Pay for Play

Many reformers want colleges to pay athletes to play in sport. I don't think athletes should get a salary for playing in intercollegiate athletics. Working out, training, and playing games seem like a full-time job. But players already receive scholarships to get a free education, free room and board, and sometimes free allowances. It's true that many athletes don't make it to the professional level, and many do not even graduate from college. The universities make revenues from basketball games and football games, but intercollegiate athletics are not very profitable. Only a handful of schools makes a profit from athletic programs. I do believe that some coaches are overpaid and agree with the author of "College Football Players deserve pay for play" that maybe by cutting back on unnecessary spending such as high salaries in staff, a fund for athletes should be created. This fund would benefit those who put hard work in their sport during college, and for those who could not advance to the professional level. They can use some of this money to advance their education in graduate schools or to start their next chapter of their lives. I think this would be a good idea, maybe there must be some requirements that players must meet in order to receive some of the money from the fund after graduation. I do think this is a good idea, but I disagree that intercollegiate athletes should receive a salary such as the NFL players.

Helmet-to-helmet hits

Many helmet-to-helmet hits occur every week in football from high school to the NFL. This issue has come to surface again with the NFL fining players who commit "vicious hits". 

I think as a paternalist and agree that we should protect athletes for many reasons, and of them is because of the new research on brain trauma from hits. 

I've always known about football players suffering concussions, but I did not know the effect of concussions/hits in the long-term. In the article, "How different are dogfights from football?", there's evidence that hits and concussion affect the brain and deteriorate it in the long-term. A protein Tau has been found in the diseased brains of football players; this protein shuts down neurons in the brain. Researchers such as Ann McKee that showed those brain that present this characteristic are from people suffering a type of dementia called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.E.T), which is caused by trauma/injury to the head. 
 
The article has a lot of evidence to relate hits to the head in football as a cause for C.E.T later in life on those players. I believe that hits can be dangerous and all that, but I don't think they are ever going to be eradicated from football, that's the nature of the game. 

I think that better helmets can help, but they are not going to prevent the effect of the collisions. People cheer at football games because it is a very physical game, they like the intensity of it. With physical games come injuries. I don't have a solution for this, but I do think some measures should be taken to prevent dramatic trauma to head.

Politics in the Olympic Games

Olympic Games in Beijing 2008

The Olympic games is a global event where politics should be set aside. But the history of the Olympics has shown that nations and athletes use the games as a stage for political protest. 

My position in this topic is that the Olympics or international competitions should be kept out of the influence of politics, because it seems that politics tarnish the purpose of the Olympics. I believe that the Olympics should be a sacred competition of honorable conduct where athletes show their incredible talent. I think that Olympics should be a stage to show athletic statements, to set world records, to admire the athlete's achievements, etc. It should have the same mission as in ancient times.

Some athletes and countries have boycotted the Olympics in numerous time due to political scandals and controversies. Athletes and the nations where they came from used to Olympics to demonstrate their power in the world, to gain prestige, and to spread their ideals.

Today's lecture with Dr. Hunt was very interesting, I liked how he talked about the politics and the history of Olympics. This afternoon I decided to learn more about each Olympic of modern times, and see how politics influenced each one. I want to share with y'all my findings:

1936 Olympics

• 1900 - The second modern games were to the first -- modern or ancient -- to feature women athletes (two sports only, golf and tennis).
• 1916 - No games due to World War I
• 1936 - The Berlin (Germany) games. Hitler allowed only "Aryan" athletes to represent Germany, but his attempt to demonstrate racial superiority ran headfirst into U.S. athlete Jesse Owens, an African-American who ran away with four gold medals. The U.S. had considered, and then rejected, boycotting the games. However, some individual athletes chose not to compete.
• 1940 and 1944  No games due to World War II
• 1956 - Attendance at Melbourne (Australia) was marred by the Suez War (Israel, the United Kingdom, and France invaded Egypt). In political retaliation, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon announced a boycott. After Soviet troops quashed a revolution in Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland also decided to boycott the Games.
• 1968 - At the games in Mexico City, two American athletes spoke out against racial segregation and provided visual support for the Black Power movement while being awarded medals (gold and bronze) for the 200-meter race. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the two Americans.
• 1972 - The Munich (Germany) games were the first marked by violence. Eight Palestinian terrorists took Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. Five of the terrorists, the 11 Israelis, as well as a West German policemen were killed.
• 1980 - When the games were in Moscow (Soviet Union), the U.S. led a boycott (62 countries and regions) of the games because the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan.
• 1984 - The Soviets boycotted the Los Angeles games in retaliation.
• 2000 - North and South Korean athletes marched under a single flag during opening ceremonies at the Sydney (Australia) games, although they would compete separately.
• 2008 - The Beijing, China games are haunted by the Free Tibet movement and also marked by Russia's contemporaneous invasion of Georgia.

