Wrapping up Sport and Society from Matt’s Point of View

As the end of the semester is drawing frightfully close and numerous projects are beginning to weigh on my mind and time, I think it is an appropriate time to reflect back on this semester and wrap this ol' blog up.

 

As I mentioned in my introduction, I had taken a course similar to this one in my undergrad at the University of Illinois (I tried to look up the course or instructor and was unsuccessful), and that the course had drastically influenced my life. However, the minutia and details of that course had fled memory and had only left an impression in my mind. Therefore, I was excited to have the opportunity to relearn and refresh some of those memories. Over the course of this semester I was surprised by how much I was able to recall. It reemphasized how much of sport is a reflection of our society's ideals and perceptions. Sometimes sport reflects an ugly truth (racism, bigotry, sexism, etc.) and other times it shows unity and progress in a way that is inspiring. In my opinion, sport is one of the best mediums to study in order to understand the culture of a society.

 

I think what I enjoyed this semester was the epiphanies. Learning about that style of writing and then being able to employ it for an experience in my own life was one of the more valuable assignments I have completed in my grad work. I now have a very poignant memory encapsulated in a way that I can relive and share with my family for the rest of my life.

 

On top of enjoying the epiphany section, I also enjoyed keeping a blog and seeing how we as a class were interpreting the issues and readings differently. It kept me actively learning and applying the principles and topics we were discussing in class. By writing and employing what we learned, it helped me to solidify the knowledge that have learned. Because of this, I would say that the blogs were an essential part of the class that will have a lasting effect on my life.

 

In the end, I think that from this class I gained an open mindedness towards others beliefs and plights in life. During one class, someone offered a quote that was something along the lines of "You can't understand what it is to be marginalized or hated for something until you have experienced it in your own life." It caused me to have my own private epiphany. As I thought of an area in my life where I am marginalized and judged negatively, I was able to understand more deeply what those of other minorities (be they gender, sexual orientation, race, or religion) face in their lives. It helped me to understand a truth, rather than just know about that truth.

 

Thanks for a great course Dr. Spencer!

Homosexuality vs. Masculinity in Modern Sport

"That's gay." How often have we heard (or even said) this phrase as slang to express disdain for something. It is a saying that is commonly used as a euphemism for something derogatory in nature. I remember in high school, some 11 years ago, when I used this phrase as a euphemism and was appropriately chewed out by a friend for saying it. I also remember that I bristled at being chastised for what I thought was a relatively minor infraction. Yet today, when I hear (or read on Facebook) someone use that phrase, I cringe and think to myself, "Did they just say that?!?!" The thought of using this phrase has become so foreign to me that I would not dream of saying something so vile. So something has changed within me during those 11 years, but what?

As I reflect on the influences during my high school years that led me to believe that saying such a thing was acceptable and even expected, and realize that most of those influences originated from athletics. It was as if I was in a bubble, keeping me from reality. When I graduated high school, and continued with college athletics, the bubble still existed. I remember the taunting and teasing of guys that the team perceived as gay. I never participated, but I took notice. I actually think the majority of the team would have been receptive if a teammate came out as gay and would not have harassed that teammate for it. However, the ones they perceived as "closet cases," were mocked incessantly for it. I think noticing this disparity was the first step to moving beyond such thinking. If you would accept a person for being gay, why would you mock someone that you suspect is gay? It just does not make any sense. As I began to progress beyond that sophomoric mindset, I stopped using that term. As I made friends, met associates and worked with people who were openly gay, the thought of using the term "gay" as a derogatory term eventually fled my consciousness.

Today, that is why I am so surprised when I hear someone use the expletive "That's gay;" I figure that we have moved beyond such things. The results of Kian and Anderson's article (2009) also suggest that we as Americans, and our athletes, are moving beyond such homophobic remarks. They also suggest that Americans are in the process of losing their homophobic sentiment, not that they have lost it. So it is a process, but at least it appears to be moving in a better, and more tolerant, direction.

