In class on Tuesday, we talked about how there are athletes that participate in their sports and have been diagnosed with AID’s. This is a very serious topic and needs to be addressed. The fact that this is a deadly disease and athletes want to keep on competing against others and I am not very sure if it is okay for this to be done.
First, I think that Magic Johnson did the ethically right thing to do and also the most logical thing to do because of his health by retiring. However, I think that the controversy is within players that are in physical sports or for players that are still hiding the fact that they have been diagnosed.
I think that it is very unethical for a person to want to continue to play their sport without telling that they have been diagnosed. When talking in class, Greg Louganis was an Olympic Diver and I believe that we talked about how he did not tell people that he had the disease. This is very controversial because the disease can be transmitted through the contact of an infected person’s blood. What would happen if another diver came into contact with Louganis and he happened to have a cut on him? It seems as if it would almost create some sort of legal action to be brought against Louganis because he is in a worldwide sport and he is not informing of the possibilities that could happen to other athletes.
I am do not by any means know what the AID’s virus is all about or what the big ways that it can be developed in another person, but I do know that I would not be happy if I found out that I was playing against a person that had AID’s after the fact. I am not saying that they are not allowed to play sports, but the need to take precautions to keep others safe.
The other big case is with Tommy Morrison. He is a big time boxer and I think that this is a huge situation because people get cuts all the time in this sport, obviously. I would not want to be a person that would have to box him. In fact, I would probably just simply say no to any fight with him, just in fear or any possibility of contracting the AID’s from him. It would be a terrible way to put your life in jeopardy.
If I am wrong about any of this information, let me know, but I do think that most of it is right. What do you think though? Would you really want to fight or play against an athlete that has AID’s?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Renee Richards: Is it Fair?
I had never even heard anything about this situation about Renee Richards prior to this past Tuesday in class. I actually had never even heard of Renee Richards which really surprises me because I always watch all the controversial topics on ESPN and Sports Center, so that I can know what is going on within sports. I find it interesting that something along these lines has not received much recent publicity.
I really do not know what would make a person want to have a sex change, but regardless that is what happened with Richard Raskind. He had the desire to have a sex change. Prior to the sex change, Raskind was a quality tennis player. He trained as a male and did not have the sex change until he turned 41 years old. When he had the sex change, he changed his name to Renee Richards. The situation at hand is the fact that she then decided to participate against women in professional tournaments.
Is it really fair that she was able to participate against other women after being able to train as a man until she was 41 years old? I personally do not think that it is okay. I think that she should have immediately been kicked out of the tour because it is simply an unfair advantage. What is the difference between being a woman that trained as a man for 20 plus years or taking steroids to become bigger, faster, and stronger? There really is not much of a difference. Each one gives the individual an advantage that is really unfair to the competitors. She was able to hit the ball harder than the other women and move quicker.
Another point that I thought of, was that if she thought that it was okay to compete as a woman that changed from a man against normal women, then why did she not tell anyone? It seems a little questionable and like she really wanted to hide the fact. If she would have came out and told everyone prior to wanting to compete, then I think it would be fine if the WTA said it was okay. However, she decided to hide her secret and wait until a reporter found out about her situation and tell the public.
What do you think is okay for this situation? Is it fair for her or the rest of the field regardless of the decision that is made? I think it is a tough situation that she put upon herself and needs to face the consequences.
I really do not know what would make a person want to have a sex change, but regardless that is what happened with Richard Raskind. He had the desire to have a sex change. Prior to the sex change, Raskind was a quality tennis player. He trained as a male and did not have the sex change until he turned 41 years old. When he had the sex change, he changed his name to Renee Richards. The situation at hand is the fact that she then decided to participate against women in professional tournaments.
Is it really fair that she was able to participate against other women after being able to train as a man until she was 41 years old? I personally do not think that it is okay. I think that she should have immediately been kicked out of the tour because it is simply an unfair advantage. What is the difference between being a woman that trained as a man for 20 plus years or taking steroids to become bigger, faster, and stronger? There really is not much of a difference. Each one gives the individual an advantage that is really unfair to the competitors. She was able to hit the ball harder than the other women and move quicker.
