26Aug13
re: the commercialization of college sport
NYTimes: College Football’s Most Dominant Player? It’s ESPN http://nyti.ms/1f9PPxq
Spending billions of dollars for TV rights and becoming
partners with universities desperate for exposure, ESPN has emerged as a
sport’s puppet-master and kingmaker.
27Aug13 http://nyti.ms/17YBX6z
ReplyDeleteNYTimes: Panel Clears Rhythmic Gymnastics Judges Suspected of Cheating
The appeals panel of the International Gymnastics Federation dismissed a case against 16 judges this month after finding “no direct evidence of cheating” on their qualifying tests last year.
NYTimes: Lundqvist Disagrees With Russian Law, but Supports Games http://nyti.ms/15a9rCU
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said he did not agree with a new law in Russia that has been criticized as antigay, but he said he thought sports and politics should be kept separate.
The partnering of ESPN and universities is due the increase revenue that they can make off of student athletes. This implies that larger and the best known universities will have the most exposure to a national audience compared to a lesser known university. For example, a typical Thursday night football game on ESPN that could consists of teams from lesser conferences such as the MAC, WAC, and the Sun Belt compared to a typical Satursday night football game on ESPN that consists of teams from the BIG 12, BIG 10, SEC, ACC, and PAC 12.
ReplyDeleteSince we were talking about this today...
ReplyDeletehttp://bigstory.ap.org/article/judge-nfl-players-settle-concussion-lawsuits
"JUDGE: NFL, PLAYERS TO SETTLE CONCUSSION LAWSUITS
By MARYCLAIRE DALE
— Aug. 29 12:38 PM EDT
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal judge says the NFL and more than 4,500 former players want to settle concussion-related lawsuits for $765 million.
The global settlement would fund medical exams, concussion-related compensation and medical research.
The plaintiffs include at least 10 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett. They also include Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon and the family of Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau, who committed suicide last year.
The lawsuits accuse the league of hiding known risks of concussions for decades to return players to games and protect its image. The NFL has denied any wrongdoing.
Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia announced the proposed settlement Thursday. She still needs to approve the deal, which comes after months of court-ordered mediation."
We talked about this as well:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thenation.com/blog/175969/im-johnny-manziel-and-youre-not-imagined-speech
‘I’m Johnny Manziel, and You’re Not.’
by Dave Zirin
The NCAA mandated that Texas A&M’s Heisman-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel had to give a speech detailing all the life lessons he learned during his scandal-plagued summer. Here is a fictional accounting of what he might say.
This article is humorous and sarcastic but its message is anything but. This article shows the role that money plays in sports and how it can cause ethics in sports to be swept under the rug. The article gives the example of how a couple of years ago people wanted to make an example of Terrelle Pryor for trading his jacket for some tattoos. But Heisman-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel is receiving a punishment of half a game suspension. The difference between Terrelle Pryor and Johnny Manziel is that Manziel is a Heisman-winning quarterback and his athletic performance brings in all kinds of money.
DeleteSo we have talked about how Johnny Manziel is a top athlete and a Heisman winner and has been going through an investigation where he had apparently signed autographs for money, which is illegal as a collegiate athlete. We've also discussed how he is a role model that kids look up to and want to be like. I was watching him play this weekend and while he was playing he was being arrogant and making gestures to the other team such as: signing autographs or playing with money. He later was penalized for taunting the other team and eventually benched by his coach for his actions. The problem with this is that Johnny is who all younger athletes look up to and want to be like and the actions he performed in the game are not something parents want their children to be watching as a role model.
DeleteThis article made me laugh. I don't even really know much about Johnny Football, besides he sold his autograph for money and that they wouldn't shut up about him during the Texas A&M/Rice game on Saturday. Yeah, what he did was wrong because it goes against NCAA rules, but his punishment in comparison with Terrelle Pryor is ridiculous. Granted, Pryor did trade his jersey for some free tattoos, so the jersey was probably not technically his to trade (the school owns the jerseys, correct?) whereas, Manziel simply sold his signature, which is his, but still illegal in the NCAA. I know that this is a humorous parody of what was probably said, but it makes a good point. Manziel is white. Pryor is black. Manziel probably comes from a well-off family and Pryor didn't and earned his way via athletic scholarships into school. It isn't fair. Manziel should be punished more severely than he was, but in a sense, he is kind of like Walter White (Breaking Bad). There was no clear evidence that he did what he did, and Manziel knows it. So he's laughing to the bank and got to kick his feet up for the first half of the game this past Saturday, then went out and helped destroy Rice and be an asshole about it. Good job, NCAA.
