Sociology of Sport Encyclopedia:
Sarah Button
SM 111 Sociology of Sport
A revolutionary player in the
game of tennis, Arthur Ashe
broke through athletic, racial,
and political barriers in his
lifetime.
Ashe was the first African
American to win a U.S. Open
title and also the only African
American to win a men’s singles
title at Wimbledon.
Ashe’s
influence was also felt off the
court as he helped establish the
Association
of
Tennis
Professional (ATP).
Politically, Ashe was a major
spokesperson in the fight against
apartheid in South Africa. Not
only did he want equality for
Africans, but also for African
Americans within the United
States.
In 1992, Ashe announced he had
contracted the AIDS virus from a
faulty blood
transfusion. He died just a year
later, but used his platform as
a revolutionary athlete as a
way to spread the message
about AIDS. Out of it came the
Arthur Ashe Foundation for
the Defeat of AIDS that
furthered
research
and
education about the disease.
Arthur Ashe’s influence as an
athlete and activist will
continue to live on through his
ground-breaking work.
Look up the word “deviance” in the dictionary, and Coach Bobby Knight’s
name would likely be below it.
Knight coached men’s basketball at Indiana University from 1971 to 2000,
when he was fired for his unruly behavior. Bobby Knight is the winningest
coach in Division I men’s basketball history and known for building
championship teams. He lead his teams at IU to three NCAA titles and 11
Big Ten championships. Knight also coached gold medal-winning teams in
the ‘84 Olympics and ‘79 Pan American Games. Knight left Indiana in
2001 to coach at Texas Tech until 2008.
Despite these achievements, Knight’s outrageous behavior on and off the
court built him a unpredictable reputation. He is still well-known for his
outbursts and tantrums during games and being physical with athletes.
Knight ‘s time at Indiana has earned him status as a legendary coach.
Below are some of the most controversial events that happened during
his career at Indiana University.
•Feb. 23, 1985 -- Throws a chair across the floor in a
loss against Purdue. Resulted in three technical fouls,
ejection from the game.
•March 25, 1992 -- Knight pretends to whip black
player, receives national attention and disapproval
from NAACP and other black leaders.
•June 1999 -- Christopher Foster accuses Knight of
choking him during an altercation in the parking lot of
a restaurant. After much publicity, no charges were
filed.
(Indystar.com, 2008)
Pierre de Coubertin was the
founder of what we know as the
Modern Olympics.
When France lost the FrancoPrussian War, de Coubertin felt
that the French’s lack of fitness
was what lead to the country’s
defeat. De Coubertin wanted to
educate people about the value
of physical fitness, and set off
traveling abroad researching how
people were being active. He
noticed that sports
united
people and began thinking how
this could be effective on a global
scale.
In 1896, de Coubertin organized
the Modern Olympics in Athens,
Greece. To this day, the Olympic
Games reinforce the ideas of
national pride, world peace and
unity, bringing people together
from countries all over the world
in the name of one thing;
athletics.
As chairman of NBC Universal Sports &
Olympics, Dick Ebersol is one of the
most powerful men in sports media.
Ebersol is in charge of all NBC and USA
networks sports programming and in
charge of NBC Universal’s association
with the Olympic Games.
He has negotiated some of the biggest
media contracts including that of the
Olympic Games broadcast by NBC, the
Super Bowl, National Football League,
National Basketball Association, Major
League Baseball, and NASCAR.
Ebersol is consistently touted as one of
the smartest and most creative
businessmen in sports and in 1996
received The Sporting News’ award as
the “Most Powerful Person in Sports.”
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network,
otherwise known as ESPN, was the first ever allsports network.
Despite having a small following early in its
existence, ESPN has grown into an essential part
of everyday culture for some.
In 2005, ESPN’s networks were viewed by 95
million people each week and is a number that
continues to grow.
Some of its cable channels include ESPN2,
ESPN Classic, ESPN Today, and ESPN
Deportes.
ESPN has really branched out to all facets of
the media; ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine,
ESPN Interactive (online), and ESPN Radio.
Going global is the next step for ESPN’s
future, bringing a new world of sports
programming to curious viewers. The power,
growth, influence, and demand for ESPN’s
services are certain to grow over time and
will be looked towards for further
progression in the area of sports
broadcasting.
Brett Favre was best known for
his time as the Green Bay
Packers’ quarterback from 1992
until his retirement in 2007.
While there, he broke all NFL
records for total passing yards,
won the 1996 Super Bowl, was
named the NFL’s MVP for 3
seasons in a row, and during
those seasons, lead the NFL in
total touchdown passes.