Another point that I thought of, was that if she thought that it was okay to compete as a woman that changed from a man against normal women, then why did she not tell anyone? It seems a little questionable and like she really wanted to hide the fact. If she would have came out and told everyone prior to wanting to compete, then I think it would be fine if the WTA said it was okay. However, she decided to hide her secret and wait until a reporter found out about her situation and tell the public.
What do you think is okay for this situation? Is it fair for her or the rest of the field regardless of the decision that is made? I think it is a tough situation that she put upon herself and needs to face the consequences.
Aggression in Sport
Aggression is very important in order to be an effective player within organized sports. It is a way to distinguish yourself from other players within your sport. However, what happens when there is too much aggression? Coaches are always telling their players to be aggressive and work hard, but recently there have been cases where players will just take it too far.
A recent soccer game has received a large amount of publicity. The game was between New Mexico and BYU and involved a girl named Elizabeth Lambert.
When I think of soccer, I usually do not think of it as an incredibly aggressive or injury prone sport. I do realize that there are times where the game does become very physical, but those times are just natural as players are all going after the same ball. There are slide tackles that are legal and often players will get kicked or knocked down when other players are going for the ball. That is the stuff that happens that is legal within the sport of soccer. However, the things the Lambert was doing were simply unacceptable. She was the perfect example of a person taking their aggression too far.
Within the game, Lambert’s biggest and most noticeable form of aggression was when she pulled another girls pony tail and ripped her down to the ground by it. This scene looked just gruesome. It was an ugly site, but luckily she was not injured.
The situation at hand is what should be done when aggression is shown in this form. It is obviously unacceptable, but what can be done as the referees did not call any penalties on Lambert for her actions. I personally believe that the videos should be able to be used to suspend her for future games. I realize that the University of New Mexico has suspended her indefinitely, but is that enough. I think that the NCAA should also be involved and make a decision on what should be done as well. I respect the University of New Mexico for taking action, but I think that they should also send the tape to the NCAA in order for more action to be taken.
What do you think should be done to her? Was the indefinite suspension enough or should she get more? I think it will be interesting to hear.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sportsprose/2009/11/new_mexico_womens_soccer_playe.html
A recent soccer game has received a large amount of publicity. The game was between New Mexico and BYU and involved a girl named Elizabeth Lambert.
When I think of soccer, I usually do not think of it as an incredibly aggressive or injury prone sport. I do realize that there are times where the game does become very physical, but those times are just natural as players are all going after the same ball. There are slide tackles that are legal and often players will get kicked or knocked down when other players are going for the ball. That is the stuff that happens that is legal within the sport of soccer. However, the things the Lambert was doing were simply unacceptable. She was the perfect example of a person taking their aggression too far.
Within the game, Lambert’s biggest and most noticeable form of aggression was when she pulled another girls pony tail and ripped her down to the ground by it. This scene looked just gruesome. It was an ugly site, but luckily she was not injured.
The situation at hand is what should be done when aggression is shown in this form. It is obviously unacceptable, but what can be done as the referees did not call any penalties on Lambert for her actions. I personally believe that the videos should be able to be used to suspend her for future games. I realize that the University of New Mexico has suspended her indefinitely, but is that enough. I think that the NCAA should also be involved and make a decision on what should be done as well. I respect the University of New Mexico for taking action, but I think that they should also send the tape to the NCAA in order for more action to be taken.
What do you think should be done to her? Was the indefinite suspension enough or should she get more? I think it will be interesting to hear.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sportsprose/2009/11/new_mexico_womens_soccer_playe.html
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Magic Johnson
When Magic Johnson came out with his incredibly shocking news that he had been diagnosed with aids I was clearly too young to remember, but my dad always told me about how surprised and disappointed he was. My dad has been a Lakers fan forever and Magic is his favorite basketball player of all time just because of how incredible of an athlete he was. He led the Lakers to 5 NBA championships in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. Not only is the fact that he won 5 NBA championships amazing, but even more amazing is the fact that he played point guard while being six foot, nine inches tall. That is simply incredible to think of a man of that stature to be playing a position that requires finesse and ball handling skills beyond what is normally expected out of a player that is that tall.
