human trafficking is an awful crime, and in most cases these days goes hand in hand with with sexual deviance (in such cases as prostitution, more specifically the Russian mail order bride business). So when I came across an article in Athletic Business, I was surprised to see an article titled "Fundraising Hoops Coach Accused of Human Trafficking". With a front line like that, I assumed a coach was pimping out children for sexual favors to raise money for the team. I was also pretty surprised that I hadn't yet heard about this on the news, ESPN, or even Yahoo.

Then I read the article... "A police report indicates [Theodore] Berry, 46, repeatedly threatened 16-year Cesar Landin because the boy refused to sell gourmet popcorn for that team." Really? Popcorn? I read further and learned that the boy was from Mexico, and his parents were paying Berry $300 a month for Landin to live with him, attend high school in suburban Dallas and play basketball for the coach's club team. They also told the coach specifically that they did not want their child involved in fundraising, even though they knew that this was an integral part of the club basketball team. So, after 18 days of being forced to sell gourmet popcorn under threats of violence to help raise money for the team, Landin called his parents.

This doesn't seem like a crime worthy of the charge of something as serious as human trafficking (which is a second degree felony and carries a prison sentence of 2-20 years). Assuming the rest of the team also had to sell gourmet popcorn, which the article failed to mention, I don't understand how this falls under the category of trafficking. The purpose of the popcorn sales was to be able to pay for uniforms and travel expenses, none of which go into the coach's pocket. This is unfair to the other players too. If one player doesn't have to raise funds for the team (unless his parents front the money, which the article also doesn't mention), he is using the money the other players had worked for. This just doesn't add up. A youth should never be forced to do something against his will while being threatened with violence, but it's only popcorn...and the effects of this could destroy a man's life.

Our Future!

Over the last week I been thinking about what our future holds in these bleak economic times. The first thing that came to my mind was everyone's favorite book....Outliers. I know everyone has probably heard enough about this book to last them a lifetime but let me touch upon it one last time for old times' sack. So in Outliers the author, Malcolm Gladwwell, stresses that it is not the smartest people who are the most influential, but rather the people who have prepared themselves and are ready for when the next big thing comes along.

Now the world and the job situation is not looking good for the general public, the baby boomers refuse to stop working, Generation X has been waiting for their opportunity to shine the last 20+ years, and Generation Y knows they can do it best and should be able to just enter the job market as directors so they can fix all the problems. The only problem is this it not possible, there are not enough jobs for all these people. Now what should we do as master's candidates preparing to enter into the job market within the next year. I believe we are doing everything right, putting in long tedious hours gaining experience where ever we can in order to prepare ourselves for our opportunity to shine.

Think of this as my words of encouragement to you all, times are tough and it might not be easy working for free, but keep grinding it will all pay out in the end once you get that full-time job because you worked so hard working for free. LT21 we will make our impact just be ready when its your turn!

Michael Hudak

KIN 577

America's real favorite pastime

I am of course referring to FOOTBALL!!!!!! Truly the greatest thing mankind has ever done( antibiotics and toilet paper are up there too) For the purposes of "Sport & U.S. Culture" I will confine the topic to sports and not compare it to the rest of mankind's accomplishments because it might depress some to think that something that was probably invented by a few drunken vikings a thousand years ago is better than anything we've come up with since.

Football is far and away the best sport ever. I can understand why baseball got the distinction of "America's favorite pastime" before football was big in the states, but once football got going I don't know how the sport wasn't disbanded so people could go watch real men play a real sport. Has anyone ever actually sat through a 9 inning game without falling asleep or without the aid of drugs? I once attempted to do so just to say that I have, but failed miserably( by the end I was asleep and on drugs). Baseball is beyond boring. I've seen it take 20 minutes for a batter to either reach base safely or get put out. It actually got me thinking about what could make baseball better: Add a time limit. Four hours of pitchouts and spitting just doesn't cut it. I would propose a half hour time limit, and the games could only be televised when the local news was on and if no re-runs of Seinfeld were currently being aired. If the game was still going on after time expired, both teams would be executed. It would definitely be one Hell of an incentive to keep the game moving.

