Empowerment

Just looking at the photo of Peter Norman, Tommie Smith and John Carlos can empower anyone. I honestly believe that because of people like them that made the U.S. the way it is now. And honestly everyone in my generation and after should be thanking them for doing what they did. The black power salute symbolized basically everything that was being ignored at that time. All of the student riots (that ended in death) that were going on in Mexico, the racism in America and Australia as well. Everyone was experiencing it but there was no one willing to come forth and confront the issue head on like these guys did. It's amazing how much they put themselves at risk to even more discrimination and it really makes me wish I could be more like that.

It really touched me how Peter Norman was such a devoted Australian. If I came back to my nation and I was shunned the way he was I would have been livid. Peter deserved to be a track athlete in the 1972 Olympic Games but they simply said no and Peter just believed that it wasn't meant to be. It's amazing how such a kind person could be turned away like that for just standing there while Tommie Smith and John Carlos were doing the black salute. But as they believe, everything was meant to be just that way because Peter knew what they were doing and he completely supported them. It's amazing the courage that all of them had, and how they were able to live through everything afterward. I honestly believe it's people like them that made it possible for stronger integration of our nation and it wouldn't have happened without the help of them.

Female and Sport

As a female, I'd like to think that I am able to empathize with strong female athletes. When women athletes are in the spotlight, I feel like they are never taken seriously. They are always viewed as less worthy than their male counterparts. Take Danica Patrick for example. She is the most famous woman in Nascar to date, and yet she is demoralized in the media with the photos that she takes.She's not the only one, there are documentaries that also recognize this phenomenon and they question why the athlete does this to herself?

 "Killing Us Softly" by Jean Kilbourne shows all the depictions of women and how those images fuel all the bad things in adolescents such as eating disorders. People see images all the time due to advertisements on the web, on billboards, and on television. And each and every image, women are demoralized and their image. I feel like this is all because of men. They control the mass majority of industries and therefore are allowed to put their opinions into play. Men are constantly judging women, their looks and body types. And this causes women to be even more critical of themselves and of other women because they want to make sure they are up to par with what the opposite sex wants.

Women who are famous in sport should be able to express themselves, but to be able to gain attention in the mass media they have to be sexually appealing and they model themselves that way. What does this do to our generation and those after us?
In discussion, Scott talked about Caster Semenya and how she had to undergo gender testing. Is this right? In my opinion I feel like it wasn't and I'm sure it psychologically affected her when she was told that people didn't believe she was a female. Just because she looks different compared to our views of what a women looks like doesn't mean she should be questioned publicly based on the fact that she runs a lot faster than other track athletes. Of course this is an ethics class and the decisions on these things are questionable, but how far are we going to go to make sure that Caster deserved to compete with female athletes. For Heaven's sake she was 17 years old and she had to be poked and prodded to make sure she could compete.  I just don't think that's right.

This Is Why You're Fat

Americans LOVE food, I know I do! I've never seen the movie Supersize Me before, but I was pretty astonished at how people chose to sue McDonald's and other various fast food restaurants based on their lack of understanding. People make choices, but they chose to make bad ones in which it leads to obesity and other diseases such as diabetes. We all have a responsibility to take care of ourselves, our own bodies. If you want to eat a Big Mac and stuff your body full of 560 calories, along with a side order of large fries which is another 540 calories than that's your prerogative. People aren't going to tell you "No, you shouldn't eat that!" When you're in the line to order. On average people are supposed to consume approximately 2000 calories a day. You're getting more than half of that in one meal from McDonald's. It's no wonder that our country has become obese.

(Hamburger, ground veal, sausage, egg, breadcrumbs, random spices all mixed together rolled around a 1/4 lb hotdog, bacon, sauerkraut, 3 types of cheese, and banana peppers.  Topped with ketchup, mustard, more peppers, and chili all on a hoagie roll.)There is from an interesting website with crazy food that people make up on their own and they post pictures of it. Here are some examples of some... and it's surprising how much fat, grease, and just junk that they eat all together in one meal. I'm sure this would beat out a McDonald's burger in a second if calories were counted.  You can go ahead and check out the craziness yourself at this website: This Is Why You're Fat
Baker Harrell gave me a startling revolution when he came to class. I would always look around me and wonder how America is obese, but we really are in our own little bubble when it comes to obesity. We still like to exercise and participate in sports and we aren't really interacting much with people suffering from obesity. We just learn about it in our Kinesiology courses. Has obesity really become the norm? I guess so, according to the research done. But how can we change this? My generation, our generation, has been predicted to be the first generation with a shorter lifespan than the generation before us. That's a startling piece of information to digest. What can we do to prevent this? And how can we make sure that our children will not be affected by this as well?

