Race and Ethnicity

On April 7 in my American Sport in the 21st Century class, we discussed race and ethnicity and if it is a major issue in sport. Some facts we learned about sport is that it is considered to be a meritocratic institution as ESPN stated in 2003. Also, racial minorities in the United States continue to face systematic and pervasive discrimination. Sport is not an oasis free from racial problems and it reflects the same racial issues as in society. We also learned about important definitions such as: bigot, prejudice, stereotypes, discrimination, race, ethnic groups and minority groups. Also, we learned about the sport participation associated with African Americans. Another thing we learned about was the history of African Americans.

(Collage of stereotypical words)

Definitions

• Bigot- Someone who is stubbornly attached to an opinion/belief
• Prejudice- Expression of bigots, judging without knowledge of facts
• Stereotypes- Fixed ideas about a group, usually negative
• Discrimination- Treating someone differently from others
• Race- Social category constructed and accepted by society to describe members with genetic similarities
• Ethnic Group- Socially distinct group that shares the way of life and is committed to ideas, norms and things that constitute that way of life, are not biological, shared culture
• Minority Group- Members share common group characteristics and suffer from discrimination

Sport Participation and African Americans

Facts:

1. Prior to the 1950's, African Americans faced a segregated sports system
2. African Americans participate in a very limited  range of sports *stacking*
3. African American men and women are under represented in most sports

History of African Americans 

• Slavery-1620
• 2 sports dominated- horse racing and boxing
• 1810- Molyneux
• Civil War: 1861-1865 (reconstruction)
• Plessy vs. Ferguson 1896: establishes segregation but some types of equality
• 1936- Jesse Owens
• 1947- Jackie Robinson 
• 1954- Brown vs. Board of Education
• 1950's- Athena Gibson
• 1960's- Civil Right's, 1964-Civil Right's Act
• 1970's- Explosion of African Americans into sport
• 87% NBA, 70% NFL, 9.8% MLB consists of African Americans
• Hold most titles in boxing
• 23-25 all time men's 100 meter sprinters
• Dominate long jump

Examples of African American Athletes

When I had searched for African American athletes on the web, I found this website listing the 20 most influential African American athletes who have changed sports forever: Bleacher Report. To name a few athletes that are mentioned are Magic Johnson, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Hank Aaron, Wilma Randolph, Ernie Davis, Michael Jordan, Jim Brown and Jackie Robinson. All of the African American athletes have achieved success to go above and beyond. Magic Johnson was a basketball player who helped save the NBA. He was 6'9", so of course fans wanted to come watch him play. Tommie Smith and John Carlos are best known for the Olympic Games and the "iron fist". When they had won gold medals and were standing on the podium, they held up their fists to show equality for African Americans. They were then stripped of their medals for doing this. Hank Aaron is a baseball player who broke the ultimate career run record held by Babe Ruth. Wilma Randolph was the fastest woman in the world for setting the 200 meter olympic record and also the 4 by 10. Ernie Davis was voted the Most Valuable Player of the 1960 Cottonbowl Classic in football.  Michael Jordan was an NBA star who had made the NBA internationally known. He was a member of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. Jim Brown was a football star who had a legendary career at Syracuse. He then went to the Cleveland Browns and had a great career with them as well. Jackie Robinson was the first professional African American baseball player. All of these athletes are connected in the way that they helped shape African Americans in the sport industry. This relates to what we learned in class because we had talked about Jackie Robinson within the notes. Also, we talked about how African Americans have gone from slavery to becoming more of a threat in sports. These athletes made a huge impact for African Americans in the sport industry and the world. 

(Jackie Robinson)

(Jim Brown)

  

(Wilma Randolph)

(John Carlos and Tommie Smith)

Gender and Sport

On April 16 in my American Sport in the 21st Century class, we discussed gender and sports and how fair are sport opportunities for girls and women. We discussed the agencies of sex role stereotyping.We talked about the role of stereotyping within the school and the media. The role of stereotyping within school is that it reinforces differential expectations and steers boys and girls to different activities. The role of stereotyping within the media is that it is one of the most influential/pervasive forces. Preschool children watch 24 hours of television a week and by the time they graduate, they will watch over 100,000 commercials. This then sets the agenda of how we think, act and feel. We also discussed a brief history of women. Also, we talked about the participation and equity issues in the world of women and girls.

