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Final Project of Machael and Haocheng.

Follow the Money: The Evolving Salary Cap of the NBA & NHL

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Concussions, The NFL and Why You Should Care

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Group 3 Final Project

Sexism In Soccer

Noa, Sydney, Miranda, Alex

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More Than Just Great Female Athletes –

For my final project, I included much of the same writing as my original photo essay. I changed the tone and made the language slightly more conversational so it sounded more lively as I read it. I also had to pick what I was going to cut out, opting to still include the element of race even though my thesis primarily dealt with the idea of gender in the discussion of greatness.

I was pleased to be able to incorporate Serena’s pregnancy into my piece, as it truly is incredible that she won the Australian Open (or any open honestly!) while pregnant! What I like about this assignment is it would make an excellent accompaniment to a presentation if I continue to work on this same subject in a larger context.

Emmie

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5fyYdjcRPU)

Ryan, Anya, Monáy, and Antonio

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Cover letter

We made a few small changes between our photo essay and final video project. While had initially conceived our idea based around the idea of sports mythology and athletes as heroes, we discovered that the racial component was far more compelling. We decided to eliminate most of the argument that dealt with mythology and focus solely on the two elements we felt impacted the different reactions to Roethlisberger and Rice: imagery and race. We also were able to include the actual TMZ video of the Rice domestic violence incident in our video, which we felt really strengthened our argument and solidified the difference between the two situations. We also needed to cut a fair bit of language in order to keep our video within time limits, so we reduced the amount of time spent explaining the two scenarios, hoping that our audience would understand the basic elements and be able to follow our argument without too many specifics.

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NBA All Star Game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN1hda7HvAY

TJ Louis Nina

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FIFA Corruption Scandal

Tanaka, Robert, Austin  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F6_a-t3BxY

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Activism in sports is not new to the American culture, athletes like Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, Muhammad Ali fighting against the government, Billie Jean King fought for equal rights for women in the sports culture. Athletes across the spectrum have a voice and once again they began using their voice to impact society. In the video above, during the 2016 ESPYs award superstar’s basketball players: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James all speak out about Black Lives Matter. These four superstars speak out and talk about the issues that happen in recent years, from how they are expressing how they feel personally, to the police killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, to the mass shooting that happened in an Orlando night club. I believe these athletes can make a change today, many people follow them constantly, they have huge social media platforms and many their followers will listen to them and help make the change necessary. They tend to express themselves a lot in social media regarding their sport and to show support other athletes when they

In today’s world athletes are ridiculed for just about anything they do, people expect them to be puppets, to have no say in what is going on. However, athletes how cannot expect these athletes stay quiet and not have a say when it is affecting them just as much as the next person. Carmelo Anthony took a strong stand when talking about Black Lives Matter, Anthony said “There’s NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore. Those days are long gone[..] I need your voices to be heard. We can demand change. We just have to be willing to.” Anthony acknowledges how strong athlete’s opinions are in today's world. Anthony wants others to follow in his current footsteps to fight back and use their voice; so, other athletes such as Colin Kaepernick have taken a stand with him, and such Colin Kaepernick sat down during the national anthem occurred.

Colin Kaepernick is the most recent athlete to act on the cause of Black Lives Matter. Kaepernick explains his action of sitting down during the national anthem. He tells that he sat down because he sees that other people do not have a voice like him, so he is going to use his voice for those who do not have a voice and cannot be heard. Kaepernick, also tells his side on when he has been oppressed, with roommates, for being the only “black people in that neighborhood” and how the cops were called and went into their home and pulled guns on them without reason.

Recently, due to his actions of standing up for what he believes in he is currently unemployed, no team in the NFL has offered him a contract. Kaepernick put his career on the line, he spoke out to help shine the light in today’s world, many disagree with him, but same goes the other way many do agree with him.