History of Sport and Some of the University of Texas

It's amazing to see the history of sport and how much it has changed within the world as well as our university. Yeah, we can always see the technological advances and how we can always get an upgrade in cameras and laptops but we never really stop to appreciate how our lives are much easier than those who were here before us. At the University of Texas we have a great campus full of different gymnasiums and it was interesting to learn how times were so different. When I think of Anna Hiss Gym, I think of this place.

I would come here to play volleyball or dodgeball, and I always wondered why it was always so cramped with barely any room on the side. It never occurred to me that that was how this gym was created. Anna Hiss was a Director of Physical Training during 1921-1956. Times were totally different to how they are now. There used to be a pool, and this was a women's facility. The lack of space was because there wasn't supposed to be male spectators watching women workout because that was considered improper. 

Gregory Gym was the male gymnasium on campus. And this complex was much larger than Anna Hiss Gym. There were stadiums set up, and I guess it was all due to the fact that males were allowed to have spectators, and there were also a lot more participants doing informal recreation. Nowadays, we women and men are allowed to be here to participate in any kind of activity. There are outdoor pools, and weight rooms, as well as a barrage of other things. It's crazy to think that America is obese because we have such nice amenities yet people do not take advantage of it.

Let's PLAY...

It's interesting how sport can be broken down into a list of different types. I guess I never really thought of it too deeply, but once you do you can really see how there really is. Guttmann even has everything broken down into specifics.

The image above is from Guttman's Ritual to Record. In my mind, I always thought games were competitive, with one winner. There were never any ties and there were always rules set into place to ensure that there was one outcome with one winner. However looking back there are these times when there was "spontaneous play" involved. Such as when I went to play tennis, I would just call up a friend and say "Let's go hit." And we would. There weren't trophies for the winner, we would just rally and play a couple of points out. Spontaneous play could easily turn into competitive games through bets, where the loser would have to pay for Dairy Queen, or something like that.
I like the idea that competitive games can be physical or intellectual. Such as chess competitions, although they only have to lift their hands to move their chess pieces, it can be a really grueling time because most of their energy is put into strategy and what best way they can go about defeating their opponent. Physical contests are where it all depends on endurance and strength. There is always going to be a bigger and stronger opponent, but they also have to incorporate strategy into the game or else they won't be able to use their power to their advantage.

There are seven characteristics that Guttmann speaks of and they are:
(i.) Secularism: which states that sports needs to have an absence of religion. This can be either a good thing because instead of honoring God, one would be honoring the player and his or her abilities.
(ii.) Equality of opportunity to compete and in the conditions of competition: There are three different types:
a- Equal Access: no matter where you are, one would be able to have access to that sport.
b- Equal Benefits: since everyone is able to play, then everyone should be considered equal.
c- Equal Competition: there is a level playing field in every sport, no one is favored over another.
Overall, in this category women and minorities are cut short most of the time.
(iii.) Specialization of roles: this allows players to focus on their area of expertise. This also allows for more people to be involved in sport because not everyone is trying to be the best at every single position. I.e. in football, the quarterback is not also the receiver. Their is a different person playing that position.
(iv.) Rationalization: consistency, practices and training allows for players to do their best in their given field. This allows for prevention in injury and also makes sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
(v.) Bureaucratic organization: these are big governing bodies that govern sport.
(vi.) Quantification: allows for coaches, players, and teams to know who is the best out their at any given time.
(vii.) The quest for records: records allow for everyone to compare eras, and how well a player/team is doing. A progression of sorts, whether or not a team is doing well and is up to par or not. To be able to have records will allow for a team to build on what they have been taught if they can do better.