Race and Ethnicity

In my American Sport in the 21st Century class we discussed race and ethnicity in sport on November 10 and 15. The question that was asked was are they important in sports? We also discussed some terminology, sport participation and African Americans, the history, traditional race logic used in sports, physical dominance of African Americans, and effects. The word racism is thrown around a lot. It was widely known and used in the 1900's it is still around today. It is just another thing minority players have to overcome to achieve success.

Facts:

• Sport is considered to be a meritocratic institution (2015 ESPN Poll)
• Racial minorities in the United States continue to face systematic pervasive discrimination

Definitions:

• Bigot- someone who is stubbornly attached to an opinion or belief
• Prejudice- an expression of bigotry, judging without knowledge of the facts
• Stereotypes- fixed ideas about a group 
• Race- social category constructed and accepted by society to describe members with genetic similarity
• Socially constructed- slavery
• Based on physical attributes
• Ethnic Group- socially distinct population that shares a way of life and is committed to the ideas, norms, an things that constitute the way of life.
• Minority Group- members who share common group characteristics and suffer from discrimination 

Sport Participation and African Americans

• Prior to the 1950's African Americans faced a segregated sports system
• African Americans participate in very limited range of sports
• African American men and women are underrepresented in most sports

History

• 1620- slavery
• 1810- Molyneux
• 1861-1865- Civil war (reconstruction)
• 13th amendment 1865- Abolish Slavery
• 14th amendment 1868- Gave African Americans rights
• 15th amendment 1870- Gave black men who owned land the right to vote
• 1896- Plessy V.S. Ferguson (separate but equal)
• 1936- Jesse Owens
• 1947-Jackie Robinson
• 1954- Brown V.S. Board (allowed blacks and whites to use same facilities)
• 1950's- Althea Gibson
• 1960's- Civil Rights
• 1964- Civil Rights act Title 7 equitable opportunities
• 1970's-Present- Explosion
• African Americans in NBA= 87%, NFL= 70%, MLB= 9.8%

Traditional Race Logic Used in Sports

• Achievements of white athletes are due to:
• ability
• character
• intelligence
• Achievements of black athletes are due to:
• biology
• natural physical abilities

Physical Dominance of African Americans

• Blacks have slight genetic advantage over whites in some areas
• African Americans are more physically suited for  activities requiring speed and power
• Longer levers, slimmer pelvis, less fat on muscles
• more fast twitch muscles
• Advance motor skills at an early age

Effects

• Blacks concentrate more on sports in which future economic incentives exist
• Blacks concentrate on sports in which exclusive training facilities, equipment and coaching is not necessary during developmental years
• Black role models affect the ways in which black youths view some sports stereotypes
• Whites tend to gravitate towards individual sports where developmental expenses are high. 

In this article it talks about all the different types of discrimination reports that have happened in sports. It also breaks them into categories as to what kind of discrimination it was. I feel that racism is still very active not only in the world but in sports. Look at Donald Sterling who was the owner for the San Antonio Spurs. He lost his job because he said some racist remarks. Racism is all around us and it is a shame. If racism is ever gone that is when sports will truly be at it greatest. Athletes can play without the worry of being treated differently. 

Deviance in Sports

On November 3,and 8 we discussed deviance in sports in my American Sport in the 21st Century class. Is deviance out of control? That is the big question that is being asked all around leagues everywhere. We talked about deviance in society, examples of deviance, problems with studying deviance, research on deviance among athletes on and off the field, drugs, why they shouldn't, categories of PED's, All of these topics were discussed in class. Many athletes think that since they are superstars that they can not get punished when they do wrong. That is not the case. Some may have gotten away with some things in High School but once you make it to the big leagues it is a whole new world. If you do something wrong you will get punished.

Deviant- an act/person that differs from the norm, especially behavior or attributes that differ from social standards.