Zirin, D. (2016, August 31). America Needs to Listen to What Colin Kaepernick Is Actually Trying to Say. Retrieved May 01, 2017, from https://www.thenation.com/article/america-needs-to-listen-to-what-colin-kaepernick-is-actually-trying-to-say/

Zirin, D. (2016, July 09). 6 Times Athletes Spoke Out in Support of #BlackLivesMatter This Week. Retrieved May 01, 2017, from https://www.thenation.com/article/6-times-athletes-spoke-out-in-support-of-blacklivesmatter-this-week/

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDf_uzHF5n4)

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Black Balling; Literally.

Bill Russel once said “Athletes are like a beautiful woman; no one cares how intelligent or smart they are” and that statement rings true. Through activism, we’ve seen that athletes care about more than just the arena they play in and their uniform. In the video above, the Rams head coach exemplifies that ideology. He says that he is not an expert on ‘societal issues’ but as a human, he knows what those issues are and could very well be an activist if he chose to.For years, we’ve only seen athletes punished for their activism, never really praised by the masses. I think that this is because society has painted athletes to be just people who play sports; we’ve stripped them of their humanity and forgot that they too are affected by the things that happen in this world both good and bad.

As we have seen in most things, it’s easier to keep quiet in order to keep fans happy and continue generating money. It’s ironic that when someone that holds the ‘athlete’ status decides that they are not happy with something that is affecting them and/or people they know, their fans aren’t happy anymore and it could cost the team money in all aspects of revenue.

The most recent and talked about stand against issues is Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the national anthem. In the Beauchamp article, it was discussed that although many fans and officials in the NFL would like to keep politics and the game of football separate, the NFL made that impossible by stamping the National Anthem at the beginning of games. In my own research of why the anthem is even played at games- basically to be a good luck tradition- it seemed benign but had very lasting effects. I think that having something so politically charged makes room for all issues that are happening within the country to be discussed. I don’t think it is fair to expect the athletes to ignore injustice when the game that they play sets them up to appear to be athletes of the government. That does not add up.

Unfortunately, when athletes do decide to speak up out, it costs. Not only are they fined (The WNBA was fined $500 per player and $5000 a team for speaking out), but a lot of times if their activism persists beyond the fine which serves as a warning, then they begin to lose the other parts of their career that bring them money like endorsements, and has also cost Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and Colin Kaepernick; their careers.

I’ve seen many people argue that Colin didn’t receive a job for this upcoming season due to his talent, however, he pissed off a lot of people, well a lot of white people with his protest. As long as he was costing people their enjoyment and being more than an athlete, no one wanted to look his way. The NFL has effectively black balled him and I can only hope that despite the higher-ups wanting to keep the game away from controversy, that he continues to stand for the things he believes in, and setting an example for those who share his platform.

With all the controversy that Colin’s activism caused, I wondered just how many people stand up or hush for the national anthem when they’re outside of the arena that tells them to do so. Do you?

 Sources:

Beauchamp, Zackary (2016). Kaepernick didn’t bring politics into sports.. Vox. Retrieved April 20, 2017 from http://www.vox.com/2016/9/3/12774172/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-why

Cauterucci, Christina (2016). The WNBA’s Black Lives Matter Protest Has Set a New Standard for Sports Activism. XXFactor. Retrieved April 20, 2017 from Canvas.

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What a twist in this story. The persistence of homophobia in sports kills.

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The Game Of Basketball “White Men Can’t Jump” The Greatest Story Ever Told

In 1992 Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson starred in the American sports comedy classic “White Men Can’t Jump” written and directed by Ron Shelton. The movie was released March 27, 1992, by 20th Century Fox.  The story begins when a street baller (Wesley Snipes) underestimates the Ability of Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) a Caucasian basketball player who banks on the black players underestimating his skills. After Sidney sees opportunity him and Billy partner up in the con game.  The movie takes place in the gritty streets of Los Angeles, on Venice Beach in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Watts.