(An example of sex role stereotyping)

Brief History

1. 1700's- Little or no participation
2. 1800's- Men and women participated at the same level in the same activities but only if you were considered upper class
3. 1880's- Bicycle and Bloomers
4. 1900's- Womens colleges (Vassar, Mt. Holyoke)
5. 1900's- First Olympics (golf and tennis)
6. 1914- World War I
7. 1920's- Emergence of women's collegiate sport 
8. 1930's- Depression
9. 1940's- World War II (AAGPBL- reproductive freedom, liberation)
10. 1960's- Beginning of recognition
11. 1970's- Title IX
12. 1973- Billie Jean King vs. Bobbie Riggs
13. 1980's- Emergence with women in professional leagues in softball, basketball and volleyball
14. 1982- Women's sports taken over by NCAA from the AIAW
15. Since the 1990's- success of female athletes (World Cup, WNBA, Olympics, LPGA)

Title IX

We had discussed the importance of females within the athletic standpoint and I found a video on youtube with Billie Jean King talking about the importance of Title IX: Billie Jean King and Title IX. Billie Jean King begins to talk about title IX and how her generation had to fight for the rights for women. She had to play Bobbie Riggs, as discussed in the notes, which had caused an excel for women in sports after she beat him three games to none. She had two jobs and both of her friends had scholarships, who were males and she wasn't complaining but she thought it wasn't fair. Women now have more education and the health of the nation depends on Title IX. Women get millions less in scholarships and about 43% of women get to coach at the collegiate level for women's sports. At the men's level, however, only about 3% of women get to coach men at the collegiate level. She talks about the accomplishments that women have and that women, as a whole, have a lot longer to go. For example, she talks about Mia Hamm, the World Cup and Maria Sharapova. Likewise, she shows a great sense of enthusiasm towards women athletes and the importance to keep pushing Title IX and providing opportunities for women in sports. In the interview, Maria Sharapova is brought up and stated that she looks up to Billie Jean King as an imitation of a woman in the sports industry. In the notes on April 16, we had discussed how important of a role Billie Jean King has played for women overall in the sports field. She has opened up the eyes of many individuals and continues to push for women to join the sports world and to become apart of the great atmosphere and freedom that women now receive in sports. 

(Billie Jean King)

(A woman showing her say of participation in sports regarding Title IX)

Sport and the Mass Media

On March 24 in my American Sport in the 21st Century class, we discussed the roles and characteristics of the mass media and the linkage between sport and mass media. We learned that sport and media are very closely related, they are symbiotic to one another which means that they rely on one another and are strengthened by one another. We also learned that sports and the mass media are two of the most successful businesses in the United States valued at $1 trillion and $350 billion dollar industries. Also, sport popularity is a result of media coverage. The media generates enormous sales in circulation and advertising based on extensive treatment of sport.

(Picture representing a collage of words in the mass media field)

(A man filming a soccer match)

Roles of the Media

The Media has four roles:

1. Inform

2. Entertain

3. Educate 

4. Advertise

*Improvements in technology have increased the potential of the media to fulfill its roles

Characteristics of the Media

There are two types of media: Print Media and Electronic/Visual Media

Print Media- Words/images printed on paper. Examples include: newspapers, magazines, books, catalogues, event programs, trading cards

Electronic/Visual Media- Words/commentaries and images we receive through audio and or video internet. Examples include: radio, television, film, video games, the internet, cell phones

(Media)

(Media)

Social Media and Sports

I found this article when I was browsing on youtube: Social Media and Sports. The retired model, Helen Yee has her own talk show called the Social Media Show in Las Vegas and is on the radio every night from 9-10pm. She begins to go into detail about how important social media means to sports. She says that it is a faster way to know scores and important updates to tweet or get an involvement within the social media field. Sports are constantly evolving and things are always happening, so it is a huge part of social media. She has a passion for sports and talks about golf and different types of sport television broadcasts such as fox sports. Helen puts out her social media tag for twitter to hopefully obtain comments and information from her followers about sports and such. Social Media plays an important part in sports. If there weren't broadcasts or social media, how would we know what was going on in the sports world? I mean, back then there was radio and there still is today. How many people actually wished to know the exact event that was happening in a sports game at the time that it was playing? Social media and sports have evolved thoroughly throughout the decades and it still continues to evolve today. As stated in the notes, this video can go hand in hand with the linkage between sport and mass media. The notes state that the media depends on sport and there is much more then just sports but there is some dependence which includes movies, magazines, books, radios, newspapers and the internet. Also, the notes state that during the 19th century, sport was seen as a valuable experience in its own right. During the 20th century, sport became part of the entertainment industry. Today, sport is just a branch of the advertising industry. 

