Final Post

Reflecting on my blog I believe that keeping this blog helped me apply the things I learned in class to actual situations. Relating blogs to actual events definitely helped me understand the class material better. Although I got kind of behind on my blogs, keeping a blog and reading other blogs gives me new insight and makes me think in ways I haven't before. I also like to see what other experiences my peers have had in sport related to the subject material we covered. 

The only thing I would change about writing this blog for this class is I would want to write more about current events going on in sports. There was a lot that happened over the course of the semester in the sporting world that could have let students provide insight and feedback and their opinion of the issue. Some things that happen in the sporting world I am bias towards one way and I would have liked to see some other opinions to try to sway mine. Though I would be more likely to contest their opinion.

As far as what I expected to learn from this class and what I actually learned is more than I expected. I learned so much more about the history of sports and the philosophies associated with them. So what I got out of this class was a new respect for and a broader sense of everything associated with sport. The last thing I hope to get out of this class is an A!

Sports is still changing

As we have looked at and covered sports throughout the semester we have examined all of the different changes and events that have shaped sports to the way we see them today. However, Rader talks of current times possibly being seen by future historians as a time of major change in sports. 

Rader talks about how many sports teams and games promote themselves. They don't need the help of big time promoters to get coverage or viewership of their game. The teams and the players themselves are enough today to get a sporting event watched. It seems that sports are getting more and more competitive and more emphasis is being put on winning. That emphasis is being put on more by the owners and GMs than the players it seems. The owners and GMs are making more trades and buying and signing more players than ever in an effort to make their team a champion. How do you know if the player you are signing did it the right way? Does it even matter to these owners? There could be a whole chapter in the book about the steroid era in sports. These controversies are not only at the professional level. College teams more than ever are becoming more competitive. With this comes playing players and other illegal acts. Not only negatives will be known to come from this era however.

Rader talks about more and more opportunities for fans to get involved with their own sporting experiences. As mentioned in a previous post, March Madness gets bigger and bigger each year with more and more people filling out brackets. Also fantasy sports are drawing more and more people in, especially fantasy professional football where the fan gets the be the owner of a team and make draft picks and control the team the way he or she wants. More and more people are also playing sports. Whether it be in a pickup game or in organized leagues. A lot of people play softball well into their sixties. While we have seen a lot of change in sports, Rader may be right in saying the time we live in now may have resulted in the most changes sports has seen.  

Athletes in 21st century sports: MVP LeBron James

This might be the most bias post I have written or will write being that I am from Cleveland and a huge LeBron James fan. In chapter 20 Rader talks about whether athletes today are heroes or just merely celebrities. I think LeBron James is both. I think almost everybody sees LeBron as a celebrity. His face is everywhere. Right now he is probably the face of not only the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the entire NBA. He has more endorsement deals than I have fingers and toes. You almost can't go a day with out seeing or hearing about LeBron James. Not everybody can think of him as a hero though because not everybody likes him. A lot of people dislike him, like sportswriter Skip Bayless. No matter what LeBron accomplishes Skip always find a way to talk it down to less than it is and criticize LeBron. However, many people may see LeBron as a hero. I think this is especially true with people from Cleveland. I definitely think LeBron is a hero.

What LeBron has done for the city of Cleveland is more than any mayor of the city by themself can do. I think LeBron has kept the city from burning to the ground. Figuratively speaking of course. If it wasn't for LeBron, Clevelanders really wouldn't really have much going for themselves at all. The economy is bad around the nation but exceptionally bad in Cleveland. We are one of the poorest cities in American with one of the highest crime rates and people are abandoning the city. After Hurricane Katrina Cleveland had the second highest desertion rate for any city in the U.S. behind New Orleans. LeBron gives people of Cleveland hope. Maybe all we need to lift our spirits is a championship. We have waited long enough, 45 years. LeBron may be just the person to do it for us. With his MVP award being announced today I feel that we get one step closer everyday. To me, LeBron is a hero in a city that needs one more than any city. He has so much power. He alone can bring a whole city together and give the people hope. However, even if he brings Cleveland a championship, if he ever leaves when his contract is up, the city may crumble. This is a fate I hope I never see. 

Jackie Robinson

I found an article by Hank Aaron published in Time Magazine in 1999 that talks about what Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier meant to him and  the impact it would have on professional baseball forever. It was a feature story about the top 100 most influential heroes and icons. The article was called "Jackie Robinson: He thrilled fans, shattered baseball's color barrier and changed the face of the nation". In the article Hank Aaron talks about the first time he saw Jackie Robinson as he was passing through his hometown of Mobile Alabama when he was 14. Robinson talked of segregation to the black crowd that came out to see him. Hank Aaron said a lot of people talk about a person who is bigger than life, but to him the only person he has known who truly was is Jackie Robinson. Aaron talks about how Robinson was bigger than all of the segregation and hate that was directed towards him. His perseverance opened the door for many more black players. If Robinson would have retaliated against a fan or against other players it might have set back African Americans from becoming more of a part of the game. Hank Aaron thinks nobody else could have put up with what he did while playing for the Dodgers. 

Aaron talks about how Robinson was different from some of his other heroes that didn't let the color of their skin stop them. He compared Robinson to Joe Louis. The only difference was that Louis was competing against white men while Robinson competed with them. Aaron goes on to talk about the steps Robinson took after his baseball career was over to get more equality in sports and in America. To Hank Aaron, and probably many other players and people, Jackie Robinson was one of the most inspirational people they could ever know. 

College Sports in the National Arena: NCAA Basketball Tournament

With the NCAA tournament come and gone it once again showed no lack of upsets, excitement and surprise. Every year the NCAA college basketball tournament turns in more viewers and followers than any other sporting event in the country. I think the NCAA basketball tournament is what makes college sports, or any sport for that matter great. Its the unpredictability and not knowing what will happen. No other sport shows this as much as the NCAA tournament. 

With the exception of last year when all four number one seeds from each region made the Final Four, there is an upset sometime in the tournament over a number one seed who is supposed to make the Final Four. Upsets are what make the tournament fun to watch. One of the most exciting tournaments to watch was when George Mason made the Final Four. Everybody jumped on their bandwagon and became fans of this Cinderella team. It is also good for the school. Research shows that when a schools makes the tournament or does well, enrollment goes up. It's like the Flutie effect when Doug Flutie of Boston College completed the Hail Mary pass in the final seconds to beat Miami. The next year enrollment at BC went up. What makes the tournament great though isn't what it does for the school but what it does for the fans. When else can you watch four very important games simultaneously and be as interested in one as you are any other? Even if you know nothing about college basketball you can still fill out a bracket and do as well as a supposed expert. That's what is so intriguing and fun about the tournament. There is no other time of year like March Madness.