Final 4 (blog 11)

Hello everyone,
Those of you who are avid sports followers would know that March Madness is almost to an end and the NCAA basketball tournament is down to it's final four. The final four teams left standing are North Carolina, Villanova, Connecticut, and Michigan State.

For those of you who are not familiar with the tournament it is a widely televised event, widely advertised, and many people watch from their homes and if they are lucky even go to the games. In my opinion, March Madness is a fun and positive thing toward the public. Before the tournament even starts you get to pick your favorites and make a tournament bracket and then watch the games and bet on them with your friends and family. The whole hype of the tournament promotes a healthy, fun competition with your peers.

The tournament not only gives you and your friends and family something to do but is also helping others by large events put on by the NCAA, which are also publicized, and promote healthy community activity. One such event is the YES Clinic Hydrated by Vitaminwater revive. The program gives kids an opportunity to work with college coaches and get help with their game, learn life skills, and sportsmanship. It means a lot to kids to be able to work with and get instruction from their role models. Another event is The Road to The Final Four 5K walk. Which is an event that works with the United Way, and helps out elementary students by giving them things to help with learning to read. One other event is Middle School Madness, which shows kids the opportunities in life they can get through sports. It teaches them to learn from positive examples set by the student athletes participating in the tournament. And, that they can do anything if they do well in school and sports could provide that extra boost for them to excell in life.

So in my opinion, it seems to me that the NCAA is working with the country to make it a better place even if what they are doing isn't too much, but it is providing activities that are promoting positive advertising, possibly helping promote a better public image for college sports. These events really get behind what the NCAA stands for and not just the negative stuff like fights and things they show on televison. I think the tournament is good for the country.

Coverage of Women's Sports on TV (blog 10)

Hey everyone,
This past week I was playing in a softball tournament in Pensacola, Florida. The field that we played at was amazing, but when I looked over at the baseball field next to us, it was even better. Nice score board, landscaping, and the bleachers were amazing. There was also a game going on there, they had people taking pictures, and probably a few reporters to go along with the photographers. And, as I looked around our field, there was not one reporter to be seen.

Coverage of women's sports is not as common as men's and I think it's a little bit unfair. When women do get coverage, it's usually commenting on their appearance. On a site I found, it states that males attract 90% of sports news, and when female athletes are shown it tends to sexualize them, by commenting on appearance. Maria Sharapova is very seldomly reported on without someone commenting on her appearance.

Another thing that tends to bother me is that women's sports aren't hardly shown on the big time sports channels like ESPN. On three different networks, men got 91% of air time while women got 6%, and gender neutral topics got the other 2%. I think it's not fair because there are women who watch sports and want to hear about women's athletics, not just men's. People need to realize that things are changing and men aren't the dominant of the two sexes anymore, they are more equal now. Women can do most things men can, maybe not at the same physical level, but they can do anything a man can do. I think men fail to recognize women in sports because they are still stuck in that mindset that women are not meant to be playing sports and that no one wants to watch women play.

There have been many studies about this topic and every single one shows that men are the ones who get all the coverage. Yet all these studies fail to make any changes in people's opinions.

Should the athlete's lives be made public?

Hey everyone,
So I watch ESPN on occasion, and when I watch it, I am watching it to get the sports news, and not get into the lives of the players. I'm sick of seeing who cheated on who with who's wife, and who got divorced and so on... I personally don't think that it is okay to publicize their lives, and they do some ridiculous things that should not be made public. And, it may give off the image that it is okay to do some of the things they do because they always get away with it!

There are many noticeable scandals that have been shown on television. One of the most public was the Kobe Bryant rape allegations. As soon he had admitted to committing adultery several times, it immediately became public and was shown right away on Sports Center, and other entertainment shows. He immediately claimed not guilty but did admit to cheating before. Press Conference and did he end up innocent? Of course!

Another incident made public is A-Rod and the Madonna scandal. Who really cares about it on a sports network!? My belief is that men watch Sports Center to watch sports not listen to relationship drama.

I think that when people see things like this, they decided that it is fine if they do it. These celebrities/athletes get away with everything all the time. And, it just goes to show you that they get away with things at their sporting event and in their personal lives, and it just gives off the image that they can get away with what these people do. But, in reality, these people just have money to get out of their problems.

Sports Illustrated (Blog 7)

Hello everyone,
I know my main focus is on emphasis of sports on television, but I was thinking that a good topic to talk about this week is sports in media in general, and I thought of magazines, Sports Illustrated in fact. This magazine is among the top selling magazines for men, and sports lovers in general. It covers nearly every aspect of the sports world, including all of the scandals that happen in collegiate and professional sports.

In this magazine, you can see things that may not be positive to the public. As I was looking for a topic about sports, I came across an image of the magazine and the image to the top right is what I found. The infamous swimsuit addition. They use women's bodies to sell magazines, while also incorporating sports. They have used some women athletes, like Serena Williams, Danica Patrick, Jenny Finch, Venus Williams, Anna Kournikova, and several others. I see this as bad, exploiting women's bodies, but it seems a little better when they are actually using female athletes to model. But, I disagree with them using women who have no assosication with sports. This has caused some controversy.

So in a way I see it as sports are showing a negative image, by advertising their news in magazines, with tactics such as the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated. In my opinion it gives sports bad publicity.