Through embedded ideologies, black players are seen as more dominant athletes on the court.  According to racial equality activist Richard Lapchick, the NBA in 2015 was composed of 74.4 percent black players, 23.3 percent white players, 1.8 percent Latin players, and 0.2 percent Asian players (R. Lapchick, n.d.).  When Billy came along he was seen as an easy target but things did not end up that way.  My goal for the reader is to understand that despite embedded ideologies individuals should not be judged based on race, instead a person should be perceived based on their individual ability.

There are flaws that arise out of the movie “White Men Can’t Jump” and that is the representation of racial stereotype seen across our nation.  The movie illustrates that the two males of different racial backgrounds were not equally competent when it came to skills and ability.  The group of African-American players was programmed to think that white men were not good basketball players. Basketball in the inner city is perceived as entirely the property of African Americans as a result when the caucasian athlete from Louisiana stepped on the court it was automatically assumed that he would perform poorly.  

When Billy stepped on the court he was greeted with laughter and jokes nobody took him seriously which played into his advantage.  He sold the perception of a bad player making the other men feel comfortable before taking advantage of them.  Sydney and Billy had a shooting contest where the whole time Billy was told that his shots were lucky.  Ron Shelton did a great job of depicting this scene making the audience feel like they were in the shoes of the characters.  I could relate the scenes to past events where I was judged based on race and not my ability. Sidney and Billy had a very ego driven relationship, the two were completely different but had a love for basketball and neither one would admit defeat.  Snipes was in the game to make money because of the downturn of the economy his other jobs were suffering and he needed to please his wife and take care of his child.  Woody, on the other hand, was a white guy from out of town who uses his goofy looks (floppy shorts, backward cap, and distracted grin) to lure victims into betting on his game.  Harrelson merely did it because he was a compulsive gambler who owed debts.

This movie relates to specific concepts that we have discussed in class around dominant ideology.  Bannon & Messner’s “The Color Line in Athletics” did a great job showing that sometimes race and dominant ideology can hold a person back despite their ability.  Jeremy Lin embarked on a great journey before finally reaching success.  Lin and Asian American Harvard graduate who has been playing basketball his whole life was underestimated and had to prove himself. In fact, “Asians only make up 1 percent of the National Basketball Association (NBA) players” (Lapchick, 2011).  I recall from Lin’s documentary when he asked the African American players from camp for pointers they insisted that he just passed them the ball.  Downplaying his ability similar to what Billy experienced when he stepped on the court.  Prior to that before he was moved to the D-League critics insisted that he was only drafted by the Warriors to sell merch.  The NBA having a player like Jeremy Lin is rare and he had to go through many obstacles to achieve success.  Lin gained the trust of sports fans and coaches while playing for the Knicks making a dramatic impact by scoring 25 points.

Our nation is driven by capitalism this includes private ownership.  Athletics reinforces the U.S. obsession and emphasis upon individualism and success. Capitalism contributes to the way that local, community, and professional level sports are organized.  Nowadays youth sports have become increasingly privatized. Evidently, “an average family has to be prepared to spend at least $2000 a year on sports for their children” (Coffey 2010).  As a result, youth sports has become increasingly segregated by race, ethnicity, and class.  This is the reason why a majority of Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americas are less likely to participate in sports such as golf, hockey, and soccer.  These groups are members of less fortunate families and the financial cost associated with training, and traveling is unbearable.  Therefore, “sociologist and other scholars refer to the Color Line in U.S. sports” (Miller and Wiggins 2004).  This term represents the systematic legal separation, or state-sanctioned segregation, also known as Jim Crow segregation.  This term remained in place until the late 1960s and early 1970s.  It has since been replaced and is now known as de facto segregation. 

White men can’t jump is a great example of systematic legal segregation.  Many Athletes who make it the pro’s a majority of African Americans spend a lot of time playing basketball at courts built into their neighborhoods.  Lebron James who is now a multi-millionaire spent a lot of time practicing similar to Billy Hoyle and Sydney. The sports industry in the United States is a part of the culture and American values that reward individualism, materialism, and consumption.

