As a result...

I truly fell in love with the class and the opportunities it showed me. Allowing me to express myself freely, a person doesn't get to often. Blogging means something totally new to me now. I would definitely do a blog rather than a paper or a journal. Im not shy and want people to respond to my thoughts to help me understand something or look at something from a different point of view. Because of that throughout the semester I've gained and added knowledge about topics I thought I would have never covered in other classes or even brought up outside of the class room walls. But this class and Dr. Spencer opened my eyes to the fact that many people have the same ideals and beliefs as me but just aren't to sure others do.

to be truthful just about all topics we talked in class about interested me at some point. Some thing that I definitely learned was that female athletes are treated, covered, and looked at different.

As a result I love the class and will definitely contiue to blogg about situation taht interest me. Dr.Spencer should definitley keep the class format the same. Its wonderful.

<23> 2*3=6

One day over a beautiful weekend I saw and heard Lebron James state that he was going to change his number due to the great player who has worldwide made the number such a commodity. Micheal Jordan. My first reaction was "thats whats up..." Paying homage to one of the GOAT's. But then as I start breaking it down further what about the rest of the players that changed style of the game some how. Thats alot of numbers to retire.


To say that Lebron should have respected the number in the begining is smh...He was his idle why not take the opportunity to where a legends number. Why not be compared to him. . Another thing is people saying that MJ can not be duplicated well MJ best year stat wise is in "89 where he averaged 40 minutes per game, he shot 53% from the field had 8 rebounds and 8 assist per game to go along with 32.5 points a game. He also had 2.89 steals and nearly a block per game. While LeBron averaged 42 minutes per game, he shot 47.2% from the field, grabbed 7.0 rebounds a game, dished out 6.6 assists, and averaged 31.4 point per game. To go along with those numbers he had 1.8 steals and nearly a block per game. Now thats pretty close. Well changing his number wont be that bad of a change since he has already made a name for himself.

another bench mark-Lembert

Now that was amazing. Did any one else watch that but me. What Elizabeth Lambert did was epic. I say epic because in history for as long as I can remember no athlete has did numerous attacks on their opposing competition. The most i've ever seen done to an athlete in soccer is a broken limb or a head butt by Zinedane Zindane in 2006. Which received a lot of controversy. To much attention personally. Lambert will definitely be the mark of violence in soccer for years to come. Yes the sport of soccer is a contact sport but yet what she did is uncalled for whether she or a male athlete at any level can or should do. At the same time I don't like the apology that she gave or for that matter any athlete that apologizes for their actions...

They don't mysteriously blackout or go into a trans. Fully capable is what the

y are mentally and as we can see physically. Some apologizes sound fake and I'd rather see them continue to play more fairly without a dear sorry letter, then to hear one and then play fair. Before this incident yes there was not that much coverage on the tournament and after it kinda was. Yet sometime things happen for a reason. In this case that little excitement it gave to the sport sparked the need for the sport to watched again. So Thanks Liz for being yourself on the field because without it what would we be talking about now... And no Im not condoning her actions or any dirty actions just know that it was not a mistake and can happen again with the right circumstances

Tiger Woods

First off at the end of the day...Everyone is human. No this is not an excuse. its just to let people know that mistakes, mishaps, misjudgements, and bad decisions are made all the time. Some more crucial than others which is absolutelty ok. One can do nothing but learn from life.



In the case of Tiger Woods. A person at the top of the Golf game and will go down in history as one of the best hands down. Not to long ago probably 2 weeks ago Woods was in a minor car accident according to the new/media. Initially when I first found out about the incident I was o ok is he ok, any major injuries if not hes fine. But then the news was reporting that the police and other authorities were going to have further investigation about the accident. My initial thought was millions of celeberties have accidnets all the time. They just want to find some kind dirt to bring him down, or why cnat they just leave him alone already. But after a few days I later found out that Tiger was involved in multiple partners other than his wife and mother of his child of over 5 years. Something of this nature is definitely not a public invitation to his life. Personally what another man does in his personal life is his own unless he willingly adressed the situation without outside irretation. Which is definitely not the case here. Yes he committed something very wrong according to a few religion, and laws all over the world. Yes he is definitely humaliated that the circumstancwes put his laundry out inthe public to be seen. Yes people will look at him differently. However Tiger Woods or A-K-A born as Eldrick Tont Woods on December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California is defenitely not perfect on or of the field.



Like I stated in the begining at the end of the day everyone is human. Mistakes will happen and continue to happen if not the world would not be what it is. Progressful. Creative. Beautiful. Earth. Sometime mistakes for someone is a warning for someone else.

