Division 1 Schools: Big Money or Money Spenders

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5490686

Amateur sports don't have owners, but they do have commercial sponsors and governing bodies that control events and athletes(Coakley, 2009).  Signing endorsement deals for uniforms and sponsorships for stadiums and arenas help cover some of the cost schools spend on athletics.  Colleges and universities spend millions upon millions of dollars on their athletic programs while only 1 out of 5 programs actually generate profit when all is said and done.  Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, Texas, Tennessee, and Missouri were among the select few schools that made money.  A newly released NCAA report shows that just 14 of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools made money from campus athletics in the 2009 fiscal year, down from 25 the year before (Associated Press, 2010).  This shows that the economy is directly affecting college athletics in our country.

Football and men's basketball generally are the only two sports programs that generate money which explains universities emphasis on these two teams.  Division 1 schools dish out millions of dollars to pay for full scholarships, travel expenses, medical team, security, and equipment each year.  It is astounding that even after schools spend this money and get such great ticket sales and merchandise that they finish in the hole.  Universities emphasis is on controlling the athletes in their sports and controlling the money generated from sponsorships and competitive events.  This explains why division 1 athletes are put through such vigorous practices and training to be successful.  The quality of skill and competition is high and that is why these athletes are worked so hard to ensure that their schools remain successful.  The schools rely on these athletes' success to continue to get sponsorship money and to use the athletic programs to market their school.  Division 1 athletics for athletes has turned into a full time professional job where these athletes are still amateur and get payment through their full scholarships.

Division 1 athletics will remain, but schools are now looking into developing better plans to help generate money.  In Iowa, the Board of Regents voted unanimously in March to order school presidents at Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa to come up with plans to scrap -- or dramatically decrease -- such sports subsidies. Campus leaders are expected to report back to the Iowa regents next month (Associated Press, 2010).  These kind of plans may be popping up in other states to help generate profit within universities athletic programs.

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Associated Press, Initials. (2010, August 23). Ncaa report: economy cuts into sports. ESPN College Football, Retrieved from http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5490686

Entertainment in Sports

    Throughout time both media and sports and grown rapidly. Before it was people like Elvis, Johnny Cash riding around on a bus and singing in local schools auditorium, and games were played on just small fields with fans standing around it. Now, both are performed in huge arena', in front of millions, both in person and on tv. Times have changed and both are growing together and using one another to get to the next level.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/23/entertainment/main1340839.shtml


http://www.articleclick.com/Article/Influences-of-Mass-Media-in-Sport/1028144

Mass media is a reflection of society. "Mass media are essential agents of social change, and the specific kind of social change they are expected to help accomplish in the transition to new customs and practices, and in some cases, to different social relationships" (Zucherman) Media has started to change how we look at sports because of how it is now so wide spread. Although sports and media do not always mix well, like Super Bowl XXXVIII where Janet Jackson and Justin Timerlake (both music recording artist) decided to add in a little strip tease to their half time show. Fines were handed out and CBS was under a lot of criticism for the show.

Most athletes and organizations use media to boost who and what they are, and who they stand for. People like Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinnati Bengals (NFL team) has used to the media to call out weekly defensive back opponents on what he is going to "do," during the game. This past week he just sent t-shirts of his face to the Atlanta Falcons defensive backs as a taunt. Ochocinco also has his own tv show, "The Ultimate Catch." A dating show that is a competiton between girls to win him over. This is just one example of how athletes use media to boost themselves. Plenty of organizations use media as a way to advertise for their team and sell goods.

Coakley discusses television and newspapers depends on sports to carry both their ratings and sales. Newspapers at the beginning of the twentieth century had a sports page, which consisted of a few notices about upcoming activites, a short story or two about races or college games and possibly some scores of local games (Coakley, 2009). Now, there USA Today, a nationwide newspaper in the U.S. devotes 100 journalists and 1/4th of its space to sports. Some television companies in North America also depend on sports for programing conten and advertising revenues (Coakley, 2009). An attractive freature of sport programming for the major U.S. networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC) is that events often are scheduled on Saturdays, and Sundays-the slowes days of the week for general television viewing (Coakley, 2009). These days are also big money making sports; college football, NFL, PGA final round, and other events are hosted on these days.