Just thinking about something like this made me think, who would be a player that would have this much affect on the game if they came out and shocked the world with news like this. There are so many amazing players that are involved in the NBA right now, but who is the most important player for the NBA’s publicity. I personally feel as if Magic was one of the most popular players at that point in his career after winning that many championships. He was obviously great and I believe that many people will believe that if LeBron James came out with that same sort of news it would be similar to Magic. However, I do not think this is true.
LeBron is an incredible athlete. He is important to the NBA because he creates such an incredible amount of popularity and income for the league. However, I think that the person that would have this same affect on the league would be Kobe. I think this because he is so similar to Magic Johnson as he has also won many championships, only one less than Magic. He also has had a career like few others and has helped to lead the Lakers just like Magic did.
Who do you think would impact the league like Magic did? There are only a few players that I think it could be, but maybe you have a different idea than I do? Would a past player coming out now have the same effect as a player that is still in the league?
Just thinking about something like this made me think, who would be a player that would have this much affect on the game if they came out and shocked the world with news like this. There are so many amazing players that are involved in the NBA right now, but who is the most important player for the NBA’s publicity. I personally feel as if Magic was one of the most popular players at that point in his career after winning that many championships. He was obviously great and I believe that many people will believe that if LeBron James came out with that same sort of news it would be similar to Magic. However, I do not think this is true.
LeBron is an incredible athlete. He is important to the NBA because he creates such an incredible amount of popularity and income for the league. However, I think that the person that would have this same affect on the league would be Kobe. I think this because he is so similar to Magic Johnson as he has also won many championships, only one less than Magic. He also has had a career like few others and has helped to lead the Lakers just like Magic did.
Who do you think would impact the league like Magic did? There are only a few players that I think it could be, but maybe you have a different idea than I do? Would a past player coming out now have the same effect as a player that is still in the league?
Monday, November 23, 2009
Gays in NFL/MLB/NBA
I thought that the poll that the Gear Magazine conducted in 1998 was really interesting because of the turnout that they received back from the major sports.
Gear Magazine only heard back from one team in both the NFL and MLB, but they did not state which team it was. The MLB team talked about how they did not think they would encourage a player to come out because of the peer pressure that would be involved. They also thought that coming out would be an ongoing problem and that they thought only 1-5% of major league baseball players were gay. I thought that these answers were some right and some wrong. I think that the players coming out really would be affected by peer pressure. Their teammates peer pressure would be never ending. The players would more than likely constantly tease and not feel comfortable around that player. I also think that the amount of gays in major league baseball would probably be under 5% because I think that the majority of the men in baseball are either married or you hear about their girlfriends. There really are very few men that are suspected of being gay. The statement that I disagreed with was the one about the ongoing problem. I really would think that the problem of having a gay teammate would eventually go away, at least within the media. The media would receive poor publicity if they said anything negative about that gay player.
The NFL also made a comment about how they would support any player that came out and said they were gay because they are a team. This was the only answer this team gave and I thought it was interesting because they made that comment, but refused to answer any more of the questions. In today’s society, I think that most teams would probably be fairly accepting of people being gay. The world has taken big steps as far as not making fun of people for being gay. There are cases such as Larry Johnson who make fun of people for being gay, but almost always they respond with an apology whether they mean it or not.
The final response was with the NBA and there were actually four teams who responded. Two of the four teams thought that there would be continuing problems and the other two thought there would be short terms. I think that this situation would be short term because eventually the media will go on to a new subject. I think that teams would support the player because there are only 12 or so players on a team and so if you exile a player, then the team could fall apart. Two teams also thought that their fans would be less supportive and I am not sure why. Being gay does make a person different than if they are straight, but it does not mean at all the their play will deteriorate. I think that fans would still like the player as long as he keeps playing well.
