In conclusion....

Looking back through this class, I feel I have expanded my knowledge on topics brought up upon in Sport and Gender. Some of the topics that I learned further on were such things as the case on Caster Semenya, and the whole issues on intersex. Another topic that I really enjoyed learning about was the topic on people in sport with disabilities. I feel while learning on athletes such as the young boy who was able to play baseball with only one legs, as well as the man who was able to play football with no legs was very moving to me, and it showed that people that are highly goal oriented can do whatever they want to do.
As I stated in my blog presentation, my favorite articles were the ones that dealt with Serena and Venus Williams at Indian Wells. I can say that this was one of my favorite topics because it showed how not only do the Williams sisters have to over come the fact that they potentially can play each other in a match and the racism they encountered at Indian Wells, but they are still sisters that stick together and share compassion about the sport of tennis with each other.
I feel as if blogging for this class not only helped me get all of the thoughts that I had bottled up in my head out to my classmates, but it was also more of a way to help me review what we have talked about in class. Blogs to me were very beneficial to this class because, in class we always ended up in discussions but we were on a time limit, and with these blogs it helped students go home and take this discussion even further.
Overall, I really enjoyed this class and learning on many of the topics revolving around sport and gender. Before this class I knew little about many of the topics and issues we went over in class, and after taking this class I can take the knowledge that I have learned and possibly discuss these issues with future colleagues and friends.

Blog Group Presentation

I feel as if out blog group presentation we gave was not only informative to the class but it was also beneficial for the members of our group to do. I say this because by presenting our information to the class, it gave the people who did papers or journals to see what we had to say in our blogs and why we did blogs. The reason why I feel as if the blog group presentations were beneficial to the members of my group is because when we got together to discuss what we wanted to talk about in our presentation, it gave forth a better understanding of each of our favorite articles. For instance when C.J presented the video on the boys playing on a girls field hockey team, I felt as if this gave me more reasons why boys should be able to play on girls teams as well as girls playing on boys teams. Looking at this issue more in depth you can see that some athletes want to stay in shape and keep their skills at the top of their game. For instance, I could definitely see a boy that plays ice hockey want to play field hockey. The reason is that those two sports are in different seasons, and if there is no boys' field hockey team I do not a problem in him wanting to play on the girls team to keep in shape and keep his stick handling skills. The same goes with girls playing in boys sports. By looking at what another blog group discussed during class on girls playing football such as Holly Mangold, I feel as if they are capable to keep up with the boys then why stop them. Looking back on these presentations, I also think that these presentation were almost like a review session for the exam. The reason I say this is because most groups covered information that we saw on the exam, and these presentations should be kept in future classes to come.

Women athletes can be sexy too

Well, as we have many discussions in class about the topic on women showing off their bodies, I will be giving my opinion on female athletes wanting to model themselves off. First off, as we all know but hate to admit sex does sell, when it comes to marketing off apparel or selling such things as we saw in the Anna Kournikova ad of "Only the ball should bounce" many companies try to incorporate sex into their ads. But other than marketing some women athletes just want to show off their body that people don't usually get to see because they are used to only seeing them in their athletic gear. Take a look for example Danica Patrick, as most of you Danica is a Formula 1 race car driver, not to mention her good looks and racing skills, she is always seen with a helmet and a racing suit on. Well in the last year or so, she has decided to take off here suit and helmet and show off what she actually has under it. She has been recently seen in the infamous "Go Daddy" television commercials trying to act all sexy and getting her feministic appeal up. As well as doing those commercials she has been in many photo shoots showing off her body. I feel that this should not be looked upon as something degrading to women. If a woman athlete wants to show off her body and be sexy I feel like they should.

Doing the unthinkable

Ever since I was eight years old I have played in the Findlay Area Golf Association, otherwise known as FAGA. Throughout my years playing in this league I was always used to just going out and playing 18 holes with my good friends, until my eighth grade year. It was this time when the director of the tournaments, a good family friend of mine came up to me before the pairings were picked and told me there was a young man that was from Brazil playing in his first tournament that day. The director asked me if I would be willing to sacrifice playing with my friends and play with the young man from Brazil. I said "sure, why not". When we got up to the first tee, everyone introduced themselves, and the last person I introduced myself was to Hector, the kid from Brazil. Looking at Hector, you would think he was just a normal kid, just out to play some golf and meet new friends. Everyone hit their first drive, and once we started walking I noticed that Hector walked with somewhat of a limp it appeared as. As I got closed I noticed that both of Hectors legs were prosthetic. After, the round I asked the director what happened and apparently when he was a child, both of his legs were burned so severely in a house fire that they had to be removed. When I heard this I was in shock that he was able to come out and WALK 18 holes with us without any problems or complaints. I feel like athletes with disabilities are amazing people. Not, only are they driven to play sports but they can do it with a disability. Their stories are just breath taking to some, and it shows that with a goal driven mind set people can do anything.

