Diminishing Steroid Use in NCAA?

I was reading an article published in January of this year by the NCAA that was reporting a drop in banned substance abuse amongst college athletes. Apparently in 2009, 20,474 student-athletes were surveyed and less than 4 percent of respondents had used anabolic steroids which is a slight drop from the figures gathered in a 2005 survey. The big question is how honest were the participants.  I don’t believe the student-athletes would be particularly honest with a survey like this.  Even if it is anonymous, student-athletes should realize that if there are a high percentage of participants admitting to having used steroids then the NCAA will enforce more crack-downs to catch the athletes abusing substances.  Therefore this survey did nothing to convince me that student-athletes were using any less than in previous years.  I find this to be just another gimmick by the NCAA to make the public think that student-athletes continue to be positive role models. Now if all the athletes would have gone through testing, then I would agree with the NCAA’s findings.

In the same survey, student-athletes were questioned about narcotics, alcohol and social drug use.  However these results were not what the NCAA was hoping to see. The respondents reporting to have used marijuana in the past 12 months was 1.4% greater than in 2005 and alcohol consumption was 5.6% greater.  The good news was an overwhelming 96.7% majority of participants reported never using narcotics.  My suspicions of dishonesty were reinforced by the narcotic percentages because of the similar figures of narcotic and steroid use. The fact that the use of narcotics and steroid use are about the same low percentage makes me question the participant’s honesty.  In our culture steroids and hard drugs are looked down upon much more than alcohol and pot.  It is much more acceptable to admit to drinking alcohol and smoking pot than it is to railing coke.  That is why it is okay for respondents to report alcohol and pot abuse before ever admitting to hard substance use.

My final thoughts after reading the article were that student-athletes are more open about their alcohol and social drug consumption than about steroid or narcotic use.  Athletes understand that alcohol and marijuana are bad for you and can get you banned from a program, yet they par-take, athletes also know that narcotics and steroids are bad for you and will get you banned, what is stopping them from using those then? If a high percentage of athletes are willing to risk athletic probation with alcohol and pot, why wouldn’t they risk it with harder substances, the consequences are very similar and with steroids at least the risks would be increasing performance.

Bryce Van Boxtel Kin332i 03 TR 12:30-1:45

US Boxing

In the United States, Boxing has always been a poor man's sport. For people around the world, it was an outlet to release stress and to keep one's sanity. However, when the sport becomes professional, boxers take it to another level and have a little bit more riding on it than just the love of the game. There's the political aspect, the financial controversy, the media that's involved, the social status; their reputation. In tonight's fight between Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao lost for the first time in their four fightsin the worst way possible by having a total knock out during the sixth round.
In the United States, sports have been such a great phenomenon that American's throw down large sums of money to be part of that gambling economy. Competition is also in the American's nature and have the mentality to win. So, for a boxing match this huge, the stakes are massively unimaginable. Pacquiao needed to lose properly, instead of fighting for twelve rounds and having the judges decide who wins. I'm glad Marquez won because it took courage for him to want to fight four times to finally have a decent win. In addition to the "American Dream," Marquez wanted to win it bad enough that he was willing to do whatever it took. When the fight was over, he didn't even acknowledge the losing opponent, and just wandered off to the corner of the rim and celebrated his victory.
In a way, it's just probably how the mind works. One may forget to be mindful when they finally win what they have been wanting for so long. For Pacquiao, I hope that with this humility, he becomes a little bit more humble in a sense where his head isn't too large for his body. Sports and the U.S. Culture will always have its bias however, if one remembers the "love of the game" for how its represented, then a game is just a game.

Genisanne De Ocampo ( TTH 2:00-3:15)

Penn State Scandal: Money or Shame?

Through the analysis around media and sports, we have learned the common themes in sports of today such as; hyper masculinity, toughness, body image, and empowerment. Besides these common themes that surround and influence the way we see sports, money also confines and affects our viewpoints. In this Penn State scandal case we see how these common themes AND money come into play. Most of us argue that Penn State officials failed to act on this unethical behavior because millions of dollars were on the line. Others argue that Penn State officials loved the game so much that they did not want to ruin a good reputation, as author Frank Deford stated, (article link posted on side), “...no, it wasn’t because of [Paterno’s] own reputation or because of all the money Penn State Football made that stopped him from acting.... Coach Paterno could not bear to see shame come to his beloved game of football.” The question here is for what reason did they stay quiet about the whole situation when it was first presented to them? The sad part about it is the selfishness of many who sought to defend their own egocentric ways and cared less about those who were being molested on their own school grounds. When moments like these happen you would think that people decide on what is morally right, however, in this case, Penn State officials decided upon avoidance of “shame.”  

