LGBT

The story of Jen Harris at Penn State University is not an isolated incident. Discrimination of the LGBT community has been and continues to be a prevalent issue in the sporting world. Coaches like Rene Portland create a strict atmosphere with the hopes of having a disciplined team and a winning culture, but fail to recognize an underlining issue that can virtually crush a player whose sexual orientation might hamper this process. This single-minded thought process about ‘winning’ disregards some extremely important facts; winning is not everything. Jen Harris was a great basketball player, and had she been able to continue into her junior year, would have been the teams leading scorer. So why would a coach reject a player that was a main contributor to ‘winning?’ 

The LGBT community is now in the spotlight, but for the wrong reasons. The stigma surrounding those of the LGBT community has not been created by their actions, but rather the actions that have been done onto them. These human beings are not some deviant culture hell-bent on destroying our world; they are just people trying to be a part of an already disfigured society. Before we can properly assimilate these people into society, we need to change the perception of them—not theirs…ours!

I have lived in the San Francisco area my entire life, so my perception of the LGBT community has been formulated by the already present nature of acceptance. I have never seen the issue in discriminating anyone, so for my to write about how to ‘change’ society is an awkward activity. I see nothing wrong. I am straight, and have several gay friends.  Who they go home with at the end of the night has never concerned me, and I still don’t get why it still concerns other people. One day I hope to see every athlete follow in the footsteps of Michael Sam (Mizzou), Jason Collins (NBA), and now UMass’ Derrick Gordan. It will take a continued effort from every culture to integrate another one. It will happen. I know it.

An Important Role

In this modern day of sport, the black athlete has a larger presence than ever. With African American’s making up 78% of the NBA, and 67% of the NFL, the sporting world has become one of the more diverse bodies of people in the US. Their representation in the media has also seen an increase, with each leagues most marketable starts like Lebron James and Richard Sherman each being African American. However, the path to sporting stardom is not always that of glamor for some black athletes, with movies like “Hoop Dreams” and “The Blind Side,” showing some of the darker aspects of the ‘rags to riches’ type stories. “Hoop Dreams” shows us the journey’s of William Gates and Arthur Agee and their journey out of Chicago’s rough inner city, as basketball becomes their one-way ticket out of a less-than-ideal situation. Similarly “The Blind Side” shows us the path of current Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher, and his path out of Memphis, Tennessee. Both films depict the real life situations that many African Americans deal with in America, and ultimately show that although some succeed, many don’t. That is the real truth behind the significance of sport in African American culture. To some, it means a new life.

            Growing up near the end of the 20^th century and into the 21^st, the issue of race was not as prevalent as it once was. Man, if not most, of my childhood sporting heroes were black, and I didn’t think twice about it. Players like Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, Tracy McGrady, Deion Sanders, and Randy Moss were all athletes that I admired, and at no point though that they were fundamentally different from myself. It was not until I grew older that I began to study the history of the black athlete, and learned of the oppression the went through just to get to the position they hold now, and it would be naïve of me to claim that the issue of racism is one hundred percent diminished. It is not, but great progress has been made. Films like “The Blind Side,” “Hoop Dreams,” “Remember the Titans,” and many more show the modern day struggle of not just African American athletes, but of the many of those who don’t make it out of those difficult situations at all. Sports are becoming a huge part of African American identity, and I believe it can only do good things. Sports are becoming blind to the color of skin, and that is the example the rest of the world would benefit to follow.

Trust Your Power -- Duracell Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdRrP1Kh9TU

Airing in late 2012, Duracell batteries released its “Trust Your Power” extended commercial featuring 49ers captain linebacker Patrick Willis. Willis, known for his rags to riches type background, was the perfect candidate for a commercial passed on power, and its long lasting abilities. The clip features a side-by-side narrative of Willis working out on the track, and a young (unnamed boy) growing up before our eyes. The boy appears to struggle with bullying at school, but takes out his aggression in the weight room and on the football field. This use of anger as motivation is one of the ultimate traits of masculinity. Men seek to emulate this ideal, especially on the football field. Aggression has always been linked to anger, and while it can be used towards a positive goal, it is often mishandled and aimed towards destruction. This ad noticed this, and creates a story about how power and aggression can be harnessed on the football field, and Patrick Willis is the model to follow.

            As the boy begins to mature, we see that it is really Willis who is growing up in front of our eyes.  Clips of his days at Ole Miss University begin to paint the picture of power that Duracell wants us to see. Most of the tape shows Willis making smart reads on the field, and the destroying an opponent in the backfield. It ends with him walking out on to the San Francisco 49ers’ field, recognizing his power, and using it towards bettering his football career.

            The commercial emphasizes working out, and commitment towards achieving a goal. Willis’ story plays out into a perfect ad campaign for a battery. It is always working, always powering, and never stops until it has nothing left. This is also something that would be associated with the sporting ethic. Notably, Duracell uses a male only commercial to for its campaign. While I am sure that there would be many female characters viable for this ad, Willis is someone who embodies the sporting ethic, while also appealing to the largest sporting fan base in the US, the NFL.