Categorizing individuals shapes the world around us.  People come from different types of backgrounds and not every family is fortunate.  Many parents are forced to put their children into sports like basketball or football because that is what they can afford.  Also, a majority of minority groups look up to athletes with similar backgrounds.  This is who they can relate to and for some people, this is the only way they can make it out of an unfortunate situation. LeBron grew up in a very rough neighborhood and rose to success after working his way up and becoming a basketball star.  The Idea of Capitalism is that no matter what your background is if you work very hard you can achieve success. For example, the two athletes Billy and Sydney collaborated to achieve their goals and at the end, they obtained success.  This is true but it is rare that a less fortunate player from the hood makes it to the NBA only a few gifted players from different cities make it, maybe two or three.  Other minorities fall into the judicial system which then makes it harder for them to climb the ladder to success.

When I first saw the movie I did not look at it from a racial standpoint I actually thought it was interesting, comedic and, depicted a friendship of two different men from different backgrounds.  The friendship between the two characters drives the film despite their backgrounds they found a way to work together and achieve their goals.  Being a college educated male I have faced many obstacles since I started college.  Sometimes I felt like I could not accomplish an obstacle but I managed to keep myself motivated and so far I am enjoying what I have been learning.  I know individuals who would love the opportunity to re-start embark on a better life.  I learned and also want my reader to understand that people should not be judged based on embedded ideologies but rather who they are as a person and their individual ability.

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The Story of A “Fallen Myth” And His Brother——The Fighter

Sports are always having a kind of psychological suggestions on us. Maybe positive, maybe negative. Being a hero is always one of the main thesis statements in sports, a hero of a team, or a hero of someone’s self, which we called as the mythology of sports. The movie The Fighter is a movie with the thesis of mythology. The main male character is a positive example of mythology and his older brother who is the second main character is firstly a negative example and then goes into a positive one. For this essay, I’m going to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of mythology in sports showed by The Fighter. To be active, mythology in sports can give faith to people, not only the fans but also the players, it also gives spirit to communities, and help shaping individualism and American Dream. To be negative, mythology catches people losing in the glorious past and it shapes the masculine identities with failing the equality in sports on gender.

The Fighter is mainly about the story of two brothers. The older one Dicky used to be a champion of boxing with great talent. But after his wins, he dropped himself into the hell of cocaine. He was the myth of Lowell where is his hometown. People loved him. But he holds his past honors life time long and pays attention to nothing but sex and drugs. He is the coach of his younger brother Micky but he always misses his brother’s key moments because of doing drugs. The mother Alice was the manager of Micky. However, she tried to control his son and she is partial to Dicky. Micky trained very hard but his boxing career was killed by Dicky and Alice. To make his life come onto the right trail again, Micky starts a new life of boxing with his girl friend Charlene and his firend O’Keefe. After some messes, Dicky and Alice come back to a right way and with the help of all of them, Micky becomes a new world champion.

This movie is really about mythology in sports. Dicky was a champion and because of this, he was treated as a hero, the proud of Lowell. “Sports provide especially persuasive people and places for communicating mythology”(Billings & Butterworth & Turman, p93). For a little town with little space and small population, it is not difficult to understand such a champion can become a myth by the platform provided by sport. Even people who don’t know that he is in trouble of drug still want to take photos with him. Just as what our power point in class pointed, myths have religious-like quality, as “intense excitement and spirit of community”(Fischer, P9).

Mythology can give spirit to communities. Just like what Dicky brought to his hometown Lowell. It was more than a champion. It created a broad proud to the community. Our community has a champion here. And all people who live inside share the same spirit of proud of owning a champion. As what is mentioned in book Communication and Sport: Surveying the Field, “myths arise as community stories that celebrate collective heroes, origins, and identity through expressive rituals”(Billings & Butterworth & Turman, p95). Identity of the community is shaped through the process of celebrating the heroes, origins, and identity itself.

