Entry #5: Sport and Politics

Link to article: http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/will-the-nba-become-a-fly-over-league

On October 6th, the discussion of politics in sport became a somewhat intriguing concept.  Until I realized of course that it is far from a concept and instead a reality. 



Politics has always been a factor in professional sport, ever since the idea of sport as a big business came into being.  While it always hasn't been considered the best way to view sport, it has been important for sport to function like a business in order for the game to succeed.  And as we all know, politics and business basically go hand in hand.  With the recent NBA Lockout cancelling the first 2 weeks of the season, it wouldn't be crazy to think that politics is having a big hand in who is gaining the upperhand during the negotiation process of a new collective bargaining agreement.  Not only that, but the NBA has recently gone through many issues within their franchise cities, especially smaller market ones that involve government assistance.

Coakley makes the connection that as sports grow in popularity, government involvement usually increases.  Many sports require sponsorship, organization, and facilities - all of which depend on resources that few individuals possess on their own (Coakley p. 439).  A professional franchise may require some sort of financial assistance every now and then, but once the requirement of government involvement occurs, who exactly is running the franchise? 

Entry #4: Sport and Education

Link to article:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sports-transgressions/201006/collegiate-sports-vs-college-education-why-they-must-be-odds



During class on October 4th, the topic of college athletics abusing their power became a pondering thought to me. Most people will assume the purpose of college is to give your child a furthur means of education and to develop the skills they need to start their life and find a career.  However what exactly is the college's mission?  Sure there may be some that take pride in their alumni's accomplishments in the world but to be honest, colleges need money to stay relevant.  Colleges compete with each other for students through means of academics, campus, environment, and in some cases, athletics. 

Athletics has slowly turned into colleges and universities main source of attention, especially from football and men's basketball.  One of the biggest characteristics of a university is that football and men's basketball are the largest forms of marketability, so it's naturally fitting that universities will try to invest enough money into their athletic program by any means necessary.  The problem though is that the more money you put into your program, the more pressure your creating to be the best, which leads to certain ways to get to the top that may not be the smart thing to do.  Just to give a short history lesson, look what happened to Southern Methodist University's football program.  Rule violations occurring in order to be the best has consequences.  Now while those consequences may not be as severe as they used to be, the point they make is still very loud and clear. 

To give a more recent example, such as the link provides, the University of Southern California was found guility of major rule violations.  Not only was the program forced to give up a large number of scholarships, they were also banned from a future bowl game and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush was stripped of his title for his role in the violations.  Are these violations really worth it?  Coakley points out in his text that there are about 1900 intercollegiate sport programs in the United States.  Less than 25 of them consistently make more money than they spend (Fulks, 2008), and these programs have football teams that play in major bowl games each year and receive payouts of 18.5 million (Coakley p. 492).  Was USC one of those teams that actually made money that they didn't have to worry about losses?  I'm not sure, but what I do know is that it's not worth losing so much for the purpose of being the best.  Who wants to attend a university that cheats the system to make money? 

Entry #3: Youth Sport

Link to article: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ycn-10188791



During class on September 22, youth sport became the topic of discussion, along with the many problems that plague youth sport.  What used to be considered as a fun activity for kids 18 and under to participate in has slowly developed into a private, commercialized business to create a growing emphasis on athletic performance. 

With the growing of youth sports as business, has come the many different risks with that including competitive readiness, overemphasis on winning, pressure from parents, unrealistic goals of superstardom, and the overtraining that causes injuries.  Since when did youth sport turn into something where kids are so burnt out, that they grow up to hate sport in general? 

Coakley argues that the main reasoning behind burnout is the fact that children start so young, they don't learn the abilities to stop.  His exact words being contributing to burnout and dropout is the fact that most children under eight years old don't yet have the cognitive and social abilities they need to fully or meaningfully comprehend competitve relationships (Coakley p. 144).  The simple solution for this?  Give kids more time to develop these behaviors by NOT having them go to elite training programs because you want to relive your glory days of football or gymnastics through your child.  We may all want what's best for our kids, but is it really best for them to overtrain for a sport and get their hopes up for a sport career that may never happen?

Entry #2: A Look At The Past

Link to article: http://www.nesn.com/2011/10/nba-cant-learn-from-nfls-lesson-misstep-that-could-cost-league-dearly-in-long-run.html



During class on September 13, the question was asked "why is it important to study the past?" With the rise of sport as a big business, it has become more and more common for professional leagues to learn from each other's successes and failures in order to create a better product overall.  Same can be said for the recent NBA Lockout. 

This battle occurring between NBA owners and NBA Players Union is eerly familiar to the same confrontation that occurred over this past summer between the NFL and NFL Players' Union.  The difference is that while the NFL knew they had to get a deal done in order to salvage the season, it seems that the NBA is quite intent on sacrificing the entire season in order to force the players hands in the negotiations.  Most fans and sport columnists feel that the NBA should learn from the NFL labor dispute in order to salvage the season, however owners are more focused on changing the entire "system" of the National Basketball Association. 

Coakley gives a potential reasoning behind the NBA's madness as he states many people in recent history have ignored what others say is practical or realistic and pursued choices based on idealistic notions of what sports could be ( Coakley p. 87).  The owners aren't focused on normal proceedings and instead want to create something that makes the National Basketball Association even better then what it could be.  But is it really necessary to sacrifice a whole season just to prove a point? 

Entry #1: Why Study Sport?

Link to articles: http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2011/01/Jan-25/Ratings-and-Research/Harris-Poll.aspx

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2010/02/Issue-98/The-Back-Of-The-Book/Super-Bowl-Nielsen-Ratings-Viewership-Trend-Since-67.aspx


During class on September 1, we discussed the question of why exactly we should study sport.  It's a fair question to ponder, but if you think about it, the answer is simple.  The answer is that sport is popular.  Sport is so popular that 80 percent of Americans identify themselves as sport fans.  There are 300 million people that reside in the United States, which means if 80% of them are sport fans, then 240 million people living in our country enjoy watching a game or any type of sport.  It's no wonder sport is such a big business. 

Coakley re-affirms the belief that sport is popular just from the connections it makes between everyday individuals.  Coakley states in a general sense, sports create opportunities for conversations that enable people to form and nurture relationships and even enhance their status as they describe and critique athletes, games, teams, coaching decisions, and the content of media commentators (Coakley P. 18).  Sport is used to connect and bring people together.  I can't tell you how many times I've started converations through the means of sport and then made a friend out of it.  Sport is popular amongst everyone and it's a strong reason to study it. 

From a business perspective, according to Sports Business Daily, The NFL was identified as the most popular sport at the beginning of the year.  If there is anything that would doubt that statement, all you have to do is look at the number of people who watched the Superbowl this past February.  98.3 million people tuned in to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers.  98.3 million people.  If you're a business and you want to try and grab attention to yourself, what better way to do it then getting in front of 98.3 million people and saying "Hey, buy me! We can do everything better than these guys at half the price!"  Sport is the biggest marketing tool that a company can use.  If you doubt that, then why do some pay over 5 million dollars for a 30 second ad at the Superbowl?