In 2007 he decided to hang up his hat and retire. His retirement
was short-lived and he came back to play for the New York Jets in
2008. After that season he retired yet again, and quickly returned
for a second time, this time playing for the Minnesota Vikings in
2009.
It is common for some athletes to have difficulty adjusting to life
without playing or being involved with their sport once he/she
has reached retirement. It is possible Favre might have
experienced this difficulty adjusting to life without football, thus
prompting him to come out of retirement multiple times.
Although some have criticized Favre for his indecisive behavior,
his football accomplishments are plentiful and is still known as
one of the best, if not THE best quarterback in the NFL.
A great example of connecting sports
and politics (and the University of
Michigan) would be the link to
President Gerald Ford.
The University of Michigan's Most
Valuable Player in 1934, Ford played
both defensive line and center. He
played in the College All-Star Game
and the East-West College All-Star
Game in 1935. The Detroit Lions and
the Green Bay Packers offered to
sign him, but he turned both down in
order to pursue his education in law
at Yale University.
In 1974, Gerald Ford became the 38th
president of the United States.
Tony Hawk got his first skateboard at the age of nine, and by the
time he turned 14, he had become a professional skateboarder.
By way of the X Games skateboarding competitions, Hawk
received much recognition and soon became known as one of the
world’s best skateboarders.
His fame not only helped put skateboarding on the map, but also
the X Games. The X Games have given an outlet to the young,
edgy, adventurous demographic seeking to be athletically active.
Hawk has since created his own brand with his own skateboarding
company, the release of his own video games, skateboarding
videos, and his own extreme sports tour. Hawk has truly become
the face of skateboarding and extreme sports.
The International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) is the
organization responsible for governing the sport of track and
field on the international level. They organize and run events
worldwide and standardize rules and timekeeping methods.
In 2009, the IAAF began investigating female sprinter Caster
Semenya for excessive amounts of testosterone in her body.
After being tested, it was reported that Semenya allegedly had
no womb or ovaries, but internal testes, making her testosterone
production three times that of a typical woman.
The IAAF is waiting on final confirmation results from her gender
test, but has offered to pay for gender surgery if results prove
her to be a hermaphrodite. Only 18 years old, she holds a gold
medal and world record for the 800-meter run.
The issue of gender specificity has never been a question in
professional sports before, but Semenya’s case will be a topic to
consider in many sports realms in the future.
Many think of Michael Jordan as
the best player in the history of the
National Basketball League (NBA).
He also established himself as a
pop culture icon through his
relationship with the media.
The media was Jordan’s most
beneficial tool during his career in
basketball. Jordan was able to use
his
celebrity
and
winning
personality to market his own
clothing line and scent of cologne.
Jordan also began endorsing Nike
early in his career and spun off his
own shoe, Air Jordan. Wildly
popular, the shoe garnered $153
million in its first season of
production.
Jordan’s other endorsement
projects reach to Gatorade,
McDonald’s, Wilson, and
Hanes Underwear.
Michael Jordan is his own
brand. He has truly made an
impact on how athletes
endorse
and
promote
themselves and the games
they play.
Even though Billie Jean King was a
extraordinary
professional
women’s tennis player, she was a
powerful advocate for gender
equity off the tennis court as well.
During her career in tennis, King
won six Wimbledon titles, four U.S.
Open championships, and for five
consecutive years, was ranked No.
1 in the world.
Some may consider her biggest tennis accomplishment to be her
defeat of male tennis star Bobby Riggs in a “Battle of the Sexes”
match in 1973.
Her win was a liberating event for female athletes and women in
general. It questioned and challenged the dominant gender
ideology that valued men as superior and strong, and women as
inferior and the weaker sex.
Billie Jean King proved that women had the right to be athletic
and could compete just as well as men. King went on to help form
the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), founded WomenSports
Magazine, and also the Women’s Sports Foundation to continue
fighting for gender equity for women in sports.
Describe as quiet and humble,
Lou Gehrig had an impressive
career with the New York
Yankees in the 1920’s and 30’s.
Unfortunately, his career was cut
short when he was diagnosed
with
amyotrophic
lateral
sclerosis; better known as ALS.
ALS is a rare disease that attacks
the nervous system. Today, it is
commonly referred to as “Lou
Gehrig’s Disease.”
Gehrig’s affliction with this
disease has brought,
and
continues to bring about
research to find a cure.
