Integrated View of Intercollegiate Athletics

I could not agree more with Myles Brand's idea that collegiate athletic departments should be "integrated" into universities mission statements. In fact, this is one of my favorite topics!! I would strongly advocate for sports and all of the benefits I feel come with physical learning and health. Mainly D1, but certainly DII, and DIII athletes also, are extremely dedicated individuals. I feel this group, is at the top, if not the top, of the university as far as maintaining work load and busy schedule. Here at UT student-athletes are not only juggling their grades at a world class university, but also maintaining a high performance level in a world class athletic program. I agree with the statement that there must be harmony within the body and mind, to create a happy life. I believe it wouldn't hurt us to focus more on physical/ athletic development at all age groups. Beginning from when a child starts school. Not only could this possibly help our nation's obesity problem, however, it will lead to all around healthier people, (which means less hospital debt and uninsured getting sick), and also teach the very important skill of maintaining the two entities of the physical, and cognitive learning. Once physical learning is incorporated at such a young age, we as a society will learn how to juggle being healthy, along with academically prospering, which I feel go hand and hand. This same importance view should be held for intercollegiate athletics. As Brand argues, why should there be any difference in physical talents such as playing an instrument (music majors,) or dance majors, and having physical talents such as running fast or dunking in basketball? Athletics should be a valuable part of education as well. Improving physical learning is as important as cognitive learning. Sports provides players with the ability to think critically and problem solve. Every important value in life, I feel can be taught from sports. As Brand also mentions, student-athletes are use to competition and experiencing failure, so they become good at becoming adversity. Which is something that wouldn’t hurt everyone to become familiar with incase, for example, certain career plans do not work out. Sports also teach teamwork, responsibility, dedication, time management, self confidence, and hard work. All very important virtues that are very useful in everyday life. Sports provides players with a positive self image of themselves, once they are able to appreciate what their bodies can do athletically, in addition to academically. Sports allow student-athletes to develop a value system, a set of goals, and a perspective on life.  I am a firm believer in sports providing much greater benefit than detriment, teaching important lessons, and making a well-rounded person…. Integrated view all the way!  : )

Violence in Hockey

In Drewe's article, titled "Violence in Sport: Just Part of the Game?" I disagree with the aspects of fighting argued in the article. The first argument for fighting in hockey is that it is a way to "release anger." This anger is typically from losing. For one I do not feel fighting is the answer to releasing anger. Another argument is the "motivational aspect of fighting." Meaning that fighting gets the crowd and your teammates "pumped" while it does indeed do this, I feel there are other ways to getting the team pumped besides risking extreme injuries and losing moral values. Hockey is still rough and a contact sport, the speed and aggressiveness should allow the team to be pumped enough and release enough anger. An intentional act of violence does not have to be committed.
Considering the long hockey sticks, extremely hard ice and puck, blades on the bottom of their skates, someone could get seriously hurt or fatalities could even occur when resorting to fighting.These serious injuries that come from fighting are just not worth releasing your anger, or motivating your team. The article even talks about seeing less fighting when play-off time comes around. This is because the teams are taking these games more serious, and do not need the penalty of fighting and risk losing the game. The teams should have this same attitude during regular season. This just highlights our societies importance of winning at all costs. The anger of losing is enough to make an athlete lose moral principals and start a violent fight on the rink. When it is play-off time, time to WIN, athletes fear risking the game over fighting, however still participate in violent acts such as, taking the other team's star player out of the game. Fighting breaks both written and unwritten rules of sport. A moral standard should be held by athletes. They should focus on being role models. They already typically have healthy bodies, they should take this healthy lifestyle and apply it to all aspects of life, and focus on being an all around good person. Some argued that a hockey game with no fighting would attract less of a crowd. However, I agree with Wayne Gretzski's counter argument that perhaps an analysis should be done on those who do not watch it for the violence, who do not appreciate the fighting, but instead like the game, and want their kids to be able to watch it also. The article mentions the root word of competition, com-petito, which means "striving together." Perhaps we, as a society, should lose our "win at all cost" attitude that we have turned "competition" into, and focus on the origin, of striving together to achieve excellence.