A great example is the top basketball team in my hometown Beijing. The Beijing Jinyu Club held champion cups for three times in four years during 2012-2015 seasons. Every single person who are originally from Beijing talked about it. And every one felt so proud of that. It’s much more than a team which holds a cup. It’s about the story, the myth of Beijing. It’s about the pride of being a Beijing person.

(A crazy celebration after Beijing Jinyu held the champion in 2012

From:http://roll.sohu.com/20120401/n339578623.shtml)

And also mythology gives players who are considered as heroes faith. In the movie, at first, be terribly arranged of battles by Alice, Micky played several bad games on boxing. He was beaten hard by his opponents and by this process, he was losing his confidence on boxing. After giving up to be trained by his brother Dicky and managed by his mom Alice, Micky was prepared well with his girlfriend Charlene and his firend O’Keefe. He won many games. He became the myth again. And being the myth again, did bring him faith on boxing. He got his confidence back from his past loses. Mythology does not only give the fans and the community spirit. It encourages player as well.

(Micky became confident again.)

After being confident again, Micky went better and better. And finally he becomes the champion. This kind of development of story is super inspiring. It’s the typical story of individualism and American Dream. For myself, I am inspired by this story so much. I had a dream when I was in middle school. I dreamed to be a soccer coach that time. Today, I know it is hardly to come true. But I still want to work in sports area. After watching the movie, I hold this dream more tightly. So the mythology in this story creates the feeling of individualism and American Dream as well.

However, just as what our power point slides in class told, in one way, mythology in sports shows advantages. But it brings problems too. Mythology shapes how people think. And this kind of shaping may bring up problems on inequality. This point is mentioned by Communication and Sport: Surveying the Field as well. “Yet there is also the possibility that mythology obscures some of the problems found in sports”(Billings & Butterworth & Turman, p99).

For example, inequality on genders. “The widely held assumption that sexualizing female athletes is the most effective way to promote women’s sports creates cognitive dissonance”(Kane, P2). As the article argued, “sex selling” is a problem in sports. Also in this movie, it is a problem. The mythology of the boxing heroes creates a kind of message like boxing is a male-dominated sport. In the movie, the females are dressed really sexy. And the sisters of Micky even goes into silly. The images of female characters in the movie really show the stereotypes on female.

(This movie draws stereotypes of females, especially when female characters are compared with the mythology of males)

The mythology of male players in this movie well described the masculinity in sports. “Sports is seen as the realm in which heterosexual masculinity has been constructed and performed”(Fischer, P4). The more a male player is considered as a mythology, the more masculinity thought we can grab. In this movie, the Micky is described as a myth. And the movie is never lack of showing the power of male and the beauty of male body structure. Just like the picture below.

(It is never lack of showing the power of male)

All in all, the movie is a great movie. It shapes the myth of a boxing player and shows the ruin of myth of another boxing player. We can see that mythology in sports can give faith to people, can give spirit to communities, and can shape individualism and American Dream. It helps failing the equality in sports by shaping the masculine identities with failing the equality in sports on gender

 References

Mia, F. (Producer). (2/13/2017). Sport & Mythology. Myths. US: Power Point

Andrew, C.B. & Michael, L.B. & Paul, D.T. (2014). Communication and Sport: Surveying the Field. SAGE Publications.

Kane, M. J. (2011). Sex Sells Sex, Not Women’s Sports. The Nation. Retrieved April 8, 2017.

Mia, F. (Producer). (3/6/2017). Masculinity. Constructing Masculinity US: Power Point

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Miracle on Ice: The U.S.S.R. Wanted to Win, U.S.A Needed to Win

“Do you believe in miracles!? Yes!!” -  Al Michaels.  