Hockey and Soccer are basically the same thing to me(because they're basically the same thing): lame. I once got into an argument with a girl at a bar about soccer in which she told me that the reason I didn't like soccer was because I was too Americanized and would get bored with anything where there isn't either scoring or something exciting happening all the time. I can only agree. Who doesn't like scoring and excitement? I don't watch sports to marvel at endurance, I want to see something cool happen. It's called "entertainment" for a reason. She then tried to belittle people who play football by saying that soccer players are smarter. First off, I don't believe that to be true because football players have to memorize and understand vast amounts of material in play books and be able to identify adjustments in seconds by their opponents. In this way, football is almost like a harder version of chess. But let's say for the sake of the argument that soccer players were smarter than football players, who cares? I certainly don't. Once again, I watch to see something exciting, not to see the players take a standardized test. She finished saying she could never get into football because there are too many stoppages. I guess it was lost on her that more happens during the stoppages in football than sometimes happen during entire soccer matches. I haven't bashed hockey because like I said, it's the same thing as soccer. There is one way that I feel they could increase viewership to both soccer and hockey( which I hinted at in my other blog post): replace all humans with monkeys, including the refs. Chimps on ice might actually surpass football as the greatest thing mankind has ever done. Not only would ratings be through the roof, but you wouldn't have to worry about work stoppages because monkeys are stupid and will work for bananas. It would also piss off PETA which would be a huge plus.

Last but not least, there is basketball. Don't get me wrong, basketball is awesome. The only problem with it is that it goes on too long causing apathy among the players for the length of a season. If they could would shorten the season and get rid of all the acting/flopping that goes on in the game, it would definitely rival football. Dunks and alley-oops are definitely pretty sweet. Some people might argue that my points against basketball are only relevant in the pro game, and they are absolutely right, but football is still better because…uhhh….I said so.

I"ve completely lost my train of thought, but trust me, football is the best and you know it.

*My apologies for not including other sports in comparison to football but frankly no other sports are important enough to talk about

Jeff Smith-KIN 577

What's Going On With College Coaches?

First Penn State. Now Syracuse.

In the span of just 3 weeks, major allegations have been made against prominent coaches, in the collegiate world of sports. We first heard of the disheartening scandal involving Penn State's former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky and child sex abuse allegations.

Now we have just recently seen Syracuse placed basketball coach assistant, Bernie Fine, on leave after old allegations resurfaced that he molested two former ballboys. Sandusky and Fine each have denied the accusations against them.

My question is what is going on with college coaches?

This allegations are not the first made about college coaches, but these are definitely the first that have been so severe and publicized.

I feel like people are missing major red flags when hiring these coaches. These type of sex offenders don't develop overnight. So how are these coaches under-detected during the interview process.

I think a lot of universities are compromising quantity over quality. They see the success of these coaches and really think their personal life and preferences will have little effect on the program. Sadly, they are very wrong.

So what do universities do now?

In addition to running background checks on employees and future prospects., the news of the past weeks, will likely encourage athletic directors to visit and revisit personnel files.

From there, I think it would be in the best interest of all parties involved, if children working with these programs or visiting with special groups, are escorted by a adult not affiliated with the programs. This extra precautions in the future will ultimately eliminate the possibility of these lewd acts happening on campus grounds.

-Tatiana C.

KIN 577

Thank you, NFL

For having enough sense to come to an agreement about a labor negotiation this offseason. You all realized that you get paid millions of dollars to play a game that most people would play for free and that you really only have a small window in which you can play this game at the level that allows you to get paid more in a single season( Hell, in some instances a game) than some people will see over the span of their life. Not only did you help yourselves, and the fans who don't have interesting lives so they have to live vicariously live through you( like me), but think of all the people who are not fans that are affected by stoppage of play: local business owners, stadium employees, and not to mention the homeless guy that stands outside the stadium playing the fight song of the home team in order to make a buck, these people can continue to prosper( and play the tuba) because of your willing to negotiate. That is the way business works.

This is why I don't understand the NBA. I know I will never fully understand because I will never be in the position to turn down hundreds of millions of dollars but…wait, what was I saying? I was distracted by the absurdity of turning down that kind of money to play a game that I have worked my entire life to play. I understand that the players would have to be willing to give up a big chunk of what they have had, but they have to realize what they had was ridiculous to begin with. Not only are they hurting themselves by losing a season( I'm just assuming this because the owners have no reason to budge) but they're hurting fans, event employees, local businesses, hobos, and overall the integrity of the game. The average player has a shelf life of what? 4-5 years? And they want to spend one of those years( and who knows, maybe more) arguing over what will amount to a King's Ransom anyway? Do they really think they'll be fine playing overseas for any real stretch of time? Why do they think everyone is trying to come play here? Because they love America so much? News flash: no one outside of America likes Americans. They come here because this is where the money is. The money that these players are throwing away because of their inability to negotiate like their awesome NFL counterparts. I shudder to think what is going to become of this country when football shuts down and everyone will be forced to watch baseball. Perhaps 2012 will truly be the end of days.