Billions of dollars are produced each year from media and sports together. NBC signed a $6 billion contract with the NCAA for rights to show games. Its a money making business and will continue to be that way for years to come with special cable, dish networks and PPV (Pay Per View). As long as money is made, sports and entertainment will always rise to the top financially.

Hoar, J. (2006, February 23). Fcc firm on super bowl indecency fine. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/23/entertainment

Zimmerbucher, A. (n.d.). Influences of mass media in sport. Retrieved from http://www.articleclick.com/Article/Influences-of-Mass-Media-in-Sport/1028144

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Competitive Readiness in Children

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722975/

Research shows that playing youth sports can enhance social and physical development, but it doesn't do this automatically, nor is it likely when programs are not organized to match the overall maturational level of children who play in them (Coakley, 2009).  Coakley and Dr. Laura Purcell, author of the article above, both agree that physical activities are a good thing for children of all ages.  Not all children mature and are ready for organized games at the same time.  Through Coakley and Dr. Purcell's research, each individual parent should look at their child and their personal development.  They should not expect that their child is ready to participate in organized sports just because they are a certain age.  Childrens' motor development varies and each sport requires a certain physical skill set to participate. 

Another aspect in competitive readiness in children would be their maturity level.  Not all children are able to be patient enough to learn the proper way to participate in a sport along with the rules that go along with each individual sport.  Children should participate in informal play until they are able to make the cognitive decision of what formal sport they personally want to participate in.

Parents' should keep their child physically active while growing up but not force them into organized sport.  Also, parents and coaches should be careful on how hard they are on youth athletes to prevent them from burning out.  The worst case scenario for a young athlete would be to be pushed away from a sport that they enjoy to participate in by over zealous parents and ruthless coaches. 

Youth sports programs in the United States are diverse, and some offer children opportunities for pleasure, healthy exercise, friendships, and learning about achievement and teamwork in structured activities (Cote and Fraser-Thomas, 2007; Fullinwider, 2006).  This should be the main focus of youth sports as well as not forcing children into sports until they are physically and mentally mature and capable of participation.

Cote, Jean, and Jessica L. Fraser-Thomas. 2007. Youth involvement in sport. In P.R.E. Crocker(ed.), Introduction to sport phychology:A Canadian perspective(pp.266-294). Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Purcell, L. (2005, July-August 10). Sport readiness in children and youth. Pediatrics and Child Health, Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722975

Combating Violence in Sports

For years upon years, and decades upon decades, sport has been surrounded with violence. Unfortunately nothing has gotten any easier as time has gone one. Sports now are becoming more violent, very recently the NFL has just issued a new ruling for serious fines and suspensions for hits that are illegal, such as, helmet to helmet hits. The NFL is just one organization and major sport that has tried to combat violence to help save players from more serious dramatizations then what they are already likely to face after playing. Although there have been alternative sports to spring out of the woodwork like MMA. Mixed Martial Arts, is all about fighting your opponent until he or she taps out or is knocked out. This has become one of the largest sports to dominate the world right now, and its center stage, violence.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_2_34/ai_63365174/

Coakley defines four different types of violence that he developed from Mike Smith, a respected Canadian sociologist.

1. Brutal body contact - This includes physical practices common in certain sports and accepted by athletes as part of sport participation.
2. Borderline violence - This includes practices that violate the rules of the game but are accepted by most players and coaches as consistent with the norms of the sport ethic and as useful competitive strategies. (ex. NFL ruling on illegal hits)
3. Quasi-criminal violence - This includes practices that violate the formal rules of the game, public laws, and even informal norms among players. (Ex cheap shots, late hits, sucker punches, and flagrant fouls that endanger players bodeis).
4. Criminal violence - This includes practices that are clearly outside the law to the point that athletes condemn them without question and law enforcement officials may prosecute them as crimes (Michael Vick - dog fighting ring).