Sister Act VI: Venus and Serena Williams at Indian Wells: “sincere fictions” and white racism

I am not certain that racism was the only motivator at Indian Wells, nor gender bias. I do not think that Dr. Spencer believes this either; I think that she was extrapolating information about racism through this incident in order to shed light on an undercurrent of racism that still exists in the tennis world. I believe the same thing; this incident does shed light on the underbelly of the human persona. However, if I was at Indian Wells, I would have been booing right along with the rest of the crowd. I would have been upset that I had paid to watch the second to best match of the tournament and then been denied that opportunity. An injury default? Sure, that is part of the game. Defaulting because you are related? Not so much. I would have booed regardless of the player's race, gender, age, religion, or even hair color. It is just anti-competitive and reeks of an ulterior motive on the Williams' part. I realize that it might appear that I am taking part in the "sincere fictions" that Dr. Spencer wrote of (Spencer, 2004), but I actually been in this situation before.

I have been at wrestling tournaments where two teammates have declined to wrestle in order to advance one athlete. At those moments, I have booed along with everybody else. The one athlete advances without tiring themselves out, creating an almost unfair advantage, especially in a grueling tournament.

That does not, in the slightest, condone the racial slurs or threats against the family. I do not believe that it even condones booing the entrance of the Venus and her father to watch the finals match. My booing would have stopped after the announcement of the default and I would have moved on from there. To continue with it would not have been classy.

To borrow a line from Ron Burgundy, "Stay classy, Indian Wells."

The commodified 23, or, Michael Jordan as text

I grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago from 1991-2000, during the height of the Michael Jordan era. Unfortunately, I was not raised as a fan of professional sports and therefore never saw him play. Actually, when I think about it, I do not remember even watching the games on TV! Yet, even with this level of removal from the world of sports, I still knew (quite vividly) who Michael Jordon was and what his number was. Everybody did! E. Armstrong (1996) agrees, "It is impossible to underestimate MJ's (Michael Jordan's) global significance and the attendant global presence of his UN (uniform number) 23" (p. 326). I also think that everybody today, in 2011, would know who he is. I bet that it would be impossible to find someone, over the age of 10, that has never heard of him or does not know that 23 was the number he wore.

As Michael Jordan is one of, if not THE, biggest athletes of our time, an author would be well served to view him and his life as text. This would especially be the case if that author was looking for a text that would reflect society's ideals and values regarding its professional athletes. The amount of press Michael received is well documented (Armstrong, 1996), and therefore there is a plethora of available sources.

As such, it was interesting to read through this article and see all the quotes from the "scandal" that occurred when MJ unretired to play in uniform number 45, and then later unretired the number 23 to play in that. Not much has changed! Our athletes are still superheroes whose every move is questioned and magnified for the public to judge. Because of this, I think the best figures to study as text would be athletes and actors/actresses. The athletes that would yield the most information in our day would be LeBron James, Tiger Woods and Michael Vick.

 

Reading the Muscular Body, cont.

So after class, I have something that I was thinking about that I would like to share. I think it is unfair to look at these magazines as examples of negative hegemonic influences in our society. I don't think they are a main, or even secondary, perpetuator of negative body images in our culture. They are way to over the top and unrealistic to make people feel guilty about their bodies. In my mind they are manuals. If I opened the magazine and saw flabby individuals lifting tiny amounts of weight, I would not pay any credence to the advice I offered. The advertisements play to the audience that is most likely to be reading the magazine - men that are looking to improve their bodies. Therefore, it makes sense that most of the advertisements are of a nature that will help those individuals reach their goals.

The only concession I can make is that the sexual enhancement ads most definitely enforce hegemonic masculinity. There really is not any excuse for those, it's pretty obvious that the advertisers are trying desperately to appeal a target audience of a pretty creepy individuals.

However, those ads are secondary. Of the magazine I searched through, 72% are for dietary supplements that help provide the body with the nutrients it needs to grow. How the ads are constructed is just marketing; those companies emphasize transformation and make the reader feel inferior simply to sell product. Pretty much every ad agency is guilty of these same crimes.

I was walking through a store the other day and picked up a magazine entitled "Truckin," just to see if it contained pictures full of normal trucks. It did not. It was full of crazy trucks, cars, and other things. All the pictures in there were of automobiles that no average everyday person would own, much less drive to work. It was not full of the typical trucks that we see on the road; it was full of tricked out, bright, flashy trucks. There might be articles in that magazine about normal trucks, but the ads and pictures were of something completely unrealistic to the average person. Just like the pictures of the men in Muscle and Fitness or Flex.

