Females in High School Football

Historically, the only female presence seen in high school programs has been through cheerleaders and water girls. When I was in high school, there was one female on the football team. She never started varsity and barely played junior varsity. Since then, females in high school football programs have been more prevalent. Currently, my little brothers have two females on the freshman team who both start, one is even a line’woman’. This is not uncommon around the nation. When schools have a hard time finding a decent kicker, it is not unusual to get one from the women’s soccer team. In the article below, a senior from Michigan is the starting kicker, in addition to the homecoming queen.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Michigan-homecoming-queen-kicks-game-winning-fie?urn=highschool-wp6626

What was more interesting than the article itself was the comments reacting to the article. Although many positive comments were posted, there were also negative comments. One comment said: A lot of things should not integrate, sports is one of them.” It was interesting to see the negative feedback this girl was receiving just for playing football.

Another instance of females in high school football was from a coaching standpoint. The following article speaks about a female who played in a professional women’s football league, then was appointed head football coach at Coolidge high. What I liked about this article was on how it mentioned that this coach focused on well-rounded athletes through: “Organizing an SAT preparation class, implementing a complex conditioning program, and having her players regularly clean the Brightwood school's classrooms and athletic facilities.” This shows she has a focus on academics, athletics and community service. What I questioned about having this in the article was whether the author was inadvertently saying male coaches only focus on the game but a female coach would focus on everything. Does anyone else feel this way after reading this quote?

A different point that struck my attention from the article was the following quote: “Off the field, she has long been quiet, with a voice characterized by her friends and students as ‘squeaky.’ On the field, her personality is atypical of the football coaching archetype; bombast and intimidation.” In my opinion, the author was saying as a coach, she took on predominately male traits such as bombast and intimidation while off the field she maintained typical female traits such as a ‘squeaky’ voice. This shows that to be the head football coach, she needs to be more like a male. Regardless, the article was interesting and showed higher female presence in high school football. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/05/AR2010080506887.html

In the future, I would like to see more high school football programs have a female presence. This does not need to be a male sport. In addition, integrating females into the sport at this age will cause more females into football at older ages, including college. Football is arguably the most popular sport in America and it should feature both genders.

Jennifer Prohoroff / KIN577

Luck Vs. Manning: A Colts Fan Perspective

The debate is on, and it’s being talked about across every news outlet in the country. With the Colts struggling to even get a win, what happens if they get the number one overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft? Assuming he doesn’t return to Stanford again, Andrew Luck is the consensus number one pick. Heck, he was the number one last year if he hadn’t stayed at Stanford, and he only seems to be getting better. There hasn’t been a quarterback prospect this good since….you guessed it, Peyton Manning who happens to be the Colts current quarterback. Even Manning wasn’t a consensus number one overall pick as many “experts” thought Ryan Leaf was the better choice, who the hell is Ryan Leaf!?

Anyway, back to the choice at hand if the Colts do obtain the number one pick. Does it make sense to draft Luck with Manning having just signed a new deal which keeps him signed for four more years after this season? With Manning due to make 80 million over those four years, obviously Luck would be a more attractive economic option. With the new rookie caps on first round picks it’s unlikely Luck could sign for any more than 4 years and around 25 or 30 million. There’s Manning’s health to consider as well, will he be back at a 100 percent next year? He’s getting older and the body takes longer to recover. There is no doubt Manning is still the better quarterback and a proven hall of famer who until this year has shown no sign of slowing down. Luck, no matter how sure a thing the experts say he is, could possibly be a bust, but I doubt it.

My vote is for the best of both worlds. I’d love to keep Manning for 2-3 more years and have Luck sit behind him and learn. It’s practically like creating Frankenstein’s monster giving a talent like Luck the access to Manning’s seemingly limitless football knowledge. If Manning starts to slow down we pull the swithcharoo and in comes Luck, to continue a Colts dynasty for another 15 years. Sounds like a plan to me, at least in my own little world.