Shaq taking it too far?

Although we watched this is class, here is a quick clip of what I will be talking about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZjr82PgD7w.

After watching that some people may take these comments Shaq made in different ways. People may laugh at that and say it was a funny joke, but some may say that these were very racist comments made towards Yao Ming. Personally, when I saw this I started laughing hysterically. To many Shaq is looked at as being a funny man and has previously made humorous jokes for instance take a look at this press conference where he came back to a joke a reporter made to him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpfIHV7xA-s&feature=related. After watching that you can see that Shaq probably wasn't trying to mean or racist in his comments about Yao Ming. I think people that look at it in a racist way need to loosen up a bit and learn to take a joke. Yeah it may have "crossed the line" but seriously some people just need to take a joke. I mean look at it this way, athletes talk smack all the time to each other and to me that's exactly what Shaq was doing, he was trying to get in the head of Yao, and I'm sure he did a good job of doing it. If they want to settle it, they should settle it on the court.

A magician never reveals his secret...

Until the day of November 7, 1991 no magician would reveal their secret, but then Magic Johnson ended this by revealing his secret of him contracting the HIV virus. For many people this was a shock, because to their knowledge it seemed as if only gay males and drug users were the majority of people to have this deadly virus. But when Magic came out and said that he had contracted the disease not cause he was gay or from drugs but from his sexual contact with many women, this opened the eyes of many. To some Magic is a hero for coming out and revealing his secret because it is not easy for some people to openly come out and say that they have the disease.

I feel like Magic Johnson has a lot of courage to come out and say he has the HIV virus publicly. The reason I feel like he had a lot of courage for doing so, is because when other NBA players had found this out some said they wouldn't want to play against him because they were afraid that by playing with him they could possibly contract the disease from him. Although after he came out with his statement he did retired but in my opinion I feel that those players that say they wouldn't play with him are very ignorant. The reason is that although he has the disease, the only way that he could pass it on to another person is from blood to blood contact, which would be very hard I feel. I would like to say that Magic Johnson is a very inspirational person because to live with this disease is very hard, and he still is a icon to the game of basketball.

High School Athletes coming out of the closet

We didn't quite get to this is class due to the Internet being down but in 1999 Corey Johnson a High School linebacker and guard declared his homosexuality to the public and his teammates. What was very unusual about his story is that he did not see any ridicule or harassment from his teammates or anyone in his high school. When I read this I was in shock because like I said in class I could not imagine someone on my hockey team coming out to us of being homosexual. I feel if someone were to come out in a high school it would be very hard on them mentally. I say this because not only would they get harassment from people from their own high school but from their opponents and the opposing fans. By receiving harassment from these people I feel as if it would break them down and they would quite the sport, but that is what is the best part of Corey Johnson, he was still respected as an athlete from his teammates and school. Corey Johnson was strong because after looking up his story online he got a lot of harassment from an opposing player. Johnson said the opponent said "Faggot, we're going to kill you, you fucking homo." (excuse the language) But to me this takes a lot of guts to go out and and take this from a opponent and still have a level head to play. Overall, I feel as if the story of Corey Johnson is an amazing story how he can be so strong after he came out and still live the life he has been living.

Girl gone wild....in a soccer game

What is going too far in a sport especially soccer? Well, I'm sure most of you have seen this video of this NCAA women's soccer game but if you haven't just watch this real quick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k52QWFeP7OY.

Ok, so now after watching that here are my opinions on what I feel about this girl Elizabeth Lambert. First of all, I understand that this is a tournament game and competition is at an all time high, but the actions taken by her are for one unsportsmanlike and for two these actions should never be done by a girl. Yes, it is amazing to see the passion this girl has for her sport but pulling a girl down to the ground by here hair....THAT'S ABSURD! I feel as if this girl should be suspended from playing NCAA soccer for her actions taken place in this game. Even watching that video you can see that former gold medalist Julie Foudy makes comments on her far out playing style. Someone might ask me "well what is too far?" Well personally I feel like the slide tackling she made was not too bad because you will see that in mostly any competitive soccer match but I felt like the hair pulling, the punch in the face, and the kicking the ball into the opponents face were taking it too far.

In class Blog group discussion

During class my blog group consisting of Erik Mathis, Mike Slonoff, Stephanie Gebers, C.J Watson, and myself were discussing such things as the coverage of women's sport specifically the Final four of college basketball on television.