(Facebook Social Media)

(Instagram Social Media)

(Vine Social Media)

(Twitter Social Media)

Social Media Gains

As I was browsing through the Sports Business Journal, I came across an interesting article in the April 6th edition titled: MLB Social Media Gains. This article talks about the mass amount of social media gains that the MLB has received in the lead up to the upcoming season. The fact that Will Ferrell and other famous celebrities are tweeting and talking about sports, it makes individuals want to become involved with that team especially because Will Ferrell likes the team. Also, this creates a huge amount of publicity for the team and the athletes on the team. We discussed in class that the sport popularity is due to the massive amount of media coverage. The media can generate huge amounts of sales in advertising, such as celebrities talking about their favorite teams on social media. Below is the chart for the increase in the amount of social media gains. I find this chart interesting because every team on that list increased, whether it was by .01% or 14.2%. The increase in the social media will cause more individuals to pay attention to the MLB and other specific sports. I thought it was pretty cool that the Pittsburgh Pirates were in the top four for the amount of increase of social media gains at 10%.

(MLB social media growth chart)

Sport and Economics

On March 19 in my American Sport in the 21st Century class, we discussed salary caps and stadium subsidies. We learned terminology regarding salary caps such as: hard cap, soft cap, salary floor, luxury tax, cap room and the term salary cap itself. We also learned about the owners of professional sports and the advantages of monopoly and monopsony. Stadium subsidies has arguments for and arguments against it. Arguments for stadium subsidies are: stadium and teams create jobs, stadium construction infuses money into local economy, team will attract other businesses, team will attract media attention that boosts tourism, product sales and economic development and a team will create positive psychic and social benefits. Arguments against stadium subsidies are: stadium jobs are seasonal and offer low pay except to athletes and executives, construction materials often are bought outside the local area, new businesses often are franchises located in other cities, discretionary money is limited and feeling good does not benefit everyone.

(Luxury Tax)

Salary Caps and Terminology

A salary cap is the limit a team can spend on players' salaries per player per team. This is used as a method to keep costs down and balance the league. This becomes major issues in negotiations and occurs in the NFL,NHL, MLS, and NBA.

Hard Cap-maximum amount that cannot be succeeded

Soft Cap-expectations that allow teams to exceed the salary cap

Salary Floor-minimum that must be spent on the team as a whole

Luxury Tax-amount levied by league on teams that exceed the cap

Cap Room-amount of money an owner can spend under the limit

(Representation of Salary Cap in Cartoon)

Sport Salary Caps

NBA Salary Cap- Soft Cap ($63 million)

NFL Salary Cap- Hard Cap/Hard Floor ($73 million, $51 million)

NHL Salary Cap- Hard Cap/Hard Floor ($143 million, $108 million)

Advantages of Monopoly/Monopsony

-Enables team owners to share revenues, negotiate high media rights fees, prevent formation of new teams

-Enables team owners to draft new players to one team only, control careers of athletes, minimize bidding for athletes' contracts

(Collage of Monopsony words)

Sherman Anti Trust Legislation

As I was searching the web, I found an article, stated here: Sports Law . This article explains an occurrence that had happened to Curtis Flood. Curtis Flood was an MLB player for the Cincinnati Reds, then went to the St. Louis Cardinals and was very successful during his baseball career. Curtis Flood challenged the MLB reserve clause. He stated that it was unfair that it kept players to a single team in which they had signed for life even though players went above and beyond for their contracts with that certain team. When Flood had played with the Cardinals for a while, he was then traded to the Philadelphia Phillies but refused because of their record and the stadium that they played in. He gave up a $100,000 contract by his refusal to be traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Curtis Flood didn't stop there. He wrote a letter to the commissioner of MLB, Bowie Kuhn, declaring that he wanted a free agent. The commissioner denied him request and stated the propriety of the reserve clause. In response to the commissioner denying him request, Curtis Flood had filed a lawsuit against Bowie Kuhn stating that the MLB went against the antitrust laws. This case eventually went to the Supreme Court and ruled in favor of the MLB. Curtis Flood then sat out the season of 1970 and began to play with a different team in 1971 but that didn't last long. Even though Curtis Flood had lost the lawsuit, the reserve clause was struck down in 1975. I picked this article to write about because we had learned about the Sherman Anti-Trust Legislation in class. We learned that it caused problems for African Americans. Also, I thought it was interesting to learn about a player challenging the Sherman Anti-Trust Legislation.

(John Sherman of the Sherman Anti-Trust Legislation)

(Curtis Flood)