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/frank_deford/11/16/Unmanliness-of-Penn-State-scandal/index.html

Nancy Garcia (KIN332i Tu/Thu 12:30)

Invasion of the press

I found an article about Tiger Woods on Sportsillustrated.com and it tells how he crashed his car and out of that came the truth that he had been having a string of affairs with multiple women behind the back of his wife. I think there's two major problems with the reporting of this story. Firstly, that he has been publicly named and shamed because of his fame. It has nothing to do with his golfing career and therefore should not be broadcast. And secondly, his poor wife must have been going through hell as it was without the cameras and media attention that this would have caused her. I can think of many people who have become famous and, as a result, have ended up in rehab because they had no idea how difficult it is to deal with that level of attention. I think it's wrong that famous people have their lives invaded so much. And I think their families probably suffer even more, and they aren't even the ones who chose to live in the spotlight!

I think Tiger behaved appallingly but I am sure he was punished enough with the break up of his marriage. It's nobody else's business what happened between him, those women, and his wife. And the pain would have been great enough without everybody else giving their opinion also. It has no bearing on his career and so that should not be affected because one's career is a separate part of one's life and should remain unaffected by other aspects.

- Sophie David KIN 332I Sec 03
Tuesday & Thursday 12.30 - 1.45pm

Danica Gets Divorced

On the homepage of ESPN.com tonight, one of the promoted headlines on the homepage was that Danica Patrick was getting divorced after seven years of marriage to Paul Hospenthal. What I found the most interesting of this was that Danica Patrick, who is a prominent female athlete, and her marriage breaking up was newsworthy on a sports media outlet. We talked in class about how female athletes are usually portrayed as wives or mothers when they are talked about in the media and this is another example. The first two paragraphs of the article talks about the divorce and then when the couple got married. After that, the rest of the article outlines Danica's career as a race car driver. This article further illustrates how sports media portrays female athletes differently than male athletes, as ESPN.com doesn't promote male athletes' divorces on their homepage, but when it happens to a female athlete like Danica, it's all of sudden newsworthy.

Abbey McNamara
KIN 577

Big Ten New Additions

It was announced yesterday that Rutgers and Maryland would join the Big Ten conference as soon as 2014. In an article on ESPN.com today, it outlined Rutgers football transition in the past 10 years from a basement-dweller in the Big East in 2002 to now being nationally ranked in the top-25 in 2012. The article highlights some of the changes that have occurred on campus over the past 10 years that has helped moved Rutgers in to a football school, one of these things was building a new football stadium which resulting in the cutting of six men's varsity sports. We've talked a lot in class about fiscal irresponsibility and Rutgers seems to be another example of a school spending millions on a new facility by borrowing money and cutting hundreds of athletes in the process.

Also, I'm wondering what the other athletes at Rutgers think of the conference change. It seems as though the dominating reason for the conference switch is because of football. Rutgers can make millions more from the Big Ten network's TV deal, which primarily covers football, and also the conference pay-out, as Big Ten member schools received $24 million last year compared to the Big East schools, who received $6 million. So while switching conferences is good for football, what effect does it have on the other teams now that their competition is located in a different region of the country, does the millions more that Rutgers will make even out with the increased travel costs? Overall, I think that it will be very interesting to see the consequences of the conference realignments on the less popular sports.

The ESPN article can be found at http://espn.go.com/new-york/ncf/story/_/id/8656660/rutgers-scarlet-knights-announce-move-big-ten.

Abbey McNamara
KIN 577

The Hand-Me-Down Gold Medal

The need to reward is ruining sports. Nowadays, it seems as though there are awards given to and recognition bestowed upon every player, to the point that awards are being created so that as many people or teams as possible can win.

Two summers ago, the powers that be at USA Water Polo decided to change the format of the Junior Olympics competition so that ‘more teams and players could participate’ (read: more money could be generated). Now, instead of being a select, 24- to 48-tournament which played out using the double-elimination format, it is a 24- to 48-team tournament. Had that been where the changes stopped it would have been fine. A larger tournament would only bring about more interest in the sport.

But USA Water Polo decided to take it one step further.