We first discussed that women's basketball games are still not getting the right amount of coverage on sports as they should be getting. We noticed that tournament games and regular season games of the women's NCAA final four are usually only showed on ESPN, rather than a top network such as ABC, or NBC and looking at the other spectrum more men's games are broad casted over those bigger networks. We also pointed out that men's games have so much more pregame, halftime, and post game talk than women's.

Although we did all agree upon together that the Men's final four, is more popular than the women's final four, they should still have the same television rights as each other. If networks other than ESPN showed more women's coverage we felt as if this would help the popularity of women's basketball, this could cause a snowball effect which could possibly lead into filling the stands at women's games, and having those pre and post game shows that Men's basketball has.

Breaking the color barrier in hockey

Most of you have heard of Jackie Robinson, and Althea Gibson the athletes who broke the color barrier in their respective sports of baseball and tennis, but a lot of you may have not heard of Willie O'Ree. Willie O'Ree was the first African American man to play the game of hockey. He played for the Boston Bruins in 1960 as a winger for 43 games scoring four goals and had ten assists. It was awesome that he was still able to play hockey because he was 95% blind in his right eye due to getting hit in the face with a puck. Normally, this would end a players career but this did not stop him from playing in the NHL. He also had experienced racism while playing and he stated "Fans would yell, 'Go back to the South' and 'How come you're not picking cotton?' Things like that. It didn't bother me. I just wanted to be a hockey player, and if they couldn't accept that fact, that was their problem, not mine."

Although hockey is not a pre-dominantly African American sport Willie O'Ree has opened the doors for many other African Americans to play hockey. He has inspired many of the African Americans that want to play in the NHL. As of the mid 2000's there has been 17 African American hockey players in the NHL. One of the most famous is Jerome Iginla who has played on the Canadian Olympic team as well as set scoring records. I feel that Willie O'Ree has been an amazing inspiration to the game of hockey and will be remembered by hockey fans just like how Jackie Robinson is remembered in the game of baseball.

Here is a link of a video I found on youtube of Willie O'Ree and his inspiration of him he has had on the game and playershttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNhmbybWIPE

Back on the grind

In class on November 10th, we talked about the young talented women's golfer Michelle Wie. Wie has been in the golf news ever since she was first spotted when she was young playing golf in Hawaii. Her hype was being built up so much she was expected to be the Tiger Woods of the LPGA. My sister, a young golfer looked up to her and had the chance to watch her at the Owens Corning Classic in Toledo. She was also interviewed many times and she repeatedly said how she wanted to play with the men in the PGA. Although she is 17th ranked on the money list all her hype was turned to dust after going through this big spotlight she couldn't back up all her hype.

Well, it might be a little to early to say this but the spark may have just been reignited for Michelle Wie. She recently just went 13 under par to win her first professional tournament. This win could help her get back on track and help her start winning more tournaments to get her back into the scene. I personally am happy for her that she finally won a tournament but it has been ten years since her first professional tournament in the LPGA. Though I will say even if she starts winning more tournaments in the LPGA, I will always feel that women should play in their respective sports and men in theirs. The reason I say this is because for men it is like a double edged sword. If a male plays in a women's sport they are expected to win, but if they lose then they are most likely to be taunted and ridiculed because they lost to a woman.

Overall, I do feel as if this win will help Michelle Wie get back on the scene in the LPGA and possibly jump start her career, but I will still back up that she will never be able to play at the level of the men in the PGA.

Intersex trouble....

What would I do...? What would I do if my child were born intersex. Well, previously in class we had a great debate on what we would do if our child was born intersex. I feel that personally, I would raise it one way and one way only. Intersex children if raised the wrong way, I feel that it could lead to psychological problems. Look at Caster Semenya, she was raised to be a girl, and all of the sudden her whole life has taken on a 360 degree turn around. Recently Semenya's test results came back on the testing of her gender, and it came back that she was not a man, nor a woman....she was a hermaphrodite. Looking at this situation I feel really bad for her and she should be able to keep running in the future, but just what should she be classified as, and should she be able to run in a woman's event anymore? 

By looking at this situation with Caster Semenya it really gave me the idea that if I did have an intersex child I would start raising it as one sex, and then maybe someday in the future I would possible give it a sex test.

Proving yourself in the NHL

Hey fellow bloggers,

During class last week we were discussing how men have to show their masculinity through fighting and violence. We talked about the WWE and how men have to show their "manhood" through fake punches and getting hit in the head by chairs.....fake stuff, and a joke might I add.