Disability??

In class not to long ago there was a nice discussion about whats the right title for atheltes who are disabled. Should we call them this or that. Well we agreed or was told that the proper title is "athletes with disabilities." back in highschool I had came across two athletes with disabilities. Both were blind and were on the schools wrestling team. Which was amazing experiene for me to witness. Eveyone knows when tey see someone who is physically not as what we call "normal" doing something outstanding it makes one shut up because someone out there is doing just as good as the other with physical features that prevent them from living a normal life. Well that was mine. the two wrestlers I saw were pretty good. Playing anysport blind, deaf, or with with out any limbs is an achievement whether they are good or not. Having the strength to with stand adversity and boundries set by society is Beautiful thing.

Any person with a disability can acheive just as much as a fully able body person if not more. I personally beilieve more coverage on athletes with disabilty should happen.

Racism in sports

Agreeing with many classmates sports in general has come a long way from where it started. Or even a few decades ago. But at the same time there is an issue at hand that makes an impact at every sport at any age level. Typically when talking about hockey one automatically assumes all people Caucasian are associated with it. And vis versa with African Americans with basketball and football like Raelin Hampton said in her personal blog. Well the reason not to many African Americans are in the sport is because it is a pretty expensive sport to get into. Where as baseball, football, or even basketball can be played using less then $20 bucks. Where as in hockey one has to by all the appropriate equipment and the buy the time you spend on the ice. The resources to play hockey is something that not a lot are blessed to have.

Any way when athletes do not do well in a sport that they are suppose to perform good or even perform at some ridiculous circumstances. In the case of Venus and Serena Williams in Indian Wells was discussed in class. I believe a few people do not understand the weight of something such as racism, and try to compare it to being discriminated against because their a girl or because they work or live somewhere. Its definitely not the same..imagine being discriminated against because everything you do is not good enough. you can be a girl guy tall short, smart dumb, athletic or a coach potatoes. Everything about you is wrong. Now please come up with a comparison to that..

Being booed is not nothing new. Yes every athlete is some point high school or not goes through it. Now an example an individual gave in class was his friends in high school with through sort of the same thing the Williams sisters did. Which is believable, but did he try and protect them, standup for them, But the difference is tennis is a team sport you have friends around you to protect or stand up for you or simply show you they have your back if anything gets to out of hand. Serena was alone on that court. Yea her father was there but was late to the match, and she cant go running in the stands for support.

She and her sister encountered something no athlete of any color should go through. Its not something that shows the progress of how far as a nation we have came. Despicable is what it is and I support their Boycott 100%...Comment are needed don't be shy

Why.. "Come Out"

In class we talked about athletels "coming out" whether it be while active or retired. Well what we could not name was actual athletes that have came out while still active. There were a few people who were questionable or who we thought to have been. But no hard evidence.

Why is it that people wait until they are retired to prenounce their sexual orientaion. Is it because they fear the life style that awaits them. Friends start to act different, the media focuses more on who the partner is then what the individual has done for or in the sport. Why...yes...all will happen. That is the sad outcome of the type of society we live in and let happen. I believe Dr.Spencer said we never here someone coming out stating they they are heterosexual. Which is I think is kinda funny, why should they. Because its expected. Why shouldn't homosexual be expected. Because its just not, well not yet...

Those who "come out" after being active also recognized this sad outcome. Potentially ruining their career is something that cannot let happen. Even those who are accused of being gay their career may be altered due to the accusations. Maybe not even careers, there personal life maybe altered somehow.

I thought to myslef and I believe it should be applied, why should someone even publicize there sexual orientation. That individual is the same before and after. Personally.

What is "equality"

The further we go into this semester I come to realize that I am going to encounter ideals or even events that have tried or did go against what equality is or what it should be. The more we discuss in class the more upset and furious I become. Last week or so we went over a story that I thought raised two questions. Is equality the same for women to men as it should be for men to women. And do those who think boys should not play with girls believe women are inferior.

In class we watched a news reel of a boy who played on a girls field hockey team because there was no boys team. Yet over 90% of the parents of the girls on the team don't want him to participate with thier daughters. Now that is so backwards. I first initially thought "why is there so much contriversy if a guy plays on a girl team while girls fight to play with boys all the time. Is he showing femininity? His intent was to only stay inshape for ice hockey. A Dr. Wade said field hockey is not a sportwhere the bigger taller player is the best fit." the only reason the boy was even talked about was because he was actually good, for example there is another boy on the team who is not so good and sits on the bench with the other girl who are not good enough to play.

