A name change might possibly be due with talks of the NFL expanding to London. After all the NFL is an acronym for the "National Football League" which if the expansion did happen would more accurately be called the IFL (International Football League).
Many ask the question but why in the holy hell would we ever want to expand a sport that's so incredibly unique to our amazing country... Thee U S of A?
The answer is simple: The NFL is a business, a multi-billion dollar generator one in fact.
The amount of money to be made from expanding to London was estimated to boost the NFL's annual revenue to 25 billion dollars. Why London? It's one of the biggest cities around the world and on top of that they speak really great English. Another thing that I might add is that there are already existing NFL owners who own other teams and businesses in Europe.
A major problem with having a team in London mainly is logistics. The time commitment that is needed for an NFL team to be successful would become an issue. There would also be a major barrier between the targeted potential fans. There is an inherited set of fan culture with football in America. Of course through time fans in London would develop their own football culture and fan bases. Many of these little problems exist with the London expansion plan that deter a lot of people in the NFL organization from agreeing to this ideal.
The expansion can negatively impact tradition, players, and die hard fans. The NFL's dark side is rarely depicted in media. It seems the saying is true when it says that "money make the world go round" and in the case of the NFL expansion, literally.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
"Sociogenesis of Golf"
The origins of the sport "Golf" have been traced back to the country Scotland. There have been claims such as Scotland being the origin to "modern golf" and that a game in China called "Chuiwan" similar to golf developed first. The sport was developed by both the Scottish and English people and were originally played by royalty. The diffusion of golf from Scotland to England by the English aristocracy was the first movement and popularity helped furthermore the spreading of the sport to other countries. The first variation of the rules was created in the year 1774 by the Honorary Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Later in 1897 the golf club named "The Royal and Ancient golf club of St. Andrews" became responsible for the creation of the rules of golf that we know today.
Original Golf Equipment
Modern Golf Equipment
As you can see there are major differences in the equipment used originally and today from wood shafts to graphite. Modern technology has given the player help to control direction and location of the hit ball. Above is a golf club that can control whether you hit the ball with a "fade" which should be used if the fairway curves to the right and a "draw" if the fairway curves to the left.
Significant events in the history of golf would be the immigration of golf to America. Golf reached America in 1888 through a man by the name of John Reid who was a Scottish business man who created the first golf course in New York. Golf's popularity triggered a massive expansion and creation of courses all across America. In 1894 the United States Golf Association was formed (USGA) and still thrives today. Golf is a beautiful sport and faces little controversies and challenges as a sport. The rules have been the same for centuries the only thing that I can possibly think of that would be an aspect that needs improvement would be popularity with the youth in America.
References:
Friday, January 24, 2014
Sport in the ancient world
Types of Sports played in Ancient Greece and Rome
Like most sports today, the concepts of winning and losing are the main structures. These sports required a lifetime worth of training. The sports were a lot more deadly in Ancient Rome and Greece requiring blood shed and death.
The function/role sports played during these eras
Sports were highly valued by the Ancient Roman and Greek societies. The main difference between it and modern day sports is that religion doesn't play as big of a role. Winners were known to be favored by the gods and the losers worthless.
The participants in the sports
The participants could be from any socio economic status but the one requirement would be that the person must be male.
References:
The Youtube videos provided through D2L
- Marathons
- Fighting
- Gladiator fights to the death
- Wrestling
- Discus
- Javelin throw
- Chariot races
Like most sports today, the concepts of winning and losing are the main structures. These sports required a lifetime worth of training. The sports were a lot more deadly in Ancient Rome and Greece requiring blood shed and death.
The function/role sports played during these eras
Sports were highly valued by the Ancient Roman and Greek societies. The main difference between it and modern day sports is that religion doesn't play as big of a role. Winners were known to be favored by the gods and the losers worthless.
The participants in the sports
The participants could be from any socio economic status but the one requirement would be that the person must be male.
References:
The Youtube videos provided through D2L
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Sport, Society and Me
a) Your connection to sport- what does it mean to you? what role does it play in your life? How did you develop this connection?