For this explanation, lets assume that it is a 48-team tournament. The first move USA Water Polo made was to divide the top 24 into the Championship Tournament (yes – that is its name) and the bottom 24 into the Challenge Tournament.

Ok, this is getting to be a little much.

Next step, after the first two to four games of the tournament, the teams are divided once again. In the Champions, the top 12 teams enter into the Platinum division and the bottom 12 into the Gold. Likewise, the top twelve in the Challenge enter the Silver division and the bottom 12 into the bronze. And now the kicker- the winner OF EACH DIVISION earns a gold medal.

So congratulations, kids, you took 37^th. Here’s your gold medal.

Kelsie H.

The Power of the Dunk!

In the game of basketball, the slam-dunk is one of the most coveted moves. Although it’s only worth 2 points, dunks are usually the highlights of the game and leaves fans in awe. However, why as sports fanatics do we love dunks? Is it because half of us are too short, can’t jump high enough, or aren’t coordinated enough to ever throw down a dunk? Maybe so, but nevertheless in any given NBA basketball game there is usually about 3-5 dunks on average. These dunks often make up Sports Center’s Top 10 Highlights each night. One might concur that the popularity of dunk is what makes the NBA thrive as an absolute must see attraction for fans. However is the frequency and need of the slam-dunk worth jeopardizing the game of Women’s Basketball? University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball coach, Geno Auriemm, has came up with the idea of lowering the rims so that women can now gracefully fly threw the air like their male counterparts and also join in on the slam dunk festivities. Coach Auriemm believes the dunk will save the game of basketball for women, thus bringing greater publicity and sponsorship. I don’t agree! …Personal foul Coach Auriemm!!!

Christian Young
Kins 577

The Mike D'Antoni Era: Beginning of a New Dynasty or the Start of a New Mess?

By Matt Willens

On Tuesday at 7:30pm Mike D'Antoni will sit in one of the most coveted seats in all of sports, and begin to put his imprint on a team that has already won 16 NBA titles.  The Lakers are built to win now with a stacked roster studded with stars at nearly every position.  It has been 2 seasons since the Lakers last won an NBA title and the fan base, ownership, and players are getting restless.  Will D'Antoni be able to deliver this team to the promised land?  In my opinion he will.  D'Antoni is an offensive genius who put together a team in Phoenix that scored at one of the highest rates seen since the 1980's, and he did it with a line-up that had half the talent that the current Lakers' roster has.  The Lakers are better at nearly every position than the D'Antoni coached teams of the mid to late 2000's, and those teams were a few games away from the NBA Finals several times.  The big "issue" with D'Antoni, according to many analysts, is that he is allergic to teaching defense. Yes, his teams have never been defensive juggernauts, however he never had defenders like Metta World Peace and Kobe Bryant on the perimeter, and more importantly he never had an inside presence as dominant as Dwight Howard to protect the rim.  To make this difference a little more tangible the Lakers roster currently boasts 14 appearances on the NBA All-Defensive First Team and 4 Defensive Players of The Year Awards, while D'Antoni was coaching the Suns he had a grand total of one NBA All-Defensive First Team appearance.  Those numbers alone should be enough to calm the pundits down, and give Lakers fans confidence that their team is going to be something special under D'Antoni.  Will they be the best defensive team in the league? No, but they should be near the top.

Big 10/12?

Conference realignment is ruing long time rivalries and one of my teams in finally a casualty. Yesterday the University of Maryland announced that they would be moving to the Big Ten. Growing up one of my favorite sporting events to watch was ACC basketball. Maryland vs. Duke was always an intense rivalry and the electricity of the crowd was unbeatable. The reasoning for the expansion of the Big Ten is gain as much leverage in preparation for their expiring television deal. They want to have a powerful conference in the hopes of gaining as much television revenue as possible in their new deal. Adding an east coast team and one with a tradition of athletic excellence is a huge step in gaining an edge in the negotiations. The problem is for us fans we lose out of over 100 years of rivalries. Sure they can play each other in their non-conference schedule but it will never be the same.