            So what kind of message is Duracell sending? Do they want us to believe that masculinity is exclusive to power? Is power and aggression a good form of masculinity? Ultimately, that is exactly what Duracell is saying. Using a child’s progression is also a tactic of softening this trait, and making a connection to the viewers on a sentimental level. Aside from what you may think about the representation of masculinity in the media, Duracell does a good job of making the game of football look like a sport that preaches growth over violence. Because of the turbulent view of masculinity, a commercial like this might be taken for something other than what it is intended for. However, Duracell proves that masculinity can be seen as something other than violent, and Patrick Willis’ journey through the game of football is the vehicle is uses.  

Interrogating inequalities in Sports Media: Examining gender/race representation on ESPN.com

Source: ESPN Online

Category: Gender

Coverage: Front Page Headlines (Links)

Time Frame: 1 Day

48 Front Page Links: 4 about women, 44 about men

            To get a better understanding of the discrepancy in the media coverage of men and women, I monitored the front page of ESPN.com to see how many story headlines pertained to female sports. My findings were quite astonishing. Out of 48 clickable links (story headlines), only 4 where links leading to women’s sports, the rest were men’s sports—also, there were no pictures of women to be found. Near the bottom of the page, if you scrolled down far enough you can find EspnW. EspnW is a section just for women. To give you a context of the size of the space allotted for EspnW; an apple next to the tree it fell from would be the only thing comparable. The fact is, less than 8% of the front page was devoted to women. This by no means helps the media stigma that men hog all of the coverage. Yet, there is more to be observed.

            After clicking on every story on the side “ticker,” I noticed that a lot of these stories about men were written about women. In fact, women wrote nearly half of the dozen stories on the ticker. Thinking about that for a minute, I came up two schools of thought. The first and most obvious would be, “Do the writers get no say in what they write?” More specifically, do women writers get told by the presumably male editors to only cover male sports? The second school of thought would be to assume that like the writers, there is an equal female influence in the front offices of ESPN.com, but still neglects the coverage in the female sporting world. There is no thought process that leads you anywhere near gender equality, but there is claim behind how these stories get covered in the first place. I don’t have access to the employee list of ESPN, nor could I even come to a conclusion if I had it, but it is interesting to ponder the idea that woman are making decisions about coverage, and still ignoring the coverage of their own gender.

            I followed the link to EspnW, and I will admit, I was very impressed. It looked like another site entirely, built with light colors and smooth fonts. There were a variety of stories, written by both men and woman, and many other links to blogs and other media coverage for woman. The biggest concern? Why was this site buried so deep on the ESPN.com page? That to me seems to be the biggest issue. Why is it that we blatantly hide the female media coverage? Wouldn’t it be a quick fix to at least put some links higher up on the page? ESPN is the biggest sports media outlet in the world, so they will constantly be looked at and scrutinized for—not giving adequate coverage of both genders. There needs to be a change in the way we construct our online sources, and it starts with placing links at the top of the page. EspnW was great, where I found it was not.

Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?

            A University of California in Los Angeles football player once said, “I am a UCLA prostitute. I sell my body to them. They pay me to perform for them. When my teammates and I perform well, the school makes lots of money…regardless of how much money the school makes, we get the same, just our scholarship.” (Coakley 2009) That quote was from 2004. The money that collegiate sports make in 2014, makes 2004 money look like quarters found in the sofa. According to University of North Carolina faculty affiliate Dr. Boyce Watkins, “ad revenue from March Madness has crossed the 1 billion dollar mark,” (Watkins 2013). For those who are not aware, March Madness is the moniker for the NCAA D1 national championship, one of the biggest sporting events in the world. How big? According to Boyce, the National Football League took in $976 million; the NBA took in $537; the MLB took in $354 million, which is not to mention all of the t-shirts and other paraphernalia that were sold throughout the year. (Watkins 2013). The difference? The biggest earner was an amateur sport.

            Big time college sports are the perfect business model. You have a revenue source that will never fade, and a work force that essentially works for free. That same work force is also held responsible for maintaining another workload—from the same institution. However, when one workload has millions and millions of dollars at stake, where should you allegiance of time and effort reside? However popular, intercollegiate sports contain a major flaw—the hypocrisy of “student-athlete, while at the same time demanding that one comes before the other. If athletes were to see themselves as investments, why would any of them do anything other than what was destined to turn them profit? That is what the corporations are doing. That is what the cable companies are doing. That is what their schools are doing.

            I have paid attention to college sports for my entire existence, and have read every argument you can make when it comes to dollar bills and athletics. There is no answer that will cover every base; each road heads in a different direction. Do we pay them the money they deserve? That would void their amateur status. So why don’t they just go pro? Well, there are laws saying they can’t. We cannot avoid the fact the money is coming at these athletes, and they do not want to dodge it. To many times have athletes been given “illegal benefits” or “luxury recruiting,” not to mention the exploitation of their names for profit—all to which they get nothing, yet reap every consequence if found benefiting from themselves. What we have to realize is that we set athletes up to fail, and expect to them succeed. We place high expectation on their performance, while neglecting the status of their well-being. We require a full time commitment to the field, and we require a full time commitment to the classroom. Ultimately, we expect the poise of professionals, from the likes of amateurs.