Reading the muscular body: A critical decoding of advertisements in Flex Magazine

No. In a one word summer of on my feelings of this article I say, "No." In my humble opinion, I respectfully disagree with the premise of this article. Causation does not equal correlation. The authors look at advertisements and assume that because they are depicted a certain way it must be men trying to fight women's emancipation. White and Gillett (1994) state that the "popularity of bodywork practices are symptomatic of a trend in our culture seeking to reestablish an ideology of gender difference in the face of emancipatory forces" (p. 19). Really? Granted, this could be ONE reason for the advertisements, but there are numerous other possibilities. This is especially the case when you view these magazines as a vehicle for men (and in some cases women) looking to get the most out of their bodies.

Personally, the magazines represent what is possible through hard work and dedication. The men in the majority of the advertisements are insanely huge, and I have no real hope of ever looking like them; it is not realistic to for me to think that. However, the athletes in pictures are examples of what the human body could be and therefor I trust that they possess the information I need to make myself a little better. The only thing that the advertisements mean to me is that the magazine will present a distinct bias within its articles so as not to upset the sponsors.

To White and Gillett (1994), "bodybuilding allows men the false gratification of seeing themselves as the self-made, objectified body-commodities they constitute. Because real power is located in economic and political structures, bodybuilding constrains the construction of identity to the pursuit of self-as-commodity" (p. 35). Their bias just drips from the pages. They obviously look down on men that put any effort into their bodies and seem to be justifying their disdain. It is no wonder that they assume that the advertisements carry such a negative cultural connotation.

Real women watch football: Gender differences in the consumption of the NFL Super Bowl broadcast

If I was asked to find an article that described Super Bowl parties I have attended in the past, I would choose, "Real women watch football: Gender differences in the consumption of the NFL Super Bowl broadcast" (Clark & Gladden, 2009). Every Super Bowl party I have ever been to involved people behaving and enjoying the game in much the same way this article says the research supports.

Pre-game, national anthem, and kickoff has everybody's rapt attention. As soon as the offense takes the field, the majority of the women in the room tune out or start talking. The men, on the other hand, focus intently on the game. At least that is how the article would have it seem. I would agree with that except for one important point. It seems to me that you could replace the words "men or women" with "avid fan or passive fan." The article attempted to address this by evaluating avid female fans and passive female fans, but only discussed the data with reference to men and women. In the end, I do not think that gender is the ultimate determinate, but the level of interest in the sport of football.

I specifically remember one year, after the game was over and everybody had gone home, that my wife said to me, "Next year, lets only invite people that want to actually watch the game." She was annoyed that most of the people in the room had not really cared what happened in the game itself. So both the men and women did not care, most of the people were there for the social aspect. Unfortunately, that is not something that can be avoided during Super Bowl parties. So, to get around that this year, I'm turning up the surround sound J.

Anyway, time for me to head down to watch the game itself! I'm rooting for the lesser of two evils, soooo go Pack!

The Super Bowl and U.S. solipsism

I did not enjoy reading this article by Martin and Reeves, The Super Bowl and U.S. solipsism. It stereotypes Americans as ignorant, self-aggrandizing, chest thumping buffoons. From the beginning, the bias is heavily slanted against our country. It seems that they are looking to support their theory that we are proud idiots, and I found it offensive.

Okay, so our media hypes the Super Bowl as "the greatest one-day sporting event around" (Martin & Reeves, 2001, p. 214). I would argue that they do that in order to get more ratings. I think that we as a country like to build things up to make the event that much more special. I think any country would do the same. I would be interested to see what you would find if you stopped 10 people on the street and asked them that same question. "Is the Super Bowl the biggest international sporting event of the year?" I would be surprised if three of those people agreed that it was. Those three would probably also think that the capitol of Illinois is Chicago (it's Springfield ;-)

If you had stopped me (prior to reading this article) and asked me this question, I would have said, "No way." I would have put the World Cup, the Olympics, and like 3 other sports ahead of it. I know football is not an international phenomenon, but that does not mean it cannot be a huge spectacle here. I actually wish we pushed more international sports as a country so that we would stand a better chance in international competitions.

I am not sure why people look down us for enjoying football. These authors seem to do it because they have taken offense to snubs against soccer. Just because I do not like the same sport you do does not mean you have to make it personal.