Garrick Chaffee

Blue Jays/Marlins Trade

The Marlins Blue Jays trade that just finalized yesterday November 19^th. It is a bad for baseball and the future of the Marlins, and the economic structure of baseball. A similar trade was completed by the Red Sox and Dodgers in late July, where a massive deal of back loaded contracts were traded away to another team. The difference here is Miami decided to pay for most of Jeffre Loria's new home, Marlins Park. The stadium was publicly financed by amount 70% of the cost or $525 million. Loria, asked for a new stadium because he could not compete in free agency and sign players because their old stadium was a giant football stadium, not a baseball stadium with superb amenities. So last winter he spent millions of dollars to buy former All-Star players. Fast forward a year later, Anibal Sanchez and then Hanley Ramirez along with smaller pieces were traded in season. Now, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio and John Buck are gone. Miami will continue to look like a bad baseball town because its new ballpark will have low attendance numbers and cities will stop approving publicly funded stadiums for professional teams. The danger of being burned by owners is too great and too painful.

JJ

Kin 577

Women in influential roles

 Why are women underrepresented within collegiate athletic departments? I recently have been doing some research and I am interested to know my peers views (especially the men) on why they think women are outnumbered so significantly within the athletic department. Personally, this issue makes me want to be an AD even more, especially when you have mentors like Cindy Masnor (Assistant AD at CSULB), who is extremely respected within her field. Through studies, women are proven to have just as high as high of success rates as men. Is it still considered the boys club; do men still believe women don’t belong in the Athletic Dept. Gender equality is making progress but still has a long way to go when it comes to the generalized stereotypes of women that might be inhibiting women in athletic administrator roles.

Kin 577
AB

Conference Shuffle

Over the past few years the college conferences have seen a massive shake up. Conferences are losing institutions while others are gaining, and teams are continuing to jump conferences. It was just announced that there will be two additional teams joining the Big 10 conference in the coming years. Maryland announced yesterday that it will be joining the Big 10 in 2014, and Rutgers has just announced today that it too will be joining the Big 10. Personally as a fan of the Big 10 I don’t like this move. It is clearly for economic reasons and by having those schools join the Big 10 they can reach a new market in the east coast.

However, this isn't the biggest problem I have with schools jumping to new conferences. I feel like it is too easy for schools to jump conferences and what is there to stop a school from joining a new conference for a few years then deciding they want to join a new conference and leave again. I preferred the old setup where schools stayed in your conference and rivalries were built year in and year out. Also, after this move can you even call it the Big 10 anymore? I felt like it was a stretch to continue to call it the Big 10 after Nebraska joined and put the total members up to 12. Now that the conference will be at 14 members should the name be changed? All I know is that schools need to stop changing conferences because I feel like it is hurting college sports.

Logan Potter

KIN 577

Ed Reed

News came out yesterday that the NFL was going to suspend Ravens safety Ed Reed for one game because of repeated violations of the contact to the head rule.  After seeing the hit made by Reed on Sunday night, I could not disagree more with this suspension.  Yes, Reed did make contact with the receiver's head but there is no way to prove that he did this on purpose.  His job as a defensive player is to make sure the offensive player goes down to the ground.  Ed Reed has always played the game the right way and has never been accused of playing "dirty".  Perhaps a fine would have been more fair than suspending Reed for a full game.  I understand the NFL is placing a greater emphasis on player safety, specifically head injuries.  I appreciate them trying to make an effort to make the game safer but suspending a great player for a seemingly normal hit is ridiculous.  This suspension will not change the way Reed plays the game.  The game of football is inherently violent, so sometimes a defensive player will inadvertently make contact with the offensive player's head.  It is my opinion that Reed did not mean to hit Emmanuel Sanders in the head.  Safety's important, but at what cost to the game of football?

Michael Zweig
KIN 577

Major Headache

I'm sure Roger Goodell is a nice enough guy. He seems like a good guy to grab a beer with and talk about football. However, I find it harder and harder to really enjoy professional football. This is in part to the work of the nice guy himself, Roger Goodell. The rules that he has instituted over the last couple of years regarding illegal hits are ruining the game. When you sign up to play professional football, I understand there is a concern for your safety. I acknowledge that something had to be done to lower the concussion rate due to what has been happening to all of these NFL retirees suffering from the long lasting effects of concussions. I respect that and don't want to sound like I don't care about those players or the current players. 

