Sexy Sports

Today, we discussed the difference in appearance between men and women in sport. We had a lot of good points brought up discussing this difference, but only one thing came to my mind.

We watched a youtube video showing how women athletes were portrayed in the 90s. For example, Anna Kournakova, Lisa Leslie, and the U.S. Swim Team all talked about how they were shown sexually. The U.S. Swim Team was shown naked behind an American flag and they revealed quite a bit. However, my only argument was that these women weren't photographed sexually by the paparazzi on there own. They had to agree to do the photo shoot and they posed on there own will to do so. And I'm sure an exchange of money was involved in this. Which makes me believe that the media along with many other people discuss this issue and make a big deal over something that these women have chosen to do.

Another point that wasn't brought up was the ESPN "The Body Issue" Magazine. Someone mentioned the difference between Serena Williams on the cover and Dwight Howard on the cover and how Dwight Howard's body is cut off at his waist. This could be a topic of discussion, but if you look throughout the magazine, there are more naked men shown in their sport then naked women. For example, the D.C. United MLS team and three players from the Edmonton Oilers. This makes me wonder why people make a big deal about Serena on the cover but don't look inside to see what the magazine is about. This just goes to show that you, "can't judge a book by its cover."

Asianization of America

In class, we discussed the impact of of the "Ming Dynasty" and how Yao Ming made an impression on Asians in American sports. We talked about two pitchers in the MLB, Hideo Nomo (the Tornado) from the Las Angeles Dodgers and Hideki Irabu from the New York Yankees. These two players entered the MLB before many other bigger named minorities. For example, Ichiro Sazuki has been an American League All-Star every year since his move to the States. Another well known Asian in baseball is Hideki Matsui who was just named the World Series Most Valuable Player. However, Matsui brings up an issue to some people.

As discussed in class, the LPGA made a requirement to know the English language before joining the tour. This made some classmates comment on the requirement, which I don't have an answer, is it right or wrong? However, going back to Hideki Matsui, after receiving his MVP trophy, he had a man on his side that helped with his interview as his translator. Hideki Matsui joined the New York Yankees in 2003. After being in the MLB for six years, some would think he should know the English language by now. Which makes me think of Yao Ming who has been in the NBA with the Houston Rockets since the 2002-2003 season and learned the English language fairly quickly. Each and every year, professional sports in the United States are becoming more global and popular and athletes from all over the globe are coming here to show off their skills. However, should the LPGA have gone so far as to say you must be able to speak English?

Another interesting topic from this class session was the fact of the number of Korean women in the LPGA. This number really stood out and shocked me as I wasn't aware how globalized the LPGA has become and they still insist on the English speaking rule. This raises another question, has the rule of being able to speak English shyed away women athletes from the LPGA? If so, is that right or fair to them? The LPGA is a golf association not a communication association where their ability to play golf should be the main focus and not the language they speak. As previously stated, I don't have the answers the these questions, they are just something to think about.

Serena Williams Blow-Up

I’m sure a lot of people saw Serena Williams blow up on the line judge at the U.S. Open. However, after being called for a foot fault on a second serve and match point, Serena said to the line judge in a harsh way, “I swear to God I will shove this ball down your throat.” Once she threatened the judge, the judge went and told the referee and Serena denied it happened. Obviously this really hurts the good image Serena had for herself. She is known for her crazy talent as a tennis player, and then goes out and does this.

Honestly, I would be afraid of Serena Williams if she was walking in my direction and started to scream this line while pointing at me. She was a good role model in the tennis industry and well respected. Nonetheless, she made herself look really bad Saturday night. What does she do from here? Will anyone forgive her for this unnecessary action?

Personally, I believe Serena owes an enormous apology to all sports fans. I say all sports fans because this clip was shown all over ESPN and millions of people heard what she said. I also believe she will have a hard time gaining respect and forgiveness from many people. I’m sure just about everyone realizes this was crossing the line and completely uncalled for and she only hurt herself and her imagine as an outstanding tennis player. With that said best of luck to Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki as they square off in the finals tonight.