The Way We Ran

I enjoyed reading "The Way We Ran," by Jim Denison. And how could I not? It contained many colorful and evocative stories of members of his running team, and I certainly enjoy reading entertaining stories. Who doesn't?

But is there more to this article than just a collection of amusing stories? I think there is, and to me, this appears to be the reason for this article. He tells his stories as examples of a new way of writing, a way that will fulfill promises that he learned in Norman's class. A way that will contain "such concepts as situated interpretation, transgression, and deconstruction" (Denison, 2006, p. 337). Denison wishes to frame particular stories in a way that will instruct the reader, a way to frame the past so that it teaches the reader an important lesson. The lesson will be easy for the reader to digest because it is told in a real way that the reader can relate to.

I appreciated this method of storytelling because it highlights something that I have attempted to do in my own life. I think that experiences that we, or others, go through should serve as a learning platform for us to grow from. If we simply pass through this life and do not learn or grow as we age, then what is the point? It reminds me of a saying that I heard when I was 20 years old. "Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone." I do not know who I heard it from, or from where it originates, but it has stuck with me. If we wish to age with wisdom, then we need to learn from the experiences we pass through.

When you live through an experience, go back and replay it in your head and glean what lessons you can from it. For Denison, he does this through his writing. For most of us, it may just be an internal process. Either way - live and learn!

Imagining Sociological Narratives

While an undergraduate at the University of Illinois, I took a class similar to our sport and society class. It had a powerful effect on me and is one of the reasons that I am pursuing a master's degree in the field. The "Introduction: Imagining Sociological Narratives" by Denison and Reinhart (2000) led me to realize that there is one particular reason that the class connected with me. It is because it focused on social narratives, teaching me about history through others experience thereby helping me to relate on a personal level.

The authors' description of their college professor Norman Denzin and his class made me feel as if I was right there with them. In fact, it made me want to attend college all over again. It was then that I remembered that I am already in college! I was so engrossed in the story that I lost personal reference. To me, this is the power of ethnography. It is a way to reach many people while at the same time helping them to learn facts about a time, person, group, or period of history. The authors have the goal of making evocative texts and "fictional and other types of storied representations an accepted form of scholarship" (p. 2). I applaud this goal and see the value of these types of work.

However, it is a difficult field, as Denison and Reinhart state, "We found that many authors of fiction did not, in fact, hold to the standard ideas of rights for manuscripts as determined by academics" (p. 4). I would be interested to find out what the "standard ideas of rights" are and how they can be properly applied.

Millennials

January 24/ 2011

    The readings this week, "The flight of the Millennials in higher education" (Monaco & Martin, 2009), and "Are pro sports growing more altruistic?" (Howe, 2010), seem to be a continuation on last week's reading of the Promise. The Promise (Mills, 1959), emphasized societies' influence on its individuals as a general principle, while these new readings speak specifically to how a generation has been effected by its society. In particular, the Millennial generation and how it has changed compared to the previous generations before it, Generation X and the Boomers.

    To me, the most important point that the Millennial article makes is that the Millennial generation is a generation of efficiency. Monaco and Martin reference an article that states the millennial generation is "achievement oriented, confident, conventional, pressured, sheltered, and special and team oriented, "(p. 2) and "overly scheduled" (p. 3). I completely agree and think that this is an accurate description of this generation. I look at all those descriptions and pull out the word "efficient." Millennials know what is important, find out what they have to do to achieve it, and then find a way to make it happen in the most effective way possible. Wasting time doing unnecessary tasks is not something they choose to do. I find myself doing the same thing, and in order to accomplish that, I create lists. Lists are an overly scheduled person's best friend. J

The blog article covers the changes occurring in the professional sport world. "Millennials want to see more about athletes who can be good parents, neighbors, citizens, and good Samaritans" as opposed to previous generations, who craved "fighting, the profanity, the performance drugs, the super-lux seats, and the renting of stadium names" (Howe, 2010, p. 1). It seems that Millennials would like more interaction with theirs sports icons, figures that they can look to as heroes and examples. I was born in November of 1981, and therefore fall right on the boundary of the two generations. As a "boarder lander", I completely agree with this blog and what it is saying. I have noticed this shift in athletics and think that we are excepting fewer excuses from the sports icons of our day. An example of this can be found in "The Decision," when LeBron James left Cleveland for Miami. The amount of negative press that the debacle received goes to show that this generation is fed up with prima-donnas in sport.

