Athletic Graduation Rates

Athletes are often times looked upon as the "dumb jocks" stemming all the way from their highschool days, and continuing to their collegiate careers, this trend needs to come to an end. A 2003 study shows that the graduation rate for all UT students is 81 percent whereas the graduation rates for student athletes is only at 62 percent. However when looking at the sports under the most survellience such as football, there is only a 49 percent graduation rate. When you put this number under an even bigger microscope such as minority, there is only a 37 percent graduation rate of African Americans and roughly a 70 percent graduation rate of  Caucasian Americans. This is about a 32 percent difference in the graduation rate of the two races. The problem with this statistic however is that it does not take into account the players who forgo their senior seniors to enter their perspective draft therefore the statistics are in a sense somewhat skewed. These statistics are not only somewhat embarrasing for the athletic programs, but they also upset other faculty. The athletic staff not only employ some of the highest paid people on campus, but also some of the highest paid in Texas as well. Since the majority of teachers look at student athletes through the student only lense it appears as if the athletic staff is not really doing their job and therefore should not be paid nearly as much. Much of the faculty take the standpoint that these diminishing athletic graduation rates make the University look worse and ruin the graduation rates of the University as a whole. There will always be a difference in opinion between the faculty and the athletic staffs, so it is best that both parts just do their job adequately.

Sports Labor Union

There has been a constant disagreement between the athletes and the managers for some time now, yet they have always found a way to find a happy medium between the two and allowed the sporting events to continue. This appears to be coming to a tragic hault as the upcoming 2011 NFL season appears to be in jeopardy because the athletes and the managers cannot come to an agreement. The Leauge and its managers want to extend the NFL season to 18 games without increasing the pay of players and as one can assume this poses obvious problems. That would be an additional two games that these athletes are putting thier bodies and lives at stake, and for no pay seems ridiculous. The managers however only see things through a financial lense, and see an increase in the NFL schedule as an increase in income for their teams and themselves. For the sake of the National football league it is in the best interest of the players along with the owners to come to some sort of  agreement prior to the 2011 season. Individual franchises cannot afford to lose any sort of income, and if players are forced to sit out for a year there will be major repercussions upon their reinstatment. Disagreements between athletes and ownerships have been brewing for a while now and they appear to be at an all time high.

Sports and Violence

The sporting world has begun to influence violence in the lifes of teens very negatively and it is not so much the fault of the sport, but rather the effect the media has had on the sports themselves. Wrestlers have for years been icons to many kids all over the world and in this world of wrestling kids often try to immitate and mimic the moves and stunts they see these wrestlers attempting (not realizing that these moves are rehearsed and in fact nothing but acting). Fast forward some years later when the newest form of sporting entertainment for kids to mimic is UFC (Ultimate fighting championship). This is essentially pro wrestling on steroids, its much more violent, much more dangerous, and much more real. These sporting events are often broadcasted on pay per view only and the primary audience is male teenagers. These kids for hours stare mindlessly at the telivision and as soon as the match is over go to there secluded areas and attempt to act out some of these moves they just spent the previous hour watching. Many report have surfaced of kids who have been wrestling around and ended up getting seriously injured all because they wanted to attmept a move they had seen on t.v. One cannot blame the sport itself for this problem, but rather the media and the thoughts they instill into our youth are the ones to blame.

Religion in Sports

Religion has been on a major decline in sports and sport industries along with society are doing their best to take religion itself out of the game. People have begin to wonder, is there even a place for religion in todays sporting world? My answer is simply yes. Sports themselves started with religion as the first athletic event is thought to be derived from a race to the alter of Zeus. Based on this fact how can you find it necessary or even appropriate to take religion out of sports. Many athletes play a sport because they filled called to do so or because they are trying to bring glory to God. By taking religion out of the games you are removing an athletes motivation for playing and by removing their movitation you are also removing their passion and enthusiasm for the game. If you remove indivuals athletes love for playing the game it will inevitbly ruin the game itself. Since the game is comprised of individual athletes it will be diminished one by one as each athlete loses its desire to play. Taking religion out of sports would be inexcusable and it should not be permitted by those who are in power. I feel as if religion should not be forced upon athletes however it should not be removed from the game.