Deviance in Society

• using illegal drugs
• violent crimes-murder,rape, battery, abuse
• stealing/robbing a bank

Examples of Deviance in Sport

• fighting
• bounty hunting
• academic cheating
• performance enhancing drugs
• gambling
• illegal recruiting practices

Problems when studying Deviance

• What is deviant outside of sports, may be acceptable inside of sports 

•  Violence and aggression are not acceptable social practices, but what about sports where aggression is encouraged

Research on Deviance Among Athletes

• On the field
• cheating,dirty-play,fighting,violence are less common today than in the past
• over 80% of men and women in top level college sports sustain at least 1 serious injury though sports, 70% are disabled for 2 or more weeks
• disabling rate in the NFL is over 3 times greater than working in high risk construction jobs (CTE, Alzheimer's)
• 2012, 31 former players sued the NFL due to permanent brain injuries as a result of  concussion from playing in the NFL. (suicide, memory loss, depression). $765 million judgement. 
• Off the field
• in some cases athletes do have higher delinquency rates than no-athletes
• data on academic cheating is inconclusive
• athletes have higher rates of alcohol use and binge drinking
• felon rates among adult athletes do constitute a problem- domestic violence

What are Drugs???

Drugs are chemicals that change the way our bodies work.

• Prescribed drugs- given to us by a doctor to cure illness & disease. Socially accepted
• Social drugs- illegal substances used by people to give them a "high" to try to make them have a good time. Socially unaccepted
• Performance Enhancing Drugs- substances used to enhance their performance in sports

Why shouldn't they??

• Moral Reasons
• gives unfair advantage
• undermines the true spirit  of the sport
• reflects badly on others
• Legal Reasons
• against the law
• against the laws of the sports
• Role Modeling
• sets a bad example to young people who copy their heroes and put their lives at risk
• gives sport a bad images and lowers it status

Major Categories of PED's

• stimulants
• narcotic analgesics
• anabolic steroids
• beta blockers
• divertics
• peptide hormones and analogues

The New York Giants had a problem with their kicker Josh Brown. In the this article he admits that he beat his wife. He is just one of the athletes in the NFL who have be found to do this. Ray Rice is an example. The Giants and the NFL conducted an investigation. To me this is a major problem. To many athletes have been found guilty of committing this crime. This is considered a violent crime and needs to stopped immediately. The article also talks about how they have such a high respect towards women when in October all the players wear pink to support women with breast cancer. It looks bad on the NFL and every other league when a player commits a crime as serious as this.

Sports and Media

In my American Sport in the 21st Century class we discussed the role of sport and the mass media on October 27 and November 1. The main question to answer during this discussion was could they survive without each other? Also we talked about the different roles of the media, the characteristics of the media, linkages between sport and the media, a couple definitions, the different social media categories, and what the media chooses to show us.

Roles of the Media

• Inform
• Entertain
• Educate
• Advertise

Characteristics of the Media

• Print Media- Considered (old media). Words and images printed on paper
• Examples: Newspapers, Magazines, Books, Catalogs.
• Electronic/Visual Media- (new media). Words, commentary, and images we receive through audio and video devices.
• Examples: Social media, Television, Radio.

Changes to sport as a result of the media

• Schedules and starting time
• Length of halftime period
• TV timeouts
• Expansion of leagues

Social media Categories

• Sites where users dictate the content and the popularity of that contest
• Communication services: (Facebook, Twitter, Google, Buzz)
• Entertainment: (Hulu, YouTube, Netflix)
• Professional Networks: (LinkedIn, Ezdia).
• Multimedia:(U stream, Skype, Live-stream)
• Smartphone apps: (At-bat 14, fanvison)
• Mobile couponing: (groupon, living special)
• Twitter- 974 million users, 150,000 signup per day

What the media chooses to show us

• Less airtime for women's sports
• Limited coverage for women's sports teams
• Heightened focus on the women's personal life/appearance
• Fewer strength descriptions
• Fewer slow motion replays
• Fewer on-screen stats
• Women referred to by 1st name

Stereo typical ideologies

Men: Bigger, Faster, Stronger, more athletic

Women: eye candy, and objects of desire

In the article The Importance of Social Media in Sport it discusses they different ways that technology and media are doing different things to get involved in sports. The article discusses the different ways businesses can get involved like sponsorship and social media promotions. Social media is a great way to get the fans involved. Different apps that grant the fans with that opportunity.I feel that social media and sport have become super connected and if you were to separate them they would not survive very long. They thrive off each other.