          (Coakley, 2009)

      Research has suggested that the causes of sport violence perceived by students are provocation, encouragement by coaches (Reilly, 1995; O"Brien and Wolff, 1996), peer pressure, wanting to win, because it is an implicit part of the game (Scher, 1993; Weinstein, et al., 1995; Pilz, 1996), revenge and retaliation, and as the result of role models (Pooley and Golding, 1987). (2000,June).

Coaches, peers, and outside factors are all centered around winning. The sense of fun is thrown out the window as athletes get older and they start moving into more and more competitive leagues. Doing what it takes to win? Anymore that means if you have to hurt the other team then to do it. The term, "winning at all costs," has now turned into motivation for players to become more violent. Sport will never actually get better when it comes to violence unless something is done about it. More and more injuries will happen, hurting more and more young and even older athletes not only hurting themselves and careers, but their lives.


Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

L, Lance. (2000, June). View of violence in american sports: a study of college students. bnet, Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_2_34/ai_63365174/pg_9/?tag=content;col1

Athlete Burnout

http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/article/node/1660

   Coaches unwittingly contribute to burnout and dropout when they try to teach complex team strategies to children under twelve years old. (Cote' and Fraser-Thomas, 2007). Kids in youth sport are now having to choose one sport if they want to be "serious," athletes. What this is means is joining organizations that are now based on performance. These organizations are separate from what kids are already playing in schools, organizations such as AAU (Amateur Athletic Union), cup/cup soccer, and travel baseball. These are major contributors to the wear and tear of athletes, from a young age they are constantly playing sports all the time.

   Coaches and parents should also be cautious that youth sport participation does not become work for children. The outcome of the game should not be more important than the process of learning the sport and other life lessons. In today's youth sport setting, young athletes may be worrying more about who will win instead of enjoying themselves and the sport. Following a game, many parents and coaches focus on the outcome and find fault with youngsters' performances. Positive reinforcement should be provided regardless of the outcome. Research indicates that positive reinforcement motivates and has a greater effect on learning than criticism. Again, criticism can create high levels of stress, which can lead to burnout (Stoker, 2010).


 The youth of today are getting overworked, and are being told to make goals of becoming professionals, or to gain stardom. Parents are  a key factor in youth today becoming burnt out like they are, they allow their kids and push their kids to become better, and "pave the way," for them to get full scholarships, or become professionals. It is dangerous the way youth sports are heading and we need to be aware of this as future parents and as a society.

Cote', Jean, and Jessica L. Fraser-Thomas. 2007. Youth involvement in sport. In P.R.E. Crocker (ed.), Introduction to sport psychology: A Canadian perspective(pp. 266-294). Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall



Stoker, S. (2010, May 6). Preventing youth sport burnout. Selfhelp Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/article/node/1660

Sport, Where the Real Money is at

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/231148-money-in-sports-whats-right-whats-wrong-and-whos-to-blame
   

   Money and economic power exert significant influence on the goals, purpose, and organization of a sports in society(Bairner, 2007; Gruneau, 1999; Sugden and Tomlinson, 2000; Tomlinson, 2007).  This explains why professional organizations are willing to pay athletes such as Alex Rodriguez with his 225million dollar deal signed in 2007.  The average American salary is 44,389 while the average professional athlete's salary is 1,470,000 (Rummel, 2009) .  Normal Americans that do not make it professional can dip into the illegal gambling market that averages about 380 billion dollars a year.  Mass Media can be directly related to these monstrous contracts.  Athletes' rely on fans to watch games and purchase merchandise.  The normal Americans are part responsible in helping pay these athletes.

    Sport represents the fourth largest industry in the U.S. while also just missing the top 10 and being the 11th largest industry in the world. The sporting industry is responsible for $213 billion dollars, college sports alone account for four billion. Gambling also has a huge impact on sport; legal gambling reels in $2.4 billion and illegal gambling brings in $380 billion as shown up above. Another big money deal that took place in the world of sports is CBS signing a six-billion dollar contract with the NCAA (a non profit organization). Money and sport have been going hand in hand, with many institutions recently getting in trouble for illegal recruiting and funding amateur/college athletes with money and goods. High schools have also felt the affects of making money with sport. Such as, naming stadiums, arenas, and fields on behalf of companies that will sponsor and pay for the naming rights.