Modern Day Sports

Sports have continually evolved over the years, and they are ever changing even to today. The first sporting games started in the ancient times. There was actually a religious aspect to the games as they initially started with a race to Zues' alter. The olympic games had many rules and restrictions as in the first games woman were not allowed to participate. Within the following hundred years or so women were allowed to participate however there were restrictions for peasants and those who were of the "lower classes". The games continually change and religion is beginning to be taken out of sports. Sports have now been turned into a country verse country affair. Looking at the World cup, countries are turned against countries and nations are turned against nation. The Olympic games were initially brought in place in order to bring nations together however as times have evolved they are doing the opposite. Many athletes in fact leave their native countries in order to participate for another country, and this always stirs up hatred for the athlete from the country. A prime example of the Olympics going wrong is when Hitler attempted to use the platform of the Games in order to show off his country. Sports are continually evolving and it will be interesting to see where they continue to go.

Doping in sports

Doping has been a challenging issue in the sporting world for years now. Though it is continually growing as an issue in sports annually. Doping is nothing to play with in sports as the integrity of the game is being lost with each individual issue. There is no simple solution to solving this epidemic of doping in sports as athletes have found a way to stay one step ahead of the testing agencies. Many athletes have been caught doping such as Barry Bonds, Mark Maguire, and Jose Conseco; these are just a few notable athletes who have been caught doping. These three baseball players have in a sense single handedly ruined the view of modern day baseball. Mark Maguire set the MLB record for homeruns with 73, however the following year baseball instilled random mid season testing and no one hit over 50 homeruns. Thats almost a 33 percent decrease in homeruns and this is no coincidence. These athletes have displayed the effect that doping can have on the game of sports, and there is no room in the game for it.

Concussions in Football

The epidemic of concussions or head trauma is a growing issue in today’s sporting world, and whether or not the leagues are truly trying to protect the athletes, or just protect themselves, the issue of concussions and the necessary treatment following concussions has become a blooming issue.  In boxing, the main objective is to knock out your opponent by shots to both their body and their head. In mixed martial arts, there is a similar objective, to force your opponent into submission via different holds and application of pressure points. However, this is not the case in the game of football. In football the objective is to score if your on offense and if on defense to limit your opponent from scoring. No where in the game is the objective to knock your opponents head off, and you are in fact penalized not rewarded for hits to the head. The game of football has already adapted so much modern day as opposed to how the game used to be played, and there are not many more changes that could take place in order for football to be played the same yet be considered safer. Football is a violent sport by nature, and society has to come to that realization. There can only be so many rules inforced until football loses its luster and I believe the majority of these changes have already taken place. Now it is up to the athletes to take accountability and keep eachother safe. 

Dog Fighting

Animal cruelty has played a very important part in our society. Dogs are considered, "Mans best friend", and who could dislike a cute little kitten. Humans have begun to put animals on such a pedastil that they are becoming to get some of the same treatment as humans. Walking down the street these days you will see someone walking their dog, which is dressed in the latest dog appearal and has bows resting in their hair. Based on this fact that animals are being looked at in the same light as human beings makes dog fighting an even more serious situation. Dog fighting was most prominantly on the scene during the 2007 year, when Michael Vick who was a starting quaterback in the NFL at the time was accused and convicted of Dog fighting. After trying hard to deny his involvement in the dog fighting Vick finally pleaded guilty and was sentence to two years behind bars. This situation was scrutinized so heavily not only because Michael Vick is a star in the sporting world, but it allowed society to realize that animals are beggining to recieve similar treatment as humans. When we have pedafiles and rapists roaming our streets and living in our own neighborhoods, it makes one wonder if two years of jail time was an appropriate sentencing. Although this concept might be hard to grasp, this is the way in which our society is going and how our society has begun to mold.

Discrimination in our society

In our society there are many variations of discrimination, and it reaches to people of all genders and of all ethnicities. In our current society people who are obese or overweight tend to be discriminated against along with those who are older in age; they are discriminated against in the working field and in the job world. However, in the year 2010 discrimination is still being headlined on the basis of race. Race has always been one of, if not the biggest form of discrimination in our society, and although there are numerous platforms in which one can be discriminated against, race continues to be the dominant form. This talk of discrimination has prompted me to think about this years heisman running. The heisman award is given out to college football's "best player" (usually offensive). Cameron Newton, the starting quarterback for the University of Auburn is clearly ahead of every other candidate 9 weeks into the season, but it seems as if the media is doing everything in its power to tear him down. Newton, a black quarterback, has captivated the sporting world, and is garnering attention from those around the country, but it appears the media has had enough. Since Newton new found fame there have been "discoveries" that he might have accepted money to play at Mississippi State, and the newest bit of media info is that he was caught cheating on an exam while at the Univeristy of FLorida therefore he was forced to transfer. These kind of outlandish claims were never made toward recent previous heisman winners of White decent such as: Tim tebow, or Sam bradford. So what is it about Newton that has caused the media to try and dig up dirt to tarnish his image? There appears to be no other explanation than his race.