Overall, what do you think would be the situation within college sports? I think it would be interesting to see what the situation would be. I think the stats would be completely different than the major sports, but I am just interested what you believe.
Gear Magazine only heard back from one team in both the NFL and MLB, but they did not state which team it was. The MLB team talked about how they did not think they would encourage a player to come out because of the peer pressure that would be involved. They also thought that coming out would be an ongoing problem and that they thought only 1-5% of major league baseball players were gay. I thought that these answers were some right and some wrong. I think that the players coming out really would be affected by peer pressure. Their teammates peer pressure would be never ending. The players would more than likely constantly tease and not feel comfortable around that player. I also think that the amount of gays in major league baseball would probably be under 5% because I think that the majority of the men in baseball are either married or you hear about their girlfriends. There really are very few men that are suspected of being gay. The statement that I disagreed with was the one about the ongoing problem. I really would think that the problem of having a gay teammate would eventually go away, at least within the media. The media would receive poor publicity if they said anything negative about that gay player.
The NFL also made a comment about how they would support any player that came out and said they were gay because they are a team. This was the only answer this team gave and I thought it was interesting because they made that comment, but refused to answer any more of the questions. In today’s society, I think that most teams would probably be fairly accepting of people being gay. The world has taken big steps as far as not making fun of people for being gay. There are cases such as Larry Johnson who make fun of people for being gay, but almost always they respond with an apology whether they mean it or not.
The final response was with the NBA and there were actually four teams who responded. Two of the four teams thought that there would be continuing problems and the other two thought there would be short terms. I think that this situation would be short term because eventually the media will go on to a new subject. I think that teams would support the player because there are only 12 or so players on a team and so if you exile a player, then the team could fall apart. Two teams also thought that their fans would be less supportive and I am not sure why. Being gay does make a person different than if they are straight, but it does not mean at all the their play will deteriorate. I think that fans would still like the player as long as he keeps playing well.
Overall, what do you think would be the situation within college sports? I think it would be interesting to see what the situation would be. I think the stats would be completely different than the major sports, but I am just interested what you believe.
Jennifer Harris
I think that the situation that Jennifer Harris had to go through was just ridiculous. Going through a college program with an unethical policy that Rene Portland had just seems unrealistic any more. “No drinking, no drugs, and no lesbians.” I cannot believe that the university would not find out about the policy and do something in order to stop it. It is not right and should have been stopped before this situation came. Not drinking and not doing drugs to be on a team is perfectly fine, but to think that you cannot have a sexual preference and be part of the team seems wrong.
Not only did Portland not allow lesbians, but she also did not allow the girls to look like they are lesbians. I simply cannot believe that this was not an issue prior to when it finally came up in the case of Harris. Forcing players to wear their hair in a feminine style, wear jewelry, make up, and acquire a tan is simply unreal. This sounds to me like something that may have occurred in the 1970’s or 1980’s when these issues seemed relevant, but not in 2007 when all these issues seemed to have already come up in the public eye.
In this situation for Harris, all she wanted to do was wear her hair in corn rows. Harris was kicked off the team during her sophomore year for alleged poor work ethic and attitude. This all occurred after the coach told Harris that she did not want her to wear her hair in corn rows because it is not a feminine type of hair style.
According to Newhall & Buzuvis, this was not the first situation of this occurring, but Harris was the first to file a lawsuit against Portland and the University of Penn State. I personally believe this is incredible that Harris was the first one to file a lawsuit. If something along these lines happened at any university I would believe that a person would want to file a claim almost instantly.
I thought that it was very ironic that Portland stepped down as coach and also settled for an agreement with Harris in 2007 because that is basically showing that Portland knew she was wrong. This really makes me wonder because why would Portland even have this policy if she knew it was wrong? I cannot comprehend the reason for it and I wish there was a little clarification. If Portland was willing to step down and settle on an agreement after a lawsuit was filed, why would she have had that policy in the first place? Wouldn’t she have already known that could happen? It is just really confusing as a whole.