Sports have always meant a lot to me from plastic toy basketball hoops to my first set of junior golf clubs. It seems as though my whole life has revolved around sports and most often times can be a symbol of who I define myself as. I identify myself with the sport and all that entails such as adhering to the rules and using terminology. Sport plays the role of a portion of time out of my everyday life. I developed this connection through my parents and social constructions such as television, media, and video games. My mom always had me in a sport for every season because it was "good" for me and my dad always encouraged it for the love of playing and competing. American media has also had an enormous effect on shaping how I think of sports and what it means to participate and/or watch.
b) The role of sport in US society- Do you think it plays a positive/negative role? What values does US sport teach us? How important do you think sport is in American society? How have you come to this conclusion? What position in society do athletes hold? Are they valued? Respected? If so, how do you know this?
I believe sport plays a positive role in US society. Sport brings the values of hard work, commitment, and unity. Sport has become a treasured form of art in American society with millions of people all across the country striving for perfection. You can even see how important sport is by looking at the economics of sport in the country. Professional athletes are signing contracts to play sports for millions of dollars each and every year. As consumers we go to the competitions and pay hundreds of dollars just to watch and be entertained. The value and power that athletes hold can even be seen through advertisement strategies with companies paying large dollar amounts to have an athlete endorse their product.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ircKRJ2M5u8
Saturday, January 18, 2014
The Sport Ethic
What is sport ethic?
According to Hughes and Coakley "The sport ethic refers to what many participants in sport have come to use as the criteria for defining what it means to be a real athlete". There are also 4 dimensions to the sport ethic including the following.
Dimensions of Sports Ethic:
- Making sacrifices for 'the game'
- Striving for distinction
- Accepting risks and playing through pain
- Not accepting limits in the pursuit of possibilities
The dimensions create a positive deviance and one of the reasons athletes conform to this set of beliefs is because of the socialization process which leads us to believe the 4 dimensions are what defines us.
I have experienced all four of the dimensions when playing competitively for sports. For example coming in to the gym my freshman year at 5 in the morning every day during the season just to strive for that distinction and not accept limits. I even went to those early morning practices when I had the flu accepting the fact that I would throw up after. The time I lost a contact lens during a golf tournament and kept playing half blind was also an example of not accepting limits and taking it as a sacrifice for the sake of trying to win the game.
References:
Hughes and Coakley (1991)
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Sports in the USA
"Societies appear to need games of sport like they need dreams" (Stine, 92)
America lives for sports and like most countries has its favorites. As stated by Dr. Withycombe of the University of Colorado Boulder, the most popular sports in America are Football, Basketball, and Baseball. They all share the common characteristic of being team based games in which players use objects in the form of balls to try and score on offense and also defend on defense.
A typical game day consists of a spectacle where many people gather to watch teams compete. The atmosphere is usually loud with cheers from the crowd and music playing throughout the arena of where the sport is going to be played. In professional sports and some college level there is a tradition of having a person or group of people perform the national anthem for the United States of America before the game begins. The values of patriotism, competition, and team work are enforced during these events with players and even fans.
The common theme through American sports is to compete and win for a prize which defines success. In the adolescent years it is a trophy or a medal. The pattern continues throughout the progression to high school, college, and ultimately professional. We envision a successful athlete by how well they perform when there is something at stake like a championship title or achievement of an athletic record. The most important thing in sport in America is the concept of working hard and battling to defeat an opponent and the outcome being how Charlie Sheen a popular American icon would put it best... "Winning".
America lives for sports and like most countries has its favorites. As stated by Dr. Withycombe of the University of Colorado Boulder, the most popular sports in America are Football, Basketball, and Baseball. They all share the common characteristic of being team based games in which players use objects in the form of balls to try and score on offense and also defend on defense.
A typical game day consists of a spectacle where many people gather to watch teams compete. The atmosphere is usually loud with cheers from the crowd and music playing throughout the arena of where the sport is going to be played. In professional sports and some college level there is a tradition of having a person or group of people perform the national anthem for the United States of America before the game begins. The values of patriotism, competition, and team work are enforced during these events with players and even fans.
The common theme through American sports is to compete and win for a prize which defines success. In the adolescent years it is a trophy or a medal. The pattern continues throughout the progression to high school, college, and ultimately professional. We envision a successful athlete by how well they perform when there is something at stake like a championship title or achievement of an athletic record. The most important thing in sport in America is the concept of working hard and battling to defeat an opponent and the outcome being how Charlie Sheen a popular American icon would put it best... "Winning".
References
- Rosa, K. D., Shah, R., Lin, B., Gershman, A., & Frederking, R. (2011). Topical clustering of tweets. Proceedings of the ACM SIGIR: SWSM.
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