The Consequences of The Amateur Sports Act of 1978

My opinion is the Amateur Sport Act should be reformed. Nowadays, elite competition is still important, but we are faced with many problems such as obesity and physical inactivity. We should go back to the times of Eisenhower and Kennedy, who promoted mass participation. We need to promote physical fitness and athletic opportunities to everyone. We would be a healthier society if the Amateur Sports Act did not emphasize or promote "elite" athletes only.

During the Cold War between the Soviet Union and The United States, the American government believed that losses at international sport competition in the Olympics detracted from American prestige abroad. It was a competition against the Soviet Union for world dominance, to see which country could get more medals at the Olympic games. This gave rise to elite athletes to represent the United States in international games. This excluded the notion of encouraging the entire population to participate in sports. Sports was not longer geared towards mass involvement. The rising percentage of obese people shows that American lead a sedentary life, and lack opportunities to participate in sports.

Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King, Jr.

I think that Jackie Robinson was a great hero for many African Americans. He was the first black to play in Major League Baseball. He was an important figure because he catalyzed the integration of baseball, the end of segregation in professional baseball. Jackie was very talented in sports, and he also had a great personality and character. He was loved by the black community, and he supported and promoted the Civil Right's movement. 

I think that his charismatic personality made him a great role model for other black people to follow. He talked about racism, he was also humble and calm, and he persevered and reached goals. He was sincere and had a great heart, and that's why he should be recognize as a great hero. Many young African Americans look up to him, and follow a career in sports because of him. He left a great legacy.

I found very powerful quotes from Jackie Robinson which portray his good personality:

Jackie Robinson stealing home

• "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."
• "I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being."
• "There's not an American in this country free until every one of us is free."
• "The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time."   

 

Jordan/Nike Nexus

Michael Jordan is a sports icon known all over the world. I'm from Venezuela, and everyone there knew about Michael Jordan, the best basketball player. We always heard and read about the "good things" Michael Jordan had accomplished; he always seemed to get really positive publicity. Jordan became very wealthy with million-dollar contracts with the Chicago bulls, and advertisement contracts with sports manufactures such as Nike.

In the article, The Sports Spectacle, Michael Jordan, and Nike: Unholy Alliance?* By Douglas Kellner, I learned how " Jordan brushed off questions about whether Nike, which pays him $20 million a year in endorsement fees, was violating standards of decency by paying Indonesian workers only 30 cents per day". His attitude towards Nike practices just tainted his "good image" for me. He did represent a good role model for many young people who wanted to pursue sports. On the other hand, he never took interest to see if Nike was doing the right thing in those Asian countries. Nike supposedly pay less than $2.00 a day to workers to produce the Nike's Air Jordan Shoes. Michael Jordan said he was just endorsing the product, but that product was made by people who worked under bad conditions and were paid less than the minimal wage, which in some case was just $30 per month.

As the article says: " While Michael Jordan tries to present himself as the embodiment of all good and wholesome values, he is clearly tainted by his corporate involvements with Nike in the unholy alliance of commerce, sports spectacle, and celebrity. His symbiosis with Nike is so tight, they are so intertwined with each other, that if Nike is tarnished so too is Jordan". I agree with the author, and Michael Jordon is a great athlete and serves as inspiration for others, but he also signifies wealth, greed, and competitiveness.



I like how this cartoon portrays the Jordan/Nike nexus and links it to Nike's inhumane practices in the Asian factories.

nicholsoncartoons.com.au