However, if you are that worried about your health and safety, you should probably find a different career. There is a good chance that you are going to get hurt or sustain a concussion while playing in the NFL. If that is a major concern for you as a player, you need to find something else to do. There is only so much that can be done to protect players. They have the most up to date equipment to keep them safe. There is nothing that we can do to prevent a freak hit that winds up really hurting someone. It's going to happen whether we institute these bogus rules or not. A defender can't come within 5 feet of a quarterback anymore without being whistled for unnecessary roughness. It is getting to be ridiculous. Quarterbacks assume the same risk as every other player on the field. They should not get special treatment. All of these recent rules, fines, and suspensions need to be done away with because they are hurting the product of the game.

D.B

KIN 577

The Great Debate

    I was born into a household of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim fans. My grandfather sat in the bleacher seats at Opening Day 1961, the very first game the California Angels ever played. My mother cried when she attended the 2002 World Series parade at Disneyland, and my step-father ran to the mall to buy an Albert Pujols Angels jersey the moment he could. Despite my lineage, my deep knowledge of baseball has led me to stray from liking one team in particular (besides my rather complicated devotion to the Oakland Athletics), which led me to approach the big debate rather unbiased: Mike Trout or Miguel Cabrera for 2012 AL MVP?                

   The question loomed over the baseball world for weeks leading up to the imminent end of the 2012 season. Despite my mother’s continuous chants of “Trouty, trouty” ringing in the back of my mind, I placed my hypothetical vote for Miguel Cabrera before the World Series even began. The real experts, the players, agreed with my choice. When asked, most players chose Cabrera, most analysts, front office executives and fans chose Trout. And I have to agree with the players, most of whom agree they cringe the moment they see Miggy stand in the dugout “in the hole” waiting to hit. While Trout’s glove allows him to take reign over Cabrera in the field, Cabrera's raw hit tool combined with his veteran presence make him the Most Valuable Player in the American League. In fact, he more than willingly shifted to third base following the Tigers’ offseason addition of Prince Fielder and managed to do it with ease. Perhaps the strongest argument in favor of Cabrera's MVP title: the triple crown. He won the triple crown this year, a feat last reached by Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. The BBWAA tends to vote in favor of players on playoff teams, which, in my opinion, reflects the name of the award: Most Valuable Player. While I do believe Mike Trout may be the best player in Major League Baseball (and will probably hold that title for many years), Miguel Cabrera was the Most Valuable Player in the American League this year. Despite a poor performance in the postseason, Cabrera helped lead the Tigers to a 2012 World Series and American League title. While Trout boosted the Angels overall level of play once he received his call to the big leagues on April 27, the Angels once again found themselves packing the clubhouse following game 162.

   Perhaps 2013 will find Trout leading the Angels to a World Series run, but for right now, I'll let Miggy hold on to his triple crown, his American League pennant and his MVP title.

   

Billy

Billy Beane has once again reinvented himself. Ten years ago people thought that baseball had been figured out. Stat geeks became infatuated with statistics such as on base percentage and WHIP. This year the Oakland Athletics won with a lineup that lead the majors in strikeouts and collected very few walks. Billy proved once again that there is no right or wrong way to build a baseball team. The question I have is success from a small market team such as the Oakland Athletics really good for baseball? I think if we take a deeper look it is not. Bud Selig has defended MLBs revenue sharing for years and has pointed to the success of small market teams such as the A’s as to how baseball has competitive balance. The problem is Bud is wrong. There are plenty of teams in baseball who are at a huge competitive disadvantage due to the fact that they are unable to spend as much money. The NFL has become the most popular game in the United States because every team is on a level playing field when it comes to money. The bottom line is teams like the A’s are prolonging the road to a salary cap in baseball by having success with a small payroll.

Garrick

South Beach, Toronto?

Dear Canada,

We're very sorry about the (imminent) loss of your 2012-2013 NHL season. As a gift of our condolences, please accept the Miami Marlins.

Regards,

Major League Baseball.

Today, Commissioner Bud Selig officially approved the monster trade that sent all-stars Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle along with two other everyday players to the Blue Jays in exchange for well, nothing. The Marlins did receive catcher Jeff Mathis and fringe prospect Jake Marisnick among five other minor leaguers, but it's safe to say the Marlins received near to nothing in exchange for the remains of their highly-anticipated yet sub-par 2012 team. 

The players traded by the Marlins have a combined guaranteed salary of $163.75 through 2018. 

Last Tuesday following the announcement of the Blue-Jays Marlins trade, all-star centerfielder Giancarlo Stanton showed his disdain over the fire sale through twitter, tweeting: "Alright, I'm pissed off!!! Plain & simple."

But can you blame him?