Muhammad Ali is known as one of the best boxers to have ever
fought. During his career in the 60’s, Ali joined the black Muslim
group called Nation of Islam. He refused to fight in the Vietnam
War after being drafted because of his religious stance. This
caused him to lose his heavyweight title and was suspended from
boxing for three and a half years until 1970.
Despite that religious and political struggle, Ali remained a force
to be reckoned with in the ring and continued his career until
1980. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1984 and has
since worked as a philanthropist. The Muhammad Ali Parkinson
Center was created for research of the disease and Ali continues
his work supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Special
Olympics.
Originally from Czechoslovakia,
Martina Navratilova became an
American citizen and played in
her first U.S. Open in the same
year, 1975. From then on she
dominated the world of women’s
tennis.
Navratilova has earned 168
Single’s titles and 176 Double’s
titles. In terms of Grand Slam
titles, she has 18 singles wins and 40 doubles wins.
Another unique fact about the female tennis star is that she publicly
announced in 1980 that she was a lesbian. Unfortunately,
Navratilova lost $10 million in endorsement contracts with her
announcement.
This negative reaction did not stop Navratilova from advocating
equality for gays and lesbians. In 1993, she took legal action against
Colorado’s anti-gay Amendment 2. The Rainbow Endowment is an
organization that Navratilova works with that financially supports
gay and lesbian causes. For her philanthropic work, Navratilova
received the Human Rights Campaign’s National Equality Award in
2000.
Track star Jesse Owens showed the
world what African American athletes
were capable of at the 1936 Berlin
Olympics, just as the ideas of Adolph
Hitler’s supreme Aryan race began to
take off.
Owens won gold medals in the 100meter, 200-meter, long jump, and the 4
100-meter relay.
His success was symbolic for African
Americans, the United States, and for
countries that were against Hitler’s
Nazi government.
African Americans now had a role
model and living proof of a successful
black athlete, and especially one that
defied the idea of white supremacy.
The United States and other countries
that stood against Hitler’s ideology saw
that Owens’ victory could stand for a
victory much greater against Nazi
reign.
Swimmer Michael Phelps gave
record-breaking performances
at the 2008 Beijing Olympics,
earning him eight gold medals –
a record in its own right.
But Michael Phelps faced a
different kind of challenge when
a photo surfaced of him smoking
a bong just months after his
exceptional
Olympic
performance.
The media in this case did not
work in Phelps’ favor. He lost his
sponsorship deal with Kellogg’s
and received no funding from
USA Swimming for three
months.
Phelps’ apologized immediately
for his actions, but the image
may be tough for the public to
shake.
and the steroid industry
The use of performance enhancing drugs are becoming more
prevalent in professional sports and are showing up in the
media regularly. This is sending the wrong message to young
athletes wanting to pursue careers in athletics and looking to
stay as competitive as possible.
Steroids have been evolving and the industry is growing rapidly.
The wide range of these drugs makes it difficult to define and
prohibit exact steroids.
Equipoise, a steroid used to build muscles in horses and make
them run faster, is becoming popular among professional
athletes as the performance enhancing drug of choice. It
increases muscle mass, stamina and increases pain tolerance.
Equipoise is taken by injecting the steroid into the muscles in
both humans and horses.
Major League Baseball has banned equipoise. Players Mark
McGwire and Jose Canseco both admitted to using equipoise
to improve their performances in baseball.
April 15, 1947 marked the date when
Jackie Robinson broke the color
barrier by becoming the first African
American to play in major league
baseball.
Robinson
constantly
faced
harassment, taunts, and threats
during his time at the Brooklyn
Dodgers. His incredible athletic talent
soon silenced many critics and those
disapproving of integration in
baseball. In Robinson’s first season playing, he hit 12 home runs,
helped lead the Dodgers to win the National League Pennant, and
was named Rookie of the Year.
Jackie Robinson opened doors for many African American athletes
to come and worked to promote civil rights. Robinson served for
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) and in 1962 became the first African American inducted
into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
His work lives on through the Jackie Robinson Foundation,
providing financial aid and mentoring young people.
Bodybuilder, movie star, and politician; Arnold Schwarzenegger has
built an impressive career, but it is what he did during his time as a
bodybuilder that catches the attention of those in the world of
sports.
The seven–time Mr. Olympia and seven-time Mr. Universe admitted
to using performance enhancing drugs during his time as a
bodybuilder.