The Amateur Sports Act

The United States and Soviet Union had a strict competition going in the medal race of international sport. The country that lost in the medal count was a sign of that country’s weakness, and the winner earned respect internationally as a strong country. As President Ford said “I don’t know a better advertisement for a nation’s good health than a healthy athletic representation.” I completely agree with President Ford. America was falling behind in international athletics and something had to be done about this. Having healthy, drug free, strong athletes that dominated at the Olympic games would be an awesome representation of America. Hunt mentions in his article that the Amateur Sports act of 1978 was passed in response to policy proposals provided by President Gerald Ford’s Commission on Olympic Sports, and provides the framework for amateur sports in the U.S. and serves as one of the bases for the nation’s current international athletic success. Poor performance of the American team at the 1972 Olympics was the ‘focusing event’ this act was based off of. While this act focused on the U.S. having elite athletics, it failed to look at the other important issues in the U.S. such as decreasing physical activity and increasing obesity rates.  As the rivalry between the Soviet Union and U.S. developed it became increasingly apparent that the American team was not prepared to compete with the Soviets, so this act was put into effect to act as a system that prioritized the production of elite athletes to win international prestige for the U.S. rather than a promoter of a system that contributed to the basic fitness and equality of athletic opportunities of the general public.  However, during the Kennedy and Eisenhower administrations, a sports system founded on mass participation was envisioned as a means to promote national health and, by doing so, maintain the nation’s preparedness for war. Eisenhower became alarmed at our country’s extremely low average fitness level, especially when compared to that of European countries. The president’s came up with the creation of the President’s Council on Youth Fitness. To advise Americans on these low fitness levels, and what can be done to reach a happy, healthy America. President Kennedy, agreeing with Eisenhower, claimed that “the fitness of our citizens is a vital prerequisite to America’s realization of its full potential as a nation..” I completely agree.  I really like how our president administration (especially Nixon and Ford) really believed that sport encompassed the positive values of mainstream America and that elite athletes were especially note worthy for their high character.” I like how we had presidents around this time that came to realize this. The president I must say I am in most agreement with is Kennedy. In that he realized it was very important that they started to realize that not only elite athletes needed to improve their athleticism, but America as a whole needed to. As Hunt mentioned, perhaps we should focus more on adults in our country, since they have less exercise resources at those in other countries. American needed to become more physically fit as a nation, to represent our country well, and even though we still have a LONG way to go, the presidents of that time made great leaps in promoting that fitness for the mass.

Sports and the Cold War

The tension between countries during the Cold War was represented through sports, and specifically, in the Olympics, since they were an international competition. The quest for dominance in the Olympic medals led to the creation of highly sport systems that utilized the latest scientific advances in athletic training and exercise physiology. This led many countries to turn to drugs for their athletes. Drugs were very common in the 1960s and 1970s during sport and even in the Olympics. Although it became an issue many started to notice was getting out of control, little was actually done about it right away. When the issue started to become something that was very difficult to ignore, and after much debate with the International Olympic Committee, a test finally did come along for amphetamines in the 1972 Munich games. The next worrisome drug was that of hormones, considering it was problematic and hard to detect. Avery Brundage, president of the IOC, claimed that hormones could be undetected if the athlete took them early enough before the competition. Hunt tells the controversial story of swimmer Rich DeMont in his article. He explains how DeMont was stripped of his medal for being tested positive for a drug found in his asthma medicine. Many people were unhappy about this because in another doping scandal in the 1972 Munich games fourteen athletes participating in the pentathlon tested positive for tranquilizers but were not disqualified from their events as DeMont was. U.S. officials were infuriated. Basically, to be competitive, all athletes were using some sort of drugs. Hunt also mentions Dr. John Zeigler, a U.S. team physician in the 1960’s who was very unhappy about the teams drug use. He quit after finding out some men on the team were taking 20 times the recommended dosage of various ergogenic drugs. I feel he made the right choice. He took a stand for something that was unhealthy, and un-American. Something should have been done about the drugs of the Olympic games of this time. I understand our countries were in a tense race athletically, as well as non-athletically, however drugs are a form of cheating in my opinion. It provides the body with something that it naturally could not attain on its own. Although I feel something should be done... It is such a tough problem that I honestly do not know what could have been done. Perhaps it was handled in the best way possible? No… I still think more could have been done… but what? How do you solve something the whole world is involved in?... This issue started back then.. and remains today.. A LOT has been done, however drugs still are around in sports. Therefore, these are unanswered questions.