P.S I know hockey will still be going on when football shuts down but..c'mon it's hockey!! I'll start watching when they replace the players with chimps. There's nothing like a good game of chimp ice hockey.

Jeff Smith-KIN 577

One, two, twee wittle burddies...

…ya know, the little ones that fly around ones head after taking a massive shot to the head? Cartoons have them anyways, but I fail to recall every having that pleasure.

Growing up playing ice hockey, I took my fair share of bumps and bruises: knocked out teeth (2), broken bones (the left hand middle finger), lingering shoulder injuries, lost blood and tears (I’m not saying from crying :( ), and of course, those fun head injuries known as concussions (2).

Concussions, a medical issue not fully understood, yet now in the full spotlight of professional and amateur sport leaders and players. Just this past summer, “the deaths of NHL enforcers, Wade Belak, Rick Rypien, and Derek Boogaard have raised a lot of questions and concerns.” As the enforcers primary job is to protect the star players through earning penalty-in-minutes (PIMs) with their fists, one has to step back and look at the damage and need for education to parents and coaches is critical.

The NHL is not alone in this. The NFL has had its share of concussion-related deaths recently, with former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson shooting himself after battling chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative disease linked to repeated head trauma.

Not only is this topic important to me as I’ve had multiple concussions, but as a sport leader, these individuals are multi-million dollar investments for a business. As NHL superstar Sidney Crosby is set to return to action tonight after missing nearly a year due to a concussion.

Making the game safer will not reduce the pleasure fans get from the massive hits, it will simply ensure star players are at a reduced risk for traumatic injury, something we can all agree will benefit every sport.

E.L. Storrie

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/02/the-death-of-dave-duerson-more-evidence-of-concussion-dangers-in-football/http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/02/the-death-of-dave-duerson-more-evidence-of-concussion-dangers-in-football/#ixzz1eM1MCfLr
http://leagueoffans.org/2011/09/07/deaths-of-nhl-enforcers-raise-more-questions-about-concussions/
http://www.sportsconcussions.org/ibaseline/

Entitlement in Athletes

Entitlement of athletes is running rampant in our society. From youth all the way to the professional leagues, athletes now have expectations of how they will be treated. From my experiences coaching high school football, many of the teenagers want to be “coddled” and “pampered”, given playing time not earning it. However, it doesn’t get better as they grow up, it only gets worse.

As many people are aware, college athletics is littered with problems. Reggie Bush took money from an agent while at USC and eventually had to give back his Heisman. Star receiver for the Georgia Bulldogs, A.J. Green sold his own game jersey and was forced to sit out games. Memphis Tigers star Derrick Rose didn’t even have to take his own SAT’s to become eligible to play. Yet, the NCAA doesn’t do anything in a quick fashion.

Just like when Cam Newton is accused of “selling himself” to colleges after his brief stint playing Junior College football. The NCAA and Auburn both knew of the allegations but nothing came out about it until he was the Heisman front-runner. Then all of a sudden, it was a big deal.

I’m not here to argue whether Cam Newton was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to Auburn and not Mississippi State. That’s not the issue. The issue is how the culture of sports is no longer about winning and losing for the athletes. Now, it’s the “What can you do for me?” basis. The players are looking for more then just playing time and a college scholarship.

I can’t blame the star athletes for feeling this way either. Auburn University is making millions of dollars off of Cam Newton’s athletic ability, selling merchandise and game tickets, plus new booster support. I can easily see why Newton would want more compensation for his domination of college football.

My problem is with the allegations themselves. The mere fact that someone is hinting at Cam Newton asking for money, means coversations involving money exchanged occurred. The scariest part is that this happens more often then we even hear about. No more are sports about the love of the game. It’s a business now.

Woods’ transgressions were the most extreme and dare I say it most ridiculous. Brett Favre’s were more shocking, since he seemed the most like a family man. Yet, the athletes still think they are entitled to do whatever they want. Tiger Woods did it. Brett Favre is guilty. The proof of entitlement is in the evidence. Woods and Parker had stunning wives, yet still went astray. They felt like they could do whatever they want since they were athletes.

But, while they should be blamed for their actions so too should society. For many years, everyone from fans, coaches, schools, and organizations have put up with questionable actions from athletes just because they are amazing physical specimens. Pittsburg Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant are accused of taking advantage of young women but a year months/ years later nobody even cares or remembers because they have won championships for their respective teams.