This phrase was uttered by the ABC sports commentator host as the final seconds ticked off the score clock in the semifinal round of the 1980 Olympic hockey tournament between the U.S. & Soviet Union with the U.S. men’s hockey team winning in a come from behind victory, 4-3.  The narrative is focused on an international scale when the Soviet & American teams were natural rivals due to the decades-old Cold-War & Russia’s dominant hockey team the past two decades.  In addition, President Jimmy Carter was considering a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, to be held in Moscow, in protest of the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  President Carter eventually decided in favor of the boycott.  As a result of this decision, there was a chance that if the U.S. didn’t go to Moscow for the summer games, then the Soviets might not attend the winter games in Lake Placid, NY.  If the boycott had happened, the greatest moment in sports history would have never happened.  Miracle the movie is focused on the true story of Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell), the coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly unbeatable Russians.  Coach Herb Brooks plays a significant role in transforming the young team’s mindset that allowed them to take on this seemingly impossible challenge in the first place.

           Herb Brooks, born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1939, was a member of the 1960 Olympic hockey team, only to become the last cut the week before the games started. Three weeks later, Brooks sat at home with his father and watched the team he almost made win gold.  This humbling moment realizing his coach made the right decision cutting him served as motivation for Brooks into his coaching career. When Brooks became coach of the 1980 Olympic team, he had to piece together a group of college level hockey players (NHL players were not allowed to play in the Olympics at the time). Many people scrutinized Brooks for his intense coaching style and unorthodox Russian/Canadian approach, but he persisted in his methods which proved to be the best for his team.  A drill of Brook’s became famous, now known as the “Herbie”, in which the players have to repeatedly skate to each line and back all the way down the ice until he says to stop.  It was during one of these “Herbie’s”  that Herb Brooks famously said to his team after a poor performance in an exhibition game, “The name on the front is a hell of a lot more important, than the one on the back”, implying that the team and the country they represent are bigger than themselves.  These profound moments are what molded the team physically and mentally. “In modern American society, sports are far more than just a game” (Jay, P. 1).  This quote resonates with the thesis of this paper in a few ways.  Herb Brooks knew how important this game was to the American people but that did not stop him from accomplishing his main objective, putting together a winning hockey team despite the odds.  

           (Herb Brooks)

           As mentioned in the Sports & Nationalism PowerPoint, “media representations play a central ideological role for mobilizing and reasserting nationalist and militaristic values” (Fischer).  As international tensions mounted around the world and with the 1980 Olympics in full swing, the media was focused on the hockey tournament more and more as the U.S. team advanced.  The spotlight was even bright with the games being held in America.  Brooks would speak on behalf of the team to keep them focused, another one of his coaching methods that proved to work for the better. Many media sources and journalists criticized Brooks of wanting to keep the spotlight on himself, in which he responded “they’re just kids, let’s not turn this into something more.”  This situation that is more common today with social and professional media sources constantly bombarding coaches, players and management with rhetorical questions or false accusations, trying to stir up gossip and ratings.  Ann Pegoraro’s article from the week four modules Twitter as Disruptive Innovation in Sport Communication is a great example of how media disrupts the flow of sports in certain situations and mediums. “Twitter is helping to ‘produce stories about sports, intensifying and proliferating media sports content and information available in the public sphere, and forcing new ways of thinking about the interaction between sport and digital media by sports organizations, athletes, journalists, publicists and fans’”(Pegoraro, p. 3).  Herb Brooks would probably disagree with this quote or completely ignore it.  Although Brooks was often misunderstood by his players, coaches, and the media, he kept his team grounded and only focused on the game, even though it was bigger than just a game.  Brooks made the tough decisions for the betterment of the team much like his coach when he was cut from the 1960 team.