-Kyle Hughes
KIN 577

Fran Crippen’s Death: the Consequence of Unethical Practice.

Exactly one year ago last Sunday, six-time US open-water champion Fran Crippen died about 500 yards from the 10-kilometer open water World Cup finish line. Due to the unbearable high temperature of the water, Crippen unobserved because of the lack of surveillance boats, slip beneath the surface. Crippen’s body was not found until two hours after the completion of the race. A report released by FINA concluded that Crippen’s death was caused by drowning and heat exhaustion, and may also have been caused by "cardiac abnormality" and "uncontrolled exercise-induced asthma in unfavorable race environmental conditions." After further investigation of the incident it was concluded that Crippens death could have been prevented.

Crippen’s death was the consequence of ethical negligence, careless organization and inadequate safety measures. Officials aware of the dangerous 86 degree water temperature allowed the race to commence with only one surveillance boat, and no rescue or medical crew. (For those of you who think 86 degrees would be pleasant temperature for a swim, imagine running a marathon in 120 degrees.) The extreme water temperature and unethical decision made by officials to allow the athletes to race was what caused Crippen’s death.

In this weeks reading assignment Eitzen discusses the consequences of unethical practice in sport. Crippen’s death was a tragedy, but it demanded open water swimmers to challenge FINA and its administrators to make changes to rules and set them into place for their safety. But I have to ask why does it the death of a athlete to make sport organizations realize there needs to be changes?

I think in the present sport society, it is now the responsibility of the athlete to start questioning and challenging sport organizations, and demanding sport management to make their safety priority. However, I believe change will only come when the athletes come together and begin to speak out about unethical rules and behaviors in sport.

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/Commentary/28408.asp

-Carri KIN 577

Women Calling the Shots

Where are the female officials in professional sports? Not in the NFL. Not in the MLB. Not in the NHL. There is one in the NBA. It is an uphill battle for women to pursue an officiating profession in elite sports. A breakthrough may be in the works though as the NFL looks to hire a female referee, Sarah Thomas. Progress has been made in creating racial equality among officials in professional sports, but women lag far behind.

Whether male or female, an ESPN article cites three characteristics of outstanding officials – knowledge of the rules, a thick skin, and impartiality. I believe women must have an especially thick skin when trying to penetrate into the professional ranks. They must earn the respect of players, coaches, and fans who will berate them constantly regardless if they make the right or wrong call. If a female official can advance to the NFL, more will follow, although progress has yet to be made in the NBA.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-opinion/6843564/calling-shots-officially-unbalanced

- Jeremy
KIN 577

Give athletes what they want

In this capitalist society that we live in, it is easy to lose focus on what is important in life and become more materialistic. With that being said, we need to understand it and embrace it. The sports industry is not immune to this mentality. We all agree that sports are an entertainment for the fans that pay to experience them and that the main performers are the athletes, then it is only logical that any organization in sports should focus on taking care of the players and making them happy. It is common to see that organizations become more interested in making money, rather than taking care of the game and the athletes that play it. For example last week’s class discussion we talked about college athletes getting exploited by their universities and the NCAA. The main argument was that since these athletes are “student-athletes” they get paid with scholarships. So I ask: is the scholarship money given to athletes equivalent to the money that they make for the university? Probably not, so I think they should be given what they deserve, both more money and better ‘benefits’ such as health insurance and worker’s compensation.

Here is a quick video that pretty much supports my reasoning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCCM6_jsojk

On the same topic, I have to applaud the current NBA lockout, where the players have put their foot down and have asked for a bigger piece of the pie, hey why not? They know fans are paying to see them play, not the owners, right? In the times we live in, we have to understand that if we pay to see athletes play then it is only fair for those athletes to be paid for their performance and for the money they are making for their teams, organizations, and schools.