So while I may be a "border lander" and could claim either generation, I think that based off these descriptions, I am more of a millennial.

The Promise of Sociology – C. Wright Mills

    C. Wright Mills "The Promise of Sociology" is a complex and well written article. With proper effort, many different layers of understanding can be gleaned from the text. However, over-shadowing the content of the article is an impression of superiority that is very off-putting. My impression is that C. Wright Mills is not as superior to the human race as C. Wright Mills thinks he is. For example, Mills (1959) states that "they do not possess the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay of man and society, of biography and history, of self and world" (p. 1). If he was able to "grasp" these concepts, why should the rest of the world not "possess the quality of mind" to do the same? In answer, maybe society in 1959 was less interested in information than our current society in 2011. I cannot believe that is the answer, however, because I do not believe that the thirst for information that our modern society possesses is a new or novel trait. I believe this thirst for knowledge is something inherent in every human being.

    Perhaps, even though this thirst for information may be inherent, Mills and other like-minded sociologists are to thank for the direction that our self-examination has gone since this was published. As a human race, maybe we have always sought knowledge. However, it might just be that because of Mills (1959) and his peers, we now seek to understand the "interplay of man and society" (p. 2). In this we should be grateful because it gives us the ability to erase indifference and uneasiness and enables us to experience well-being and crisis (Mills, 1959).

    Personally, I learn two different things from this article. First, humility is worth its weight in gold. If Mills had been a little more humble in the construction of his text, he might have been able to connect better with the readers. Second, I am grateful for the self-awareness that our society today possesses. I do believe that as an individual understands where they are, it makes it easier for them to go where they want to be. Having global knowledge of the one's society makes that transition possible.

Introduction

Introduction

My name is Matthew Weight and I am a 29 year old pilot, flying for Pinnacle Airlines. I am married to Erianne Weight, an Assistant Professor at Bowling Green State University. We have a two and half year old daughter, Aleah, who possesses an intellect that far surpasses her mother and father. We moved to Bowling Green five and half years ago from Champaign, Illinois. It was there that I attended college, receiving a degree in Aviation Human Factors while earning the required licenses and ratings necessary to become a commercial pilot. While enrolled there, I attended a conference for my church, where I met my future wife, who was studying at Indiana University to become a doctor of philosophy in sport management. During that time, I also wrestled for the Fighting Illini, starting my senior year and qualifying for the national tournament. It was the meshing of these two worlds, wrestling and marriage, which helped me to realize that I had a passion for sport that could be manifest through research and academy.

My high school experience was one big sporting event. Along with wrestling, I played football, and it seemed that I was in some sort of training for one of those sports all year round. I pursued my training with a dedication and passion that eventually bled over into other aspects of my life, such as with school work and service. I learned invaluable lessons from all the hard work, patience, pain, reward, and sacrifice that came with participating in sport. These lessons have molded me into the man I am today.

Along with the lessons it taught me, athletics also created opportunities. Because of the drive I had toward sport, I was able to place third nationally in wrestling while in high school. As a result of this and other accomplishments, I was able to earn a scholarship to the University of Illinois, thereby giving me the opportunity to attend college.

While I was wrestling in college, my passion for the sport grew, as did my desire to see it preserved. Fortunately, I had married a doctoral student who shared that passion for the preservation of non-revenue sport. While she was working on her dissertation (which involved interviewing my coaches), we frequently discussed the intricacies of collegiate sport. Although my interest grew through these discussions, it was not until an opportunity presented itself that allowed me to attend grad school at BGSU that I realized I could play a role in the research too.

To that end, I began writing my thesis on the arms race within intercollegiate athletics, specifically with regard to conference commissioner perspectives. Commercialization has led to increased spending which has the potential to undermine athletics in the college environment. I believe that the conference commissioners of FBS schools possess a unique and important view on this subject and for some reason have gone un-factored. Last Tuesday, I proposed this to my thesis committee and received their approval to move forward with my research. I am anxious to see what the conference commissioners have to say.

So it is that I am enrolled in the Sport Administration program at Bowling Green State University. I am here because I truly believe that the lessons learned in sport are invaluable and cannot be taught in any other way. Through research we can learn the ways that these experiences can be preserved and even expanded. That is what drives me in my studies.