Following a grim first half after a blockbuster off-season, the Marlins traded all-star Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Heath Bell and Omar Infante much to fans and players dismay.

Personally, I can't help look at the organization as a, well, a huge joke. After what appeared to be the start of a very bright Miami Marlins era last winter, Owner Jeffrey Loira and the Marlins organization have put the team in the center of the fire.

Professional baseball is a business, a form of entertainment, but at what point does the business turn grim? As a baseball fan, I love excitement and change in the game, but I can't support any organization blowing up a team.

It's safe to say, I'll be purchasing a ticket to Rogers Centre before I even begin to plan a trip to Marlins Park.

CH

Kin 577

Leach the leech

Mike Leach, head football coach at Washington State University, can’t seem to stay out of the media. But it’s not good news for Leach; he was fired from Texas Tech because of locking a player in a shed who was suffering from concussion symptoms. One would think he would learn his lesson, but that’s not the case. This time WSU’s best player, Marquess Wilson, quit the team due to abuse from Leach and his coaching staff.

His reputation is for being an offensive wizard who can design an air attack that puts up astonishing numbers. The problem with Leach is that he is rough around the edges; he gets into it with his players. I have a hard time believing people would want to play for this guy after reading what his players have to say about him. It’s not like it’s a player who never plays that is complaining, this is the star player of the team! Even in remote places like Lubbock and up in the Palouse, Leach finds away to get in the media. 

SL

KIN 577

Glad he is out of here!

As a big Lakers fan all I can do is be thankful that the front office was able to ship Andrew Bynum, his bad knees, and terrible attitude out of LA. For years, we would sit and watch Bynum struggle with knee problems. That was bad, but his attitude was awful, he was always whining and moaning and depending on the opponent he would either decide to play or just loaf around. In exchange for the immature Bynum, the Lakers received Dwight Howard who is off to a great start to the season despite only being 80%.

Now there is news Bynum will be out additional time due to reinjuring his knee while bowling. I’m so thankful, as a fan that we don’t have to sit around and wait for him to get healthy. Bynum is a good center, probably the second best in the league when he is healthy and focused, but dealing with his injuries and attitude was annoying. Thankfully he is out of here!

SL 

Kin 577

Women Sports Reporters

One thing I've observed recently in commentators and reporters in sports. I remember growing up, and people seemed like they actually knew what they were talking about. I hate to say, but as I woman, I feel that I can without being controversial; but, women commentators especially seem that they are only on the field reporting because they are pretty and can read from a telleprompter. What happened to people standing out there discussing things that they actually know about. I mainly observe this in football, however I have seen similar instances in baseball, basketball, and hockey. 

As someone who originally began school to be a sports reporter, this discourages me in a way from ever wanting to be in that field. I do not want to be looked at in the same way I see these other women. I continue to wonder if they ever received proper education, or grew up around the sport they commentate on? Do other's notice this issue? If so, what do you feel could be improved upon, and do you think this will ever change and get better? 

JM 

Kin 577

NHL Lockout

     The 2012-2013 National Hockey League Lockout is the second season in just eight years that there will be no NHL games.  The 2004-2005 season was cancelled due to a labour disagreement between the NHL Player’s Association and team owners.  The collective bargaining agreement expired, and no new agreement has yet been made despite offers from both sides. 

     Well over 300 games have been cancelled thus far.  This means that players have had to sign with European teams or gone down to the AHL if they want to play professional hockey this season.  With the lockout in place, I think of everyone who is affected by it, and not just the players, team’s owners, or fans, but the people who are out of work because of it.  All the people that work at the game venues; security, concessions, ticket sales, referees, athletic trainers, zamboni drivers.  Then on top of that, you have the media; reporters/analysts/broadcasters, camera crew.  The NHL is losing fans, and what for?  Without support, there won’t be revenue to argue about.  What kind of value are we placing on sport?  Is it merely all about the profit, or can it go back to the love of the game?

Sarah Valenti

KIN 577

What About the Mental Game?