Race in early 20th century sports

There were many different athletes who faced discrimination in their sport very early on such as Jack Johnson, Jesse Owens, and Joe Louis, but these athletes handled this discrimination in different ways, which allowed them to be viewed more favorably in the eyes of others. Jack Johnon really crossed a major racial barrier being the first African American athlete to be titled a world champion; however outside of the arena he was disliked by his opponents and many White Americans. He somewhat taunted his White opponents and did not win with grace. Marrying three different White women and living the lifestyle he lived caused him to be viewed as defiant. Jesse Owens faced the same racial discrimination in that he was not even allowed to live in the same dorm as his fellow athletes, but contrary to Johnson, Owens became friends with his opponents and earned the respect of them. In the Olympics Hitler attempted to show off his German athletes, but again Owens stole the show and inevitably stole the hearts of some of the audience as they ended up cheering for him and encouraging him as well. Lastly Joe Louis, although Louis attempted to conduct himself well, not many things in his life went as planned. After a successful career he ended up broke and looking for different ways to garner some money. He inlisted himself in WWII, but never really got his life back on the desired path. These three athletes all had to overcome adversity, but the way in which they did so and the outcome of their lives ended rather differently.

The Body

After viewing and being surveyed on many different body types in our most recent class, it prompted me to think that there is in fact no ideal body type. Everyone in society is made, shaped, and built differently, but along with these different builds comes a difference in opinion as well. There are a variety of body types which can be viewed in a positive light. Whether curvy or cut, thick or thin, swole or slender, each different body type has those who find it appealing, and others who are not as attracted. There is no protocol which states what a "perfect" body looks like and humans will continue to drive themselves crazy attempting to achieve a constantly altering ideal. The in class surveying that we did was a brief display in the variety of opinions in the definition of attractive when dealing with the body, and it was interesting yet not suprising to see the broad spectrum of ideals. In conclusion, I feel as if the "ideal body type" will not be the same today as it will be tomorrow; therefore there is no reason in our unrealistic attempts at acheiving what we believe is a great body.

The Rising Epidemic: Obesity

Obesity has been growing in America for years now and it is up to the producers of our goods and each individual person to take it upon themself and bring this to an end. A good question was presented in our discussion section this week. Is it the job of the vendors or the jobs of each individual to bring obesity to a hault? I personally think it is the job of each individual to take ownership upon their own body and live a healthy lifestyle. It is the job of vendors to stay in business and to continue selling their product in order to stay competitive; however, they do not force anyone to eat their product and they are not shoving it down our throats. By saying it is the vendors fault for modern day obesity being on the rise we would just continue to allow it to grow, and we would be deflecting the blame onto others besides ourselves. If we desire to bring this problem to an end we have to look in the mirror and identify that this problem starts with us as individuals and as a society. When we begin to take responsibility for our actions and what we put into our body, then and only then, will this growing problem called obesity be put to rest.

The Positive Effects of Physical Education

After discussing physical education for a period of time in class it prompted me to think about the role physical education has played not only in my life, but continues to play in the life of adolecents and young kids. Physical education classes helped me to experiement with a wide variety of different sports allowing me to identify my likes and dislikes. This is important because when highschool roles around you cannot play multiple sports per season, but rather have to choose between a maximum of three sports (for the three seasons). Physical education classes allowed me to make a decision prior to highschool as to which sports I would try and pursue. Physical education classes are not only valuable in helping kids decide what sports they should pursue, but more importantly as a form of exercise. With childhood obesity rates rising Physical education is of the essence and it should continue to be emphasized in todays school districts.

STEROIDS

After watching the in class movie it was appearant that not all people share the same beliefs  about steroids although I personally think it is pretty appearant that they should not be allowed in todays sports. There was one individual in the movie who was so obsessed with feeling masculine that he forfeited his health concerns. Others claimed that steroids game them their best chance at reaching thier full athletic potential. Which brings up the question, does it really count as reaching "your" full potential if you use illegal substances? I would say no, however after watching the in class video some of the overly muscle bound men would definately choose to disagree.

GENE DOPING

Gene doping has been an issue in the sports world for years now, but has recently begun to become a very controversial matter. With equality and fair play being a point of emphasis in todays sports, gene doping could potentially ruin sports. We have already seen the effect that steroids has had on baseball. No one can undoubtedly state who the best hitter or even best player of all time is due to the looming thought steroid use. With steroids being a huge problem in sports there is no need to add to an already existing negative phenomenon. Steroids has ruined many athletes careers, lives, and legacy's, and it would be a tragedy if society were to let gene doping have this same effect.