Week 3 Blog

Even though the third week isn’t over yet, the discussion we had today about childhood toys was pretty interesting to me. Be discussed how blue symbolizes a baby boy and pink symbolizes a baby girl. What happens after that? What kind of toys do boys and girls traditionally play with? We had a few people share, however, when I was a kid, I always wanted the little plastic football equipment kit. Growing up loving all Cleveland sports, I HAD to have a Bernie Kosar jersey, pants, shoulder pads, and helmet. However, for some reason I liked the Jacksonville Jaguars before they were even an official team. And once the Mark Brunell kit came out, I had to have it; jersey, pants, shoulder pads, helmet. Even though everything was plastic and so fake, I loved everything about it. I couldn’t play catch with my dad without wearing my equipment. Besides these little football equipment packages, I was all about G.I. Joe and remote control cars. At some point, I even liked making model cars. However, I have a sister, and she would never touch my toys, just like I would never touch hers. She was all about Barbie and the many things you had to buy her. She had a Barbie house, car, clothes, accessories, and friends. I guess I was all about getting multiple toys while my sister wanted more crap for Barbie.
Thinking about these toys now, I wasn’t forced to like these toys just like my sister wasn’t forced to like Barbie. We got these toys because we “had to have them” and that’s the kind of stuff we wanted to do. A good question to ask yourself is, why is it that I wanted these masculine toys at such a young age while my sister just wanted to play with Barbie? At the age of five and younger, did we know boys “should” play with sports toys and cars while girls “should” play with Barbie?

Week 2 Blog

Week two was very interesting to me. The whole Caster Semenya controversy had a lot of people thinking and bringing up a few interesting points. The entire sex testing issue could bring up some grey areas and concerns. Who do you test? How often do you test? When do you test? These are a few concerns I have with gender testing. As for who you test, I believe everyone if anyone should be tested. Or in simpler terms, if you test one individual, you should test everyone just because that individual is going to raise questions on why he/she is being tested. Moving on to how often you test, I don’t have an answer for that one. You can’t test the same person every event they enter (depending on how spread out these events are) and you can’t “judge a book by its cover” or judge a person by their appearance.
Personally, I believe Caster Semenya should be tested. I’m not judging her and thinking she is a guy, but she has many masculine features and I believe people should know one way or another. I understand people from different cultures and/or countries look different, but she looks too masculine to take for granted. However, this brings up a few concerns as to what happens next. If she ends up being a male, obviously her records won’t stand, but what happens to the track and field industry? On the other hand, if she is a woman after all, what will people talk about? Will people say the test is wrong? Will people respect her more for what she has done? Usain Bolt is an unbelievable male runner why can’t Caster Semenya be an unbelievable female runner? These are just a few things I have thought of and the only explanation for these questions is I believe our society isn’t ready to accept a masculine female into the sport industry.

Introduction

First off, my name is, Kevin Shiley I am a currently a junior and I am from Avon Lake, OH which is about 20 minutes west of Cleveland. With that said, I am a diehard Cleveland sports fan; Indians, Browns, Cavaliers, I love them all. I am a sport enterprise emphasis with a minor in general business and plan on going to law school after my undergrad to pursue a career as a sport agent.
Growing up I was involved in many sports such as baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and golf here and there. However, freshman year I joined the rugby team and I play golf at least three times a week every summer. Even playing sports throughout my entire life, it is hard to define what a sport really is.
Personally, I would say a sport is a competition involving both individuals or teams with some kind of regulations or rules. This competition is at a predetermined area; however, the outcome is decided on the field or surface by the individuals and/or teams. This event is judged or officiated by an official and involves some kind of strategy. This is a very important topic to discuss as a sport management student as it will be our career for the rest of our lives.
Thinking of one male athlete is pretty hard. I think it would be awesome to see Michael Phelps just because of what he can do in a pool. However, I have no interest in swimming, which leads me to the South Africa Springboks. The Springboks are the national rugby team in South Africa and just won the most recent World Cup of Rugby in 2007. If you don’t know anything about the Springboks, the following link is a YouTube video with a few highlights to get the idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d804v87tUog
As for a female athlete, I would really like to see Natalie Gulbis. I love the sport of golf, and Natalie Gulbis is easy on the eyes.
In taking this course, my goal is to learn how gender plays a role in sport and further my knowledge of sport. I also look forward to posting a new blog each week.