By today’s standards, the use of performance enhancing drugs are
thought to be a form of deviant overconformity in sports; the
willingness to accept social norms and following them to excessive
points. Schwarzenegger’s use of steroids in the 1970’s introduced
and exposed the public and athletes in other sports to the idea of
performance enhancing drugs. Since then, the steroid industry has
boomed with multiple products for athletes and is now a common
topic regarding sports ethics in competition. The use of steroids is
becoming popular among professional athletes and is even trickling
down to college and high school levels.
Maybe, with
Schwarzenegger’s position of California’s governor, he could use his
office as a platform to bring about change and education about
performance enhancing drugs use.
A child prodigy in golf,
Tiger Woods went pro in
1996 and won his first
Masters Tournament at
age 21.
Tiger has been a source of
inspiration for athletes of
mixed-races.
Woods
himself is a mixture of
Thai, Chinese, African
American, Native American, and European.
Just as Michael Jordan has had a significant marketing impact
establishing his own brand, Tiger Woods has as well. In 2004,
he made $80 million in endorsements compared to his $6.4
million in prize earnings. Woods has been a long time endorser
of Nike, Gatorade, and General Motors.
Recent news of his extramarital affairs has put a damper on
Woods’ public image, though. Many of his sponsors are sticking
by him, but it will be interesting to see how his image holds up
in the long run.
In 2007, the University of Illinois had to retire its mascot, “Chief
Illiniwek “ because activists and the NCAA found the portrayal of
the Chief to be an offensive and inaccurate representation of
Native Americans .
The university has used the mascot since 1926 and has been a
major part of the school’s history. Illinois still plans on using the
names “Illini” and “Fighting Illini,” even though activists are also
trying to ban the use of the words as well.
When Michael Vick began his career in the NFL, he looked like a
promising, talented quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons. But, in
2007, Vick got caught running a dog-fighting ring on his property in
Virginia. The quarterback spent 23 months in jail and had to pay $1
million in restitution.
Examining the situation closer, it may be that participation in this
type of violent activity could have been a result of Vick’s
upbringing. Vick grew up in a lower-class area well-known for gang
and drug activity in Virginia. Dog-fighting was likely a typical part of
the culture in that area. Although this does not excuse Vick from
these inhumane activities, it offers an explanation of his
involvement in dog-fighting.
Serena Williams has been powerful a force in the field of
women’s tennis ever since she first started in 1997. As an African
American female athlete in a predominately white sport,
Williams built up her career by winning the U.S. Open in 1999,
the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. She was the
second black female to ever win the U.S. Open title.
Serena, and her older sister, Venus (who also plays professional
tennis) have set admirable examples for girls and female
athletes . The sisters have even taken an interest in fashion
design.
In recent news, Serena Williams received much media attention
for an angry outburst at a judge at the 2009 U.S. Open over a
foot fault. This type of deviance expressed by Venus came to a
surprise to the public, especially since it is very uncommon to
see a woman react with so much anger. She was fined $10,500
for her actions and issued a public apology.
Growing increasingly popular
these days is the market for
alternative sports. One of the
biggest names in alternative, or
extreme, sports is the X Games.
These
action-packed,
edgy
activities are gaining the attention
of youth culture that is looking to
break away from structured,
performance centered sports.
The X Games features events like skateboarding, BMX, free
boarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, and motocross.
The X Games created an entirely new
part of culture, reaching a relatively
young demographic. The Games
satisfies the power and performance
model valued by our culture and is
looking to expand its market on a
global level.
Standing 7’6” tall, Yao Ming has
been the Asian phenomenon
making his mark in the National
Basketball Association (NBA).
He was drafted to the Houston
Rockets in 2002 where he helped
turn the team around with a 4339 record, a great improvement
from their 28-54 record the year
before.
Ming’s popularity has contributed
greatly to the globalization of
basketball, especially bringing the
sport to Asian countries. In the
future, there are hopes of
starting professional basketball in
China just like the United States,
and it is players like Yao Ming that
will help that idea get off the
ground.
Most famously known as a golf and tack
and field star, Mildred “Babe” Didrikson
Zaharias was a blazing revolutionary
female athlete well before her time.
Babe was an all-around athlete and
actually dabbled in not only golf and
track and field, but basketball, tennis,
swimming, and baseball.
She went on to win two gold medals in
the 1932 Olympics in track and field.
Following her time in track, she turned
to golf, where she played for 20 years
and earned 82 tournament wins.
Zaharias stands as a strong example for
young female athletes to look up to. In
a time where it was deemed
“unhealthy” for women to participate in
sports, she proved that women, too,
could be just as athletically talented as
men could.