The physical part of sport seems to be covered perfectly through reputable coaches, physical therapists and weight lifting trainers. However, it is the other half of the game that is not being accounted for, the mental game. In our culture today, female athletes are constantly being sexualized, gay and lesbian athletes are under scrutiny daily, performing enhancing drugs are becoming more popular, and young athletes feel the need to look a specific way in sports such as ice skating and wrestling. I am not saying these issues are not being talked about in the media and within teams, but what has actually been done to get control over these threatening problems? In the past, a weight lifting coach was unheard of. It was the coaches and physical therapists that dealt with muscular building and strength training. Today, a college would not be caught without a strength and conditioning coach. So I ask, why isn't there a professional assigned for the mental aspect of sport? Sport Psychologists are trained for those specific issues and serve as an outside resource to talk to for athletes. If sexual orientation, drug and alcohol abuse, body image issues, and sexism are all major issues in our sport culture, then why hasn’t there been a counselor set on each team that serves those exact issues? Hopefully some day in the future when the new generation of athletes reach the college level, that more resources are made towards attacking those specific issues so we can mark one problem off the list of sport culture. If there is more awareness about these issues then I believe change will come. 

Jocelyn Neely

Kin 577

Sports and the Real World

I saw an ECards picture the other day that read, "I dread the day when we hand out trophies to our kids for just participating in sports and spanking is against the law."  Now, while spanking is a whole other issue that I am not even going to touch, I do completely agree with the first statement.  Sports act as a way to get children ready for the "real world" and today we do not live in a society that allows you do to well in life by just participating, you have to go out there and dominate.  I think that one of the biggest issues with the next generation is that they don't know how to act when they lose or don't get the exact outcome they want.  When everyone is a winner in some way and parents can tell coaches how to do their job, children are not learning how to deal with challenges that they will face later on in life.   Sports need to be known for being a place of honesty; you are a winner or you are a loser, plain and simple.  

Has the Clock Struck on Tebow Time?

Tim Tebow, female heartthrob or brilliant athlete? This is a controversial topic as he has been depicted as both with the media until quite recently. A few ‘freakish’ plays and a display of religion is all it took for Tebow to become an athletic sensation. But was it really his athletic ability that made him so popular?

Recently, Tebow’s NY Jet’s teammates have been coming out saying that he is “terrible”. But this is recent news for football fans. In the few games Tebow has played, he hasn’t delivered so it’s not much of a surprise that his teammates are coming out with negative comments. What’s interesting is the pattern of media that has followed Tebow throughout this burst in his career. For the majority of the time, he was depicted as a football player but characterized for his looks, devotion to God, and overall demeanor. Now he’s viewed in a negative light as people are starting to come out stating the truth about his football abilities.

What’s interesting about this situation is the role the media plays in his career. He’s never been a great football player, but the media has the ability to make you think otherwise. This is just proof of how controlling the media can be when it comes to the sports industry. Do you ever think it will change? Will the media always have this much control over athletes and organizations? 

A.F. KIN 577

Hooligans

Hooliganism, you may not see it here in the United States actually scratch that....you don't see it here in the United States.  Hooliganism is defined as (by definition.com) a violent young troublemaker one of a gang.   You can find such hooligans over in Europe typically affiliated with their favorite soccer team, you can also find them on the TV show World's Deadliest Fights. Don't believe me? Check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3MWhkWwjwg&feature=fvwrel .

Hooligans fight for their team, literally, they fight the other fans until death. Before a game even begins between two teams fights are scheduled and are taking place.  Is this right?  Shouldn't the battle between two teams be left up to the players on the field? Or does this "gang" affiliation actually make the relationship between the fans and players closer?  To put it bluntly, I think it's a bunch of men who are brainwashed into thinking that what their doing (fighting) is in some way contributing to the team as a whole.  Whatever the reason, whatever the start; hooliganism is real and it's out there....over the pond.  By the way if this subject interests you I suggest you see the movie Green Street Hooligans.

Jenny Higgs Kin 577

Fight On! or Fess Up!

USC has garnered some national attention over the past week due to the information that was made public about a student manager deflating game balls to make them easier to throw and catch when Oregon made its most recent visit to the Coliseum. It was no surprise when USC head coach Lane Kiffin emphatically denied he made no such request to deflate game balls and in fact, had no knowledge of the situation until the days following the game. It ‘s no secret that athletes commonly attempt to persuade individuals in charge of playing equipment into tilting the level playing field ever so slightly in their favor by making enhancements or changes to the equipment that is being used in games. This is not specific to football, nor is it specific to players. Coaches are equally guilty in attempting to acquire any type of advantage possible, whether it be through recruiting, equipment, or facilities. So, in an age when coaches are the all knower’s of everything that goes on with their team, how much of what Lane Kiffin is saying can we really believe?     

N.O.

Kin 577