   These staggering numbers in sports will continue to rise as the interest in sport and athletes remain high.  Sport take up most of Americans leisure, reading, and conversation time and are a get away for 'normal Americans' wanting to escape the stress within their everyday lives.

http://thesportscycle.com/2010/07/19/michigan-renovates-stadium-even-with-bad-economy/



Bairner, Alan. 2007. Back to basics: Class, social theory, and sport. Sociology of Sport Journal 24, 1: 20-36

Gruneau, Richard. 1999. Class, sports, and social development. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Sugden, John, and Alan Tomlinson. 2000. Theorizing sport, social class, and status.  In Jay Coakley and Eric Dunning, eds., Handbook of sport studies(pp.309-321). London: Sage.

Tomlinson, Alan. 2007. Sport and social class. In George Ritzer, ed., Encyclopedia of sociology(pp.4695-4699). London/New York: Blackwell.

Rummel, T. (2009). Money in sports:what's right, what's wrong, and who should foot the bill. Bleacher Report, Retrieved from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/231148-money-in-sports-whats-right-whats-wrong-and-whos-to-blame

Sport Over Education?

http://multimedia.foxsports.com/m/video/21532982/on-the-mark-not-making-the-grade.htm (Important to watch this)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/360045-sports-over-education-georgia-legislatures-might-think-so

“The theater department got cut at my school, but at least the roof on that new stadium slides open and closed” (Foster 2010).

There is a common argument whether or not sport is good for interscholastic, or it is bad for interscholastic. Coming from an athletes perspective, I always felt that playing sports have got me through school, it gave me a sense of wanting to keep my grades up, want to attend class, and instilled a work ethic in me. Coakley gives a detailed analysis of the claims for and claims against interscholastic sports.

Claims For

• They involve students in school activities and increase interest in academic activities.
• They build self-esteem, responsibility, achievement orientation, and teamwork skills required for occupational success today.
• They foster fitness and stimulate interest in physical activity among students.
• They generate spirit and unity and maintain the school as a viable organization.
• They promote parental, alumni, and community support for school programs.
• The give students opportunities to develop and display skills in activities valued in society and to be recognized for their competence.

Claims Against

• They distract students from academic activities and distort values in school culture.
• They perpetuate dependence, conformity, and a power and performance orientation that is no longer useful in society.
• They turn most students into passive spectators and cause too many serious injuries to athletes
• They create a superficial, transitory spirit that is unrelated to educational goals.
• They deprive educational programs of resources, facilities, staff, and community support.
• They create pressure on athletes and support a hierarchical status system in which athletes are unfairly privileged over other students.

(Coakley, 2009)

Although there are both positives and negatives to this arguments intercollegiate programs have found ways to benefit their schools. High profile sports teams can be used in connection with fund raising efforts. Also, sports teams provide an on-campus social events and occasions. Although, the common belief for people is that sport brings a sense of pride to a community, or city, or even a state. When people travel to different places or new places, most towns and cities will have signs that state they are the, "state champions," or "little league champions," or somewhere along those lines of winning something. People hold sports high and close to them, and hold on to the memories and always look to live through other memories. One place in the fall where you find most people is at their local high school football game, whether or not their child plays on the team, band, or is a cheerleader.

Sport is a sense of pride, but where is the line drawn in all of this. When do we as a society draw the line of obsession, and fan? Is there a common ground where we say the children's education is more important then something most kids wont go pro in. Where is the future for most kids today, scholastic with a job, or in sport?


Foster, M. (2010, March 10). Sports over education? georgia legislators might think so. Bleacher Report, Retrieved from  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/360045-sports-over-education-georgia-legislatures-might-think-so

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.