DeleteI like Johnny Manziel. He may have got caught up in the glory he received from last season, but he's a gamer. He's a guy who likes to go out and compete. Yes, he likes to get a little cocky, but he's legend in the game of college football being the only freshman to receive the Heisman. I actually wouldn't mind sliding him a few dollars for an autograph. he deserves it. All joking aside though he did kinda break a clear NCAA rule, so i believe he should have had more severe punishment than just two quarters.
DeleteJohnny Manziel is a pretty great quarterback, and yes he is a Heisman winner. But the differences in punishment is pretty ridiculous. The difference is the evidence brought to the attention of the NCAA. But let's be real there is no way other college athletes aren't doing the same thing Manziel did or Pryor did. Manziel should have gotten at least a couple games suspension not just half a game. If it was someone other than Manziel even maybe another team mate on Texas A&M I have a feeling the NCAA would have given them a more severe punishment like Pryor's. All the NCAA is doing is portraying "if you're a great college athlete like a Heisman winner like Johnny Manziel you're going to be untouchable or get a slap on the wrist". Ethically speaking it is wrong and unjust.
DeleteHere is the link to the Yahoo! article about Reggie Williams.
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/former-bengals-lb-reggie-williams-had-24-surgeries-160141006.html
There is also a link to the article that the Enquirer's Paul Daugherty:
http://news.cincinnati.com/interactive/article/20130825/COL03/130822035/Ex-Cincinnati-Bengal-fighting-save-leg?nclick_check=1
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/college-football/story/_/id/9614189/usc-trojans-marqise-lee-picks-10m-insurance-policy-source-says
ReplyDeleteNice article about college athletes taking out insurance policies just in case they are injured before turning pro.
3Sept13 Article from the Chronicle of Higher Education regarding trainers vs. coaches and differences over treating concussions.
ReplyDeletehttp://m.chronicle.com/article/Trainers-Butt-Heads-With/141333/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
You would think that coaches would leave athletic trainers alone to do their thing because it would stand to reason that if the trainers did their job and kept the players healthy, the athletes would play better, thus winning the coach more games. However, this article has brought forth evidence that this is not the case and that coaches are using their power to influence athletic trainers and what they say regarding the health of players.
DeleteAs a Coach I think it is irresponsible as a coach to misuse your power to influence Athletic Trainers. Even if it is my best player if they were seriously injured or possibly had a concussion I would take them out of the game. I actually had to do that a couple weeks ago my starting QB got his bell rung and complained of being dizzy and his head hurt so I had to bench him the rest of the game. To put an athlete at risk for having some serious damage done is not worth a game to be won.
Deletehttp://nesn.com/2013/09/henrik-stenson-donates-25000-of-deutsche-bank-championship-winnings-to-one-fund/
ReplyDeleteIts an article about a good ethics. Henrik Stenson wins a golf match and donates $25,000 of his winnings to the Boston charity for the people injured in the bombings.
That was very patriotic of Henrik Stenson donating some of his winnings to help our nation recover from the attack in Boston.
DeleteHowever, in general when you hear of athletes giving some money to charity you can't help but wonder if they are donating it out of the kindness of their heart or do they just want attention?
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/23492173/three-former-college-football-players-suing-ncaa-over-concussions
ReplyDeleteThis is another article about the concussions in the ncaa. Players are arguing that they weren't educated enough of the risks of concussions.
I coach football and I know that in he league I coach in it is mandatory for coaches to get certified in concussions among other things. As a coach it is your duty to educate players and their parents over concussions. However college players are old enough to know what a concussion is and they know the risks in playing football. Our society has just become a money hungry society that loves to sue others for anything. It would be different if the players had concussions and their coaches forced them to play even with that concussion that might be worthy of suing someone.
DeleteHere is an article from Al Jazeera that discusses concussions. They are tracking the concussions of all NCAA football players. So far there is 27 this season--
ReplyDeletehttp://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/america-tonight-blog/2013/9/3/america-tonight-s201314collegefootballconcussiondatabase.html
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9655694/oklahoma-state-cowboys-ad-mike-holder-apologizes-big-12-schools
ReplyDeleteHere is an article on Oklahoma state paying football players for their performance, they are accused of paying for performance, play players for jobs they don't do, professors and tutors giving good grades to star player for little or no work being done, also drug usage has been ignored after drug tests have been failed, and lastly use of paying girls to have sex with recruits so they would come to their school.