-M. Herrera

Unlikely World Series

With the final out of Spring Training recorded in late March, 30 teams set their eyes on the season ahead. They all envisioned playing in October and winning the World Series. While all 30 teams believed that they were in fact going to win it all, we all sat back and made our own predictions on who was going to end up on top. The Red Sox looked to be the favorites coming out of the American League after adding Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford in the off season. The Phillies looked scary in the National League as well with a pitching staff comprised of four potential aces which was rounded out by having one of the greatest pitchers in the game in Roy Halladay as the number one starter.
But if I were to tell you that in March that the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers were going to play each other in the World Series, you would think I was crazy. Not even I saw these two teams playing; I had the Tigers and Brewers which just goes to show what I know. These two teams have shown both baseball and the world that money alone will not buy a championship. In relationship to the other 28 teams in the league, the Cardinals have the 11th highest payroll at $105,433,572 and the Rangers at the 13th spot at $92,299,265 and yet they made it to the World Series. These two teams develop players well and do not overpay for high priced names in free agency. Most people can name about 6 or 7 Yankees but fail to name 3 or 4 Cardinals or Rangers. Teams need to look at this and realize that it is not about having the big name free agents taking up half of your payroll every year, but its about having a team made up of homegrown talent that works well together.
List of 2011 Opening Day Payrolls (highlighted teams made playoffs this year)

N.Y. Yankees 201,689,030
Philadelphia 172,976,381
Boston 161,407,476
Los Angeles Angels 138,998,524
Chicago White Sox 129,285,539
Chicago Cubs 125,480,664
New York Mets 120,147,310
San Francisco 118,216,333
Minnesota 112,737,000
Detroit 105,705,232
St. Louis 105,433,572
Los Angeles Dodgers 103,788,990
Texas 92,299,265
Colorado 87,998,071
Atlanta 87,003,192
Seattle 86,424,600
Milwaukee 85,497,333
Baltimore 85,304,038
Cincinnati 76,181,365
Houston 70,694,000
Oakland 66,536,500
Washington 63,681,929
Toronto 62,517,800
Florida 56,944,000
Arizona 53,639,833
Cleveland 49,188,867
Pittsburgh 46,047,000
San Diego 45,869,140
Tampa Bay 41,932,171
Kansas City 36,126,400

Josh Butler KIN 332I
T/TH 12:30-1:45

Handicap or Helping Hand?

Today in one of my classes we had a discussion about the effects of affirmative action on sports. In sports, the majority of the position of powers such as coaches and owners are held by the white males.

Is this fair? Probably not. So we try to enact some affirmative action to try to get females or somebody of color into those spots in an effort to even the playing field. We try to make it fair by getting these people in those positions but is it really fair?

It is a good notion to try to get other people in but many times, the people, who are allowed in because the organization has to hit a certain quota, are not as qualified and sometimes set up to fail. I remember going to my doctor's office one day and he asked me about my studies. He asked what I was studying, and he then recommended me to try to go for Biology at UC Riverside. I then told him about my below average GPA and he laughed and said exactly these words, "I made it into the program with a 2.4 grade point average. Then again, maybe that's because I am Latino."

Now I'm all for balancing the scales but the fact people must save a spot for somebody else, even if they are lesser qualified, just seems unfair. Sports coaches are the same. Women can and should be able to coach but sometimes we let some in just because they are a woman. Until we can find a way fix this issue, is affirmative action really a helping hand or is it a handicap?

Bryant Pham
Kin332 1230TuTh

The Lockout, or something like that...