But for this blog I am going to be talking about how hockey players in the NHL have to sometime prove themselves through starting a fight. Lately, with commissioner Gary Bettman looming over ideas to get rid of fighting in hockey because he is trying to make it a family oriented game fans still flock to arenas to see their favorite heavyweight players go toe-to-toe with one another at center ice. But this is besides the point I am trying to get across...Hockey players weather rookie or veteran sometimes will get into a scrap just to prove themselves as a man out on the ice. By dropping the gloves it shows that they have guts and it shows other players that they aren't scared, otherwise proving their masculinity to the fans, and the other team. Fighting is exceptionally popular in "Rookie Camps". What a rookie camp is, is that it is the final showdown where a player can strut his stuff in front of the team they are going out for. Players will show the scouts what they having by dropping the gloves and proving that they are a "bigger man" and they aren't scared.

Hopefully, the commissioner of the NHL realizes that fighting is a proving point and a game changer in the NHL. So get rid of the phony WWE junk and look at a real right where men prove themselves on the ice with skates on.

-Brandon

The MJ effect

First off I would like to say that I hope every everyone enjoyed their long labor day weekend (well it didn't feel long to me at least)!

But anyways, my topic for today I would like to talk about is the almighty Michael Jordan. Looking back to the early 90's whenever basketball was mentioned to me the first thing that came to my head was Michael Jordan. Personally growing up I was raised into a hockey family since my father born and raised in Montreal, Quebec where hockey is the center of attention. I never really got into the sport of basketball but once I heard of Michael Jordan I suddenly got interest in the sport. Watching him was just so unbelievable. The way he could shoot the ball from anywhere, how he would magically make those turn around jump shots, and even take the ball to the rim and slam it blew my mind. This is where that famous saying back in the 90's came about to almost every kid " I want to be like Mike." I wanted to be like Mike along with the millions of other kids around the globe. I can remember my mom taking me to the shoe store where I got my first pair of high tops. They were Air Jordan's that were all black with the little red Michael Jordan symbol on them. When I put those on I felt like I could jump higher and shoot the ball better....but that was only in my head.... I can't shoot a basketball if my life depended on it.

Michael Jordan in my opinion made the sport of basketball in the 90's. Chicago Bulls Games were sold out because so many people wanted to watch him play. Nike exploded a line of shoes and clothing that were dedicated to Jordan. He was helping out the sport of basketball not only socially, but economically. And what kid that grew up in the 90's did not see the movie "Space Jam"? Seriously I was in love with that movie because it brought Michael Jordan my favorite basketball player and mixed him in a cartoon world.

Overall, I really feel like Michael Jordan changed the game of basketball for many during the 90's. Actually, even now he is still out there with a new line of Gatorade dedicated to him. He is one of the sports names I will never forget I feel that his legacy in the game of basketball will never wear off.

See ya in class

Introduction about me...Brandon

Hey fellow Bloggers,



My name is Brandon St. Jean and I am currently a Junior here at BGSU pursuing my degree in sport management obviously but a specialization in marketing. I am from a town about the size of Bowling Green about 25 miles south of here called Findlay. You might have heard about the flood that occurred there about two years ago. But anyways I went to Findlay High school where there I participated in two sports, hockey and golf. I have been playing hockey ever since I was 4 years old. I really enjoy the game a lot and love being on the ice. The game is physical, and fast paced. Golf on the other hand....it's boring. The only reason why I really played it was to make my dad happy since he is the pro at a golf course in my hometown. Growing up I also played other sports such as baseball and soccer but never really got into them like I did hockey. The other activity I really like to do back in my hometown is fishing. Fishing is one of my favorite hobbies to do through the spring, summer, and fall. My favorite type of fishing to do is bass fishing, but whenever I get a chance I love going up to Lake Erie and fishing for perch and walleye.

So far I have enjoyed this class a lot and am looking forward for the rest of the semesters. I really like what I have seen so far in this class debate wise because when I just sit in a class and listen to a lecture it is boring. I really like to get involved in class and I feel like this class will give us the opportunity to participate. Like we talked about in the first day of class what male and female we would like to see in class I chose Chad Johnson as a joke as my male and for my female I chose Shawn Joshnson. The reason I chose Chad Johnson jokingly is because I would like to see him do a touchdown celebration after he scored a TD....if that ever would happen this year...but on a serious not the male athlete I really would like see play their sport is Bobby Orr. I really like what Bobby Orr did during his time playing hockey. He was such an amazing 2 way player. He played defense but he was always able to skate up the ice and score somehow. The female athlete I said was Shawn Johnson, the reason why I said this is because she was fantastic during the past Olympics and it was just amazing to see what she could do. Overall I can't wait to keep updating this blog and see what kind of comments everyone has for my blog.

Later y'all