The allegations this school is receiving reminds me of a real life Blue Mountain State if they are true. If they are true ethically it is wrong to pay women to have sex with recruits or anyone else in general. That is like having a real life brothel in a college school which is degrading towards the women. The drug test thing is again teaching high school and college students that if they are great at a sport they can get out of whatever trouble they get into. The NFL does the same thing in certain cases which is not being a good role model but then again if the top like the NFL does the same things this college is doing with drug tests and etc. how can we expect colleges to be any different the NFL is supposed to be the role model for college athletes, college athletes are role models for the high school athletes and so on.
Deletehttp://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/pa-player-may-face-criminal-charges-ripping-helmet-151701209.html
ReplyDeleteA high school football player rips the helmet off of his opponent and hit him over the head with it during an in-game brawl. There is a police investigation and charges may be pending (possibly a felony charge). Should the player be charged?
Sports have the ability to make people forget themselves in the heat of the game and slight skirmishes are always breaking out; but we do not take much notice of them because usually the skirmishes are just pushing matches with an occasional punch thrown. But this video where one player beats another with a hard piece of equipment cannot be classified as a skirmish in the heat of the game but rather as assault because serious injuries could have occurred in this situation. Therefore, I think that the player should be charged because what he did with a piece of sports equipment was assault.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yklx4JOKblI
ReplyDeleteMost of our class discussions have been centered around the negative effects of sports and competition, but this video shows the reason sports are so important to the people who play them and also the people who watch them. What happens in the video expresses the fact that good and honest sportmanship exists in competition and it can bring the best out of people, not just the worst.
Here is an article about the Washington Nationals cancelling their game last night. Do you think it was unethical, or at least insensitive, to wait until this afternoon to cancel it?
ReplyDeletehttp://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/the-stream/the-stream-officialblog/2013/9/16/nationals-cancelgameinlightofshootingandonlinecriticism.html
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/damon-janes-dies-westfield-brocton-high-school-running-back-portville-gary-swetland-deantre-turman-091713
ReplyDeleteA HS football player dies after a helmet to helmet collision with an opponent.
Its really unfortunate for this to happen to a young kid. They are making rules and have already put rules in place to keep this from happening. Thats the worst part about football is the risk but it is also the reason why the sport has so many fans. people are hitting harder and faster at younger ages. It is horrible this happened to a young man like this playing a sport he loved. With the new rules I think this type of hits will be less and less but I think they will also be around.
ReplyDeletehttp://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=8450488#46744|614|200|ca-espn-q-video|video|null
ReplyDeleteThis is a video about a world-class runner, Tom Rinaldi, who found out he had a daughter with Down Syndrome. This relates in part to chapter 4. Tom resents the fact he is having an "imperfect" baby at first, but he learns to love her with time and regrets his initial feelings. Being able to choose genetic traits of children also includes choosing what they do not have. In that situation, I'm sure Tom would have chosen not to have a Down Sydrome daughter. Would that be robbing Paisley of her life? Or does it "not count" because she would not have come into existence at all? What would happen to children like Paisley in a culture where being imperfect becomes someones's "fault"?
Replying to Nicole's post. I don't think Paisley is being robbed of her life. However, it does suck that her father thought the way he did. It's cool that he accepts her the way she is, and I feel like any parent should accept their children no matter how they turn out. No one in this world is perfect, and even though we can change the traits to make them enhanced, part of me feels like it's good so the child doesn't have to suffer in life, but also I feel like it's wrong to change your child before they're even born and there's no opportunity to fall in love with that child just the way they are.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWith all the talk of Johnny Manziel, I believe that the news and ESPN has made it much worse than it needed to be. Manziel was accused of signing autographs as a collegiate athlete which is illegal. he deserved the punishment that was given for those illegal actions. with saying that, I didn't think that ESPN and every sports reporter should have blown it out of proportion and prolonged it more than it needed to be. this is how how TV and other outside sources has taken over on how people see things and what they should believe, with only showing one side of stories.
ReplyDeleteThere has been talk of the future where players will be, "Hired," by colleges to come play for them instead of taking classes and being an athlete. The question is whether this is actually any different from what is already happening with ESPN and colleges giving large scholarships and hidden side payments. Honestly I think it would only give an official title to what is already going on behind the scenes that we all know is taking place. Many of these large play making athletes at division one colleges are enrolled in online classes that don't even exist which shows how much they care about the education that the establishment has to offer. This is something that we need to take into consideration because if we are all honest with ourselves we know the Johnny Manziel's of the world could not care less if they got an education while attending college.
ReplyDelete