I love basketball. I really love it. It’s my favorite sport to watch. But I guess I’ll have to live on the memories, cause it’s becoming more and more likely, we won’t have a season. And why? No, seriously…why? Why is there a Lockout? Cause I honestly don’t know. I have been paying attention. But, this is what I hear from the player’s side: “Blah, blah, blah we want more money!” This is what I hear from the owner’s side: “Blah, blah, blah we want to make and keep more money!” Don’t know what their reasons are, but I know who is punished: The Cities - the drop in revenue will significantly impact the business in the surrounding areas of the arenas. And the Fans - supporting your team and/or attending a game can provide a much needed escapism, especially nowadays. But will it affect fans for the long haul? I think so. My friend, a 40yr old waiter from Seattle, has been lukewarm towards the NBA since it moved his beloved Supersonics to Oklahoma City. And this lockout has pushed him over the cliff and into complete apathy. He could care less if a game is ever played again. My coworker, a 23yr coach, said, “I’m done. Nothing NBA related. No gear. No games. Nothing. They don’t care about me so (…and then expletives, but you get it.)”. My 70yr old uncle thinks everyone is acting like spoiled brats. Come to think on if, he’s probably onto something… I know, I know I’m dreaming by wanting an Ego-Based environment to care about something or someone more than themselves. But I really wish someone did… So here we are Day 111 and counting. I hope soon I hear, “Blah, blah, blah Lockout over!”

Kelli

Youth to College Athletes

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/sports/26titleix.html?pagewanted=all

In the readings from this past week, coaches and parents encouraged young players to cheat in rare situations. In the article above, collegiate athletic programs are padding the numbers of women's sports to comply with Title IX. For example, schools have counted one female runner as three female runners. The same athlete may run on cross country, Indoor Track and Field, and outdoor track and field teams, but is counted three separate times. Coaches have also been said to find females and bribe them with items such as running schools and priority class scheduling if they commit to being placed on a roster; no practice attendance required. Teams will also have men practice with the women's team and count them as female athletes. Participants are not required to step foot in a game or event to be considered on the team; and because of this, schools are getting away with this behavior, according to the article. Initially, when reading about children being asked to lie and cheat, I was appalled. After reading this article, it seems that this lying and cheating behavior follows these athletes into their adulthood. A trend which I believe, should be stopped.

Adams

Ground Rules for Discussion

• Be respectful during discussions. Everyone has their own opinion.
• Do not interrupt when someone is talking. Let them finish their statement before a response is given. (Be an active listener.)
• Be open-minded to others thoughts and point of views. It will make for a enlightening discussion.
• Raise hands during discussion. Be mindful of when someone is talking.
• Do not monopolize the conversation. Give others the opportunity to give their feedback and input.
• No side conversation please. It is distracting and disruptive to everyone else.
• Remember this is not a debate. Don't feel in competition to get your point across.

Tatiana Clark

NBA Players in Europe

One of the most interesting topics in the world of basketball at the moment
is the possibility of a NBA Lockout for the whole 2011/2012 season. A bunch
of NBA players are already signing contracts in other countries and others
are currently looking at different options to play basketball in different
countries for the next year. One of the first NBA players who signed a
contract overseas was Deron William with Besiktas Istanbul in Turkey. A
question to ask is what affects an NBA player will have on a league and a club when
he plays for them for only a few months. For example, Dirk Nowitzki has the possibility to sign with a German basketball team
for a few months. The first issue I see is that Nowitzki would only sign a
contract for as long as the lockout is going on and wouldn't really be
involved with the team because he would always be waiting until the lockout
is over and then return to the USA to do what he really desires. A player like Nowitzki would also dominate in every game because the basketball level in Germany is not very high. It would not be fair to the other team since they would not have a chance to stop him and he would easily score 30 points and more every single game.
I spoke to several basketball players and agents in Germany and they share a similar opinion. A positive aspect from Nowitzki playing in Europe would
be that basketball would get a great push and arenas would be sold out and the
team Nowitzki plays for would make a great amount of money through Nowitzki
merchandise products. However, since his commitment would be short, the effects of Nowitski wouldn’t really change anything. Basketball would
fall back into a minimal attraction and people would be disappointed that Nowitski was gone again. I would suggest that if a player signs a contract overseas he has to
sign at least a one year deal and can't just leave when the NBA lockout is
over. The players need to be committed to their new team.

Toby Rochau