This trend doesn’t seem to be changing for the better, in fact only getting worse. Its happened for decades and will continue to get worse, especially with how athletes are being brought up.

When I was in high school, a player on my team had his mom pad his stats to make himself seem better. Everyone knew it was going on yet nothing was done about it. Those inflated stats got him a scholarship to a division 1 school only to be cut.

This did no good for the player or the rest of the team in the long run, but for every bust like him, there is a Lebron James who will make millions of dollars one day. The athletes expect it from a young age and live their lives with the expectation of one thing. Entitlement.

-Jeff Melton KIN 577

Bowl System Needs Fixing

As we begin to wrap up the college football season and the BCS standings are a mess, I look towards the impending bowl season. It is such a mess in its current form. Now I’m not here to argue that we should have a playoff system, because everyone but the school presidents agrees on that. Instead I am here to discuss how many bowls have become pointless.

The simple fact is there are just too many bowls. As good as the folks over at GoDaddy.com are, simply no one outside of the school participating want to watch Middle Tennessee St. vs. Miami (OH). With the 35 current bowls, and it seems like a new one is added every year, it takes away the thrill and elite nature of making it to a bowl game. When the only stipulation to making a bowl game is being over .500 something is wrong. The American public simply doesn’t want to watch this garbage.

Now, some argue that the TV ratings are high enough to keep these bowls going. This can simply be argued that not much other TV programming is on over the holidays. Normal TV sitcoms and drama go to re-runs so disappointing bowl games are all that’s left. But as long as the bowl system, the TV networks, and the schools keep making money on the below par competition, the large number of bowl games will stay.

My biggest argument against the BCS is the national championship game itself. Waiting over 30 days from the final game they competed in is just too long. Now if there was a playoff system, then this amount of time would make sense. But the long layoff is just too much. The NFL only uses two weeks before the Super Bowl and that’s a much bigger game.

The first week of the year, kicking off with the Rose Bowl shouldn’t change. But the other bowls should be played in that successive order, finishing with the championship game within five to seven days. Now, of course, this will never happen because ESPN and the BCS want a long time to build up the “hype” for this game, even though it doesn’t need it. The national championship game can promote itself. It’s a battle of the two best college teams that season, that’s all that needs to be said.

The long layoff actually has begun to hurt the product on the field. The most simple way to fix this is to play the game a week or so earlier. This gives plenty of time for the team to travel and prepare, give the networks time to hype the game, and still put out the best competition possible. Until a playoff system is born, this is all college football fans ask.

- Jeff Melton KIN 577

NFL Players Teaching Negative Values

With professional football players today, it is not uncommon to see social norms revolving around attitudes of entitlement, disrespect toward authority figures, and an overall ‘above the law’ mentality. During the game, there are rules in place to discourage fighting and unsportsmanlike conduct such as taunting. Unfortunately, some players do not mind these rules and are willing to hurt their team while breaking these rules. In tonight’s game featuring the Giants and Eagles, DeSean Jackson was willing to lose a 50-yard catch just for a few seconds of taunting. After his catch, he flipped the ball at the opposing team’s coach and yelled while celebrating. This behavior is not supported or encouraged but officials. As a result, the catch was wiped out. It is amazing that players are willing to do such actions even though they know the repercussions. Although the players and team are penalized, young kids, who are Jackson fans, focus more on the celebration and think it is ok to act like that. The values learned by taunting are that if you make a big play, it is allowable to taunt the other team. Below is a link that shows the footage of the play with commentary. One thing the article points out is that taunting is only a small part of Jackson’s bad behavior. Jackson also teaches fans that it is permissible to skip team meetings, through direct actions.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Video-Jackson-8217-s-big-catch-wiped-out-after;_ylt=Aj_keTlB9Edi3108HMk95XdDubYF?urn=nfl-wp12181

It is amazing that professional football players are willing to behave above the law, especially when they have many fans out there using them as role models. What is even worse is that these athletes are the ones in the spotlight. Young kids do not see the player who visits nursing homes, works with the American Red Cross, or lives life free of drugs and alcohol. Instead, the players featured on ESPN and the news are the ones with DUIs, rape charges, felonies in general, and personal fouls as seen above. When kids see these athletes on TV, these people with their character traits become role models because that is how they think a professional football player should and does act. In the long run this adversely affects the young and people in society because acts of violence and breaking rules are encouraged as long as you are a good athlete.

Jennifer Prohoroff/ KIN 577