Not only did Portland not allow lesbians, but she also did not allow the girls to look like they are lesbians. I simply cannot believe that this was not an issue prior to when it finally came up in the case of Harris. Forcing players to wear their hair in a feminine style, wear jewelry, make up, and acquire a tan is simply unreal. This sounds to me like something that may have occurred in the 1970’s or 1980’s when these issues seemed relevant, but not in 2007 when all these issues seemed to have already come up in the public eye.
In this situation for Harris, all she wanted to do was wear her hair in corn rows. Harris was kicked off the team during her sophomore year for alleged poor work ethic and attitude. This all occurred after the coach told Harris that she did not want her to wear her hair in corn rows because it is not a feminine type of hair style.
According to Newhall & Buzuvis, this was not the first situation of this occurring, but Harris was the first to file a lawsuit against Portland and the University of Penn State. I personally believe this is incredible that Harris was the first one to file a lawsuit. If something along these lines happened at any university I would believe that a person would want to file a claim almost instantly.
I thought that it was very ironic that Portland stepped down as coach and also settled for an agreement with Harris in 2007 because that is basically showing that Portland knew she was wrong. This really makes me wonder because why would Portland even have this policy if she knew it was wrong? I cannot comprehend the reason for it and I wish there was a little clarification. If Portland was willing to step down and settle on an agreement after a lawsuit was filed, why would she have had that policy in the first place? Wouldn’t she have already known that could happen? It is just really confusing as a whole.
Sheryl Swoops
Sheryl Swoopes made a very courageous statement when she came out to the public in 2005 that she was a lesbian. This statement was very shocking to many people all over the country, but is it really that big of a deal and should she actually be praised for her efforts?
Prior to Swoopes, there have not been very many people who have come out and confessed to being gay or lesbian while still playing within their sport. I think that this really speaks for what Swoopes did because she is a rarity. She is comfortable with her life choices to tell the world and still be able to participate in her sport. There have been multiple males that have come out after they have left the sport that they love, but it really is not the same. The males that have done this simply appear to be afraid of what others will think of them and think that the view of them within the locker room will not be acceptable. Swoopes however, did not care at all what others would think because she wanted everyone to know. She was able to continue her playing career.
Swoopes also made the statement that she thinks it is harder for males to come out and admit to being gay, but why should this be? It really does not make much sense because women often are just as bad as men when it comes to things that happen in the locker room. Straight men are often teased even when they are straight. This makes it appear as if it would be harder for men to come out, but to my knowledge, girls are teased just as often as what men are, which would make it hard for them as well.
I personally believe that it would be very hard to be the person to come out to the public while in a nationally recognized position and tell the world that you are gay or lesbian. To think of how that would ruin your reputation and relationships with people that you have known your whole life would make it hard to have any interest in telling the world. I believe that is why males do not come out because of the way they will be treated or talked about in the media.
Which would you think would be harder?
Prior to Swoopes, there have not been very many people who have come out and confessed to being gay or lesbian while still playing within their sport. I think that this really speaks for what Swoopes did because she is a rarity. She is comfortable with her life choices to tell the world and still be able to participate in her sport. There have been multiple males that have come out after they have left the sport that they love, but it really is not the same. The males that have done this simply appear to be afraid of what others will think of them and think that the view of them within the locker room will not be acceptable. Swoopes however, did not care at all what others would think because she wanted everyone to know. She was able to continue her playing career.
Swoopes also made the statement that she thinks it is harder for males to come out and admit to being gay, but why should this be? It really does not make much sense because women often are just as bad as men when it comes to things that happen in the locker room. Straight men are often teased even when they are straight. This makes it appear as if it would be harder for men to come out, but to my knowledge, girls are teased just as often as what men are, which would make it hard for them as well.
I personally believe that it would be very hard to be the person to come out to the public while in a nationally recognized position and tell the world that you are gay or lesbian. To think of how that would ruin your reputation and relationships with people that you have known your whole life would make it hard to have any interest in telling the world. I believe that is why males do not come out because of the way they will be treated or talked about in the media.
Which would you think would be harder?
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