Race and Role Models in Sport

Several of professional sport's greatest athletes were/are African American. In his article, Dorinson mentions several of the greatest athletes of all time who were also black. He opens with speaking of boxer Jack Johnson, who I, personally did not particularly like because of his flashy ways and cocky attitude. However, what he represented for not only black athletes, but the black community as a whole, cannot be denied. He provided them with a hero. He paved the way for other black athletes and black citizens. He was able to deflate white supremacy and increase "black pride" so, for his community, he was a quite a hero, because this had not yet been done by an athlete around those times. (Early 1900's). Johnson lived recklessly, he had white prostitutes, three white wives, and went to jail, for these reasons he is not someone I would choose as my personal hero, however he definitely was one to many. Joe Louis Barrow is the second fighter Dorinson mentions. If I enjoyed boxing I would say he is more along the lines of my type of hero. Unlike Johnson, he was very humble and let his fists do the talking. The third athlete Dorinson mentions is Jesse Owens, he is definitely one of my favorite sports heroes. Owens won 4 gold medals in the 1936 Olympics. And represented something I appreciated learning, that his dominance was sort of "in Hitler's face." After all, Hitler believed in the ideal (white) race, and this African American showed up, blowing everyone away. Dorinson goes on to talk about another one of my favorites, the famous Jackie Robinson. What Jackie did for African Americans in sport is truly tremendous. He took a lot of racial slurs and violence with a calm manner so that he could continue playing his game and showing what he had to offer. For that he is a true hero. Not many people could have taken that torment with the grace that he showed. He let his performance do the talking. He is the black athlete associated with breaking the color barrier in professional sport. He joined the predominately white game of baseball, and was one of the best in the league, many were unhappy about this, but for his race and many others, he was a true hero. The last athlete Dorinson mentions is Cassius Clay aka Muhammed Ali. One of the greatest boxers of all time. He refused service in the war and this made many people unhappy. By him taking this stance he associated himself with the anti-war movement. While it can be admired that he took a stand for what he believed in..  I still wonder if he should have fought for our country in the war. However, war fighter or not, he was one heck of a boxer, and was yet another famous black hero.These men went down in history because of something they excelled in and the struggles they faced. Although they all handled it a little differently, they all had to face adversity while paving the road for blacks in sport. Heroes like Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, and Joe Louis, proved that no matter your race, you can excel in any sport that you want to excel in, as long as you have the talent. Equal opportunity was not available for these men, but, because of them, equal opportunity is now available for other blacks and minorities. These men accomplished great feats and opened a huge door in sports.

Race and Sport

The race and sport article mentions an excerpt from a 1971 article of "An Assessment of Black is Best" that was featured in Sports Illustrated. The information that is mentioned from the article is that environmental factors have a great deal to do with excellence in sport, but so do physical differences, and that it is likely that blacks may have an increased/ enhanced potential. This created madness in the American public. While I feel that it is definitely certain that some physical qualities provide better performances in certain athletic areas, and even though these qualities might  be more prevalent in specific ethnic groups as a whole, I feel that these qualities are not limited to only one specific ethnicity. Environmental factors and genes, in my opinion, play a much larger role. For example, it is stereotyped that the Hispanic, or Mexican ethnicity are awesome soccer players, have great stamina, and that is "their sport." Similar to basketball being predominately blacks. It is not necessarily that these two ethnicity's have any qualities that make them any better than whites at these two sports, however, it is often times due to their environment and the socioeconomic status' they had growing up. Those two sports started as relatively inexpensive, basically all you needed was a ball, so their less fortunate family members or ancestors most likely started those sports and it somewhat has just passed through the genes as a family hobby, or even career. I really appreciated the anthropologist W. Montague Cobb's argument that "proper training and incentive were the key factors in the making of a champion." I completely agree with this. Because as I said, I believe successful athletes are a mixture of genes and environment. The right person and the right sport. I do not agree with the other comments in the article such as blacks wanted revenge on whites and other statements such as that. Any black could excel in golf, any white person could excel in basketball, any Mexican could successfully participate in equestrian. However, it is a matter of socioeconomic status, environment, and tradition that has guided the ethnicity's participation.