           ( Team USA After Defeating the Soviets)  

There are several problems with the movie’s representation of certain issues.  We do not see the perspective of the Soviet Union and their hockey team very much in the movie.  In sports, much like in war, the winners write the history books.  For example, here was a moment in the game vs. USSR where Jim Craig was shaken up, but contrary to what's shown in the movie, the hit did not happen as the Soviets scored a goal. If a goalie is that flagrantly knocked down it should be a two-minute penalty for "goaltender interference" and the goal disallowed.  These subtle moments added for the movie creates a false representation of the Soviet team and the USSR.  The representation of Herb Brooks and the players on the team were not entirely accurate in their depiction and roles on the team.  Immediately after the victory against the Soviets, coach Herb Brooks did indeed leave the bench and go back through the tunnel. However, it wasn't to find a secluded place to rejoice. He simply had to go to the restroom (Movie Mistakes).  In the scene where the players are being forced to do skating drills by Herb, Mike Eruzione speaks up and says his name.  Shortly after this moment, the movie shows Eruzione to be the captain of the team, leading the viewer to believe that he was named captain for speaking up.   In real life, Jack O, Callahan speaks up during the skating drill (Movie Mistakes).

 Sources

Jay, Kathryn. More Than Just a Game: Sports in American Life Since 1945.

Movie Mistakes:  Factual Errors. Miracle.  2004. http://www.moviemistakes.com/film3930/factual

Pegoraro, A. (2010). Look who’s talking—Athletes on Twitter: A case study. International Journal of Sport Communication, 3, 501–514.

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Fighting two of the same fights: Being Black and Being Muslim

By Alex Monahan

The man who could murder a rock and injure a stone, Muhammad Ali was no stranger when it came to fighting, however more accredit and praise is given to Muhammad Ali outside of the ring when his gloves are off his hands. In the Saeed Article he quotes author Henderson when describing how sports is the only field where black culture can be integrated into white culture. Saeed even goes on to say how in the realm of boxing in the 1950s-60s black men fell into the categories of either ‘Uncle Toms’ or ‘Bad Niggers’ (Saeed 2). You either had men that would be almost submissive to the boxing politics and obey the white men, or you would have individuals who were out of line and upset the overwhelming white control. Cassius Clay was one of those individuals.

 Saeed goes on in his article to describe how Cassius Clay, who after his victory over heavyweight champ Sonny Liston in 1960, and his friendship with Malcom X, turned into Muhammad Ali. With his victories and talented effort in the ring, Ali found himself on another battle ground in the realm of politics and the American populous. After his refusal to join the 1965-66 draft, Ali was striped of his title and shunned by the American people: going as far as for people to denounce Ali’s American roots and villainize his Islamic belief.

 “It was as though I had touched an electric switch that let loose the pent-up hatred and bitterness that a section of white America had long wanted to unleash on me for all my cockiness and boasting, for declaring myself ‘The Greatest’ without waiting for their kind of approval.” [Muhammad Ali after his rejection of the Draft] (Saeed 60).

 In a tribute video and article by Vox.com, an in depth look was to Ali’s battles outside of the arena. From his stand with Malcom X, his influence with Martin Luther King, his stand with Nelson Mandela, Ali became the African-American political figure of a generation. Along with his boxing career and political influence, Ali always managed to stick up against segregation and racial undertones that have long lived in America.

 As he grew older Ali still managed to inspire long after his victory against George Foreman, and long after his retirement in 1981. He even managed to speak out against the 9/11 terrorist attack that ravaged all Americans, and he re-enforced himself as a representation of [peaceful] Islam instead of the portal of the terrorist that day (Posner 5:55-6:55). Although his life was categorized under the rule of segregation in the 1960s, and how he fought outside the arena for his religion, Muhammad Ali still remains the greatest boxer of all time with his influence both in and outside of the ring. Thank you.