In the begining people who fought for equality meant women to men and not men to women. In the piece there was talk about if the opposite sexes do play on teams there should be a limit.Which does make sense. At the end of the the best athlete should play whether its a girl or a guy.

Man/Woman criteria

In class we discussed how wrestling pushed Masculinity and had criteria that a man is defined by. Being brainwashed somewhat from the WWF era, I was a huge fan anticipating every cage match and sometime even looking forward to the girls wrestling. Besides that the point being wrestling though entertainment have a huge impact on millions of fans worldwide, in that I say the pushed “Manhood" tremendously. For example, some of the criteria were: Real men take responsibility for their actions, A man confronts his adversaries and problems. Capabilities that any human man or woman face every day. These were things that Soulliere found out after doing research on the WWE in addition to how men live today.
Can someone please tell me why the characteristics of a man seem like they are just not suitable for a “Woman?” Growing up in a single parent home you come to realize that a good parent will do all in their power to make sure their kids grow up knowing that a man and woman are only different in their physical appearance. My mother was able to hold down a house of 4 boys and 1 girl. Now with my mother facing obstacles and problems she faced raising us successfully is she to be established as a man. She is a woman in all aspects and I will defend her til “Death.” It is a shame that woman were not given their credit sooner. I think it’s funny that the people who waited to so long to give woman rights had to have been lonely. In the end, what defines a man can define a woman in this day and age. Men are men do to physical features and women to women do to their physical attributes. But a responsible human is what we all can be.

What Do You See

Being asked what do you see is just never that easy…Whether it’s a picture of one flower among weeds, to and abstract picture or even a picture of arguably the greatest basketball player ever. In class we were asked to look at Michael Jordan’s famous dunk that won him the dunk contest and asked what did we see from a economical, social, political, as well as a cultural and psychic demensions.

A lot of the statements my classmates had were pretty good on every level…Mine seem to be the furthest left field though. Yes I see a young black man coming from being cut from his high school team to being the G.O.A.T. I do see how advertising, media, and Jordan himself take advantage of the opportunity. But what I also see is a man who like many let success and being "The Man" guide his life. Though Jordan is a legend and has been on the fame bus for quite some time he has definitely paid for it. By that, I mean with that life style comes temptation, though everyone may be tempted in some form in their life I see just another man. A man who tried to be unstoppable on and off the court. Allegedly cheating on his wife whom they are now divorced do to marital difficulties. If given the lovely chance many would definitely ask to play him one on one or even ask about his career, hsi most favorable memory playing or even how often did he practice. Typical, but me, I would ask questions that just didn’t even cross the minds of any fan. Why? Because at the end of the day basketball is a sport and that doesn’t raise that kids keep the wife happy and as we all see can’t be played forever. A man’s life isn’t just about his accomplishments but about unruly road and obstacles that make him no better than anyone who walks this earth.

Introduction

Hello beautiful world, my name is James Garnett Jr, I am currently a junior at Bowling Green State University. I hail from Cleveland Ohio and attended the Great Glenville High School. My major at the current moment is Undecided which I thought I certainly picked something. But I am leaning towards excercise science because there are just so many oppurtunities within the field. I probably have about 2 years left in school but its not a big deal I'm definitely not rushing to leave something I love so much...College. I do plan on going to graduate school to further my education but right now Im concentrated on graduating and earning my way into an internship.

I love all competitive sports to the extreme. I just love the thought of an event where individuals start out even and who ever is better prepared can come out as the victor. In high school I played baseball, track and field, wrestling, and my love football. I played college football for BGSU shortly due to conflicting classes, but I look at it in a more positive light. Since I can not live one dream I can chase and live another. But with my love in sports I could not help but to pursue my career towards anything related.

The first day of class we talked about if we could see any male/female athlete who would it be. My male athlete is none other than MJ himself. He changed the way his position was looked at from then on. Does LeBron or Kobe resemble or even have the Jordan factor? Or even Derrick Rose.

My female athelete if I could see is Serena Williams. She is a phenomenal athlete and has definitely put her stamp on tennis. She has been someone I definitely admire the passion she plays with and her courage and strength with all the adversity she has been through throughout her life. Also with being ranked #1 in the world in an individual sport is nothing easy to come by. She still is somewhat at the top of her game.
The expectations I have out of this class is to have fun make new friends and learn something worth relating to in the world outside of BGSU.