Saeed, A. (2003). What's In a Name? Muhammad Ali and the Politics of Cultural Identity. . Sports, Media, Culture, 52-72. doi:EBSCO Publishing

Posner, Joe (2016, June 06). Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.vox.com/2016/6/6/11866938/muhammad-ali-civil-rights

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Rob’s Media Example: Ali

The readings from Zirin and Saeed attempted to define how the world viewed Muhammad Ali.  It is clear that there is no difference between the man and the symbol he represented, Ali was and will be the greatest. The evolution from the patriotic heavy weight contender to political activist and world champion all on his own term. Though he died a year ago you still the extent of his legacy on American culture, politics and identity because he simply stood up for what he believed in and never wavered. What also propels this legacy is how he got away with expressing himself and his values where others had lost their entire careers. Ali had his titles and license stripped for refusing to fight in Vietnam and was unable to compete for 4 years yet came back and regained his status thus vindicating him. Here is the central theme of the readings, how The Champ combined his athleticism with activism becoming a symbol to those who wish to speak truth to power. Or as Zirin puts it in his obituary for Ali,

“Through the Champ’s words on the streets and deeds in the ring, bravery was not only standing up to Sonny Liston. It was speaking truth to power, no matter the cost. He was a boxer whose very presence and persona taught a simple and dangerous lesson: “real men” fight for peace and “real women” raise their voices and join the fray” (Zirin).

Of course there are the complexities of his image regarding his relationship to the Nation of Islam and aspects of his personal life but the image he crafted in the 60’s still persists. The media examples used are perfect representations of his social activism and his personality through athleticism. They are two interviews on the public domain are from two periods of his life. The first is a debate with white college students when he refused to go to Vietnam and the second is his taunting speech to George Foreman before the “Rumble in the Jungle”. These example exemplify how we view Ali especially from his self-granting title as The Greatest.

Activism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnY_FsxAChg

Personality  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LSewbS5eQI

Zirin, D. (2016, June 4). ‘I Just Wanted to Be Free’: The Radical Reverberations of Muhammad Ali. The Nation . Retrieved April 18, 2017, from https://www.thenation.com/article/i-just-wanted-to-be-free-the-radical-reverberations-of-muhammad-ali/

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Sports Gaming: Fantasy Sports, Video Gaming & Sports Gambling

The origin of fantasy sports begins in Oakland with a small group of friends playing in fantasy football in the early 90’s.  This group adapted their fantasy rules to the point system created by William Gamson, a Harvard professor who created a similar group with his colleagues to watch baseball in the 1960’s.  The game was made by Gamson to simply make the game more interesting and made for friendly interpersonal interactions amongst friends. Today, “fantasy sports” is a term that includes just about every sport around the globe.  Within America alone, 35 million people participate in some form of fantasy sports, with an estimated $3 billion annually in money stream.

           The sports gambling world has evolved just like fantasy sports over the years, and now sports gambling has merged with fantasy sports. Gambling sites like Draft Kings, Bovada, FanDuel & My Bookie are all legal sports betting sites that range from 25 cents to create a line up to thousands of dollars, with payouts in the hundreds of thousands.  These companies have contracts with major television corporations that air ads for these sites constantly.  The NFL, MLB, NHL & NBA have advertising deals with the fantasy sites.  However, there is still a lot of legal grey area as to whether these sites are considered gambling.  These sites claim that they are entertainment and a game of skill, not gambling.  This is ironic since gambling is entertaining, and often addicting.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver explains the legal loopholes in a 2015 episode, Daily Fantasy Sports

Another problem is that the actual players that are doing the work for these fantasy sports betting teams are not being compensated for their image and production.  This is also a problem for professional athletes and college athletes who are not compensated for their image and likeness in video games.  The strict rules of the NCAA will not change anytime soon, but professional athletes who have success on and off the field can be compensated for their work performing cameos in commercials and TV shows like The League on FX.  “A final impact of fantasy sports lies in the area of deviance in the form of addiction and gambling.  Consider the obsessiveness of the players in The League, placing fantasy sport success ahead of other fundamental obligations to family and career” ( Sports Gaming p. 339).