Micheal Sam

I think that a persons sexual  preference should have anything to do with them being able to play a sport professionally. Micheal Sam is an amazing football player and should still be drafted. I understand that many kids look up to the NFL players and many NFL player are heterosexual but i feel like as long as he is not attempting to be inappropriate with his teammates and he is preforming well on the football field it should not matter. I understand  that this is the NFL but the WNBA is supporting the gay pride movement and not allowing a players sexual orientation to disturb a team from drafting a great player that could help their team.  

Michael Sam and Coach Dungy Comments.

I agree with coach Dungy, when drafting a playing to the NFL you have to look at everything as a whole. Why draft a player that will bring a lot of unnecessary attention to your team.  Coach Dungy said “My sincere hope is that we will be able to focus on his play and not on his sexual orientation." Until he steps on the field and play a NFL game the only thing the Media will focus on is his Sexual orientation and how it affect the team. With drafting Michael Sam the media would be camping out at the Rams training camp wanting to see how the team reacts to a gay player being on the team. No one wants to be asked the same questions over and over again. The only question the media would ask is related to Michael Sam and how him being the first openly gay NFL player and not on how the team is going to play this year.  I also agree that Michael Sam does deserves to play in the NFL. He was his conference Defense player of the year, he plays as hard as the other player on the team. However, the fact that he revealed he was gay before the draft really hurt him. Personally I think he should of did want he did in college and revealed it to him teammate once he got drafted. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jimmie-lee-solomon/african-american-baseball-players_b_4923689.html

This is a pretty interesting article on why there are less African Americans playing baseball now as opposed to a couple of decades ago. These reasons written are interesting when dealing with race and in some part, stereotypes of race.

"Lack of mentor. Baseball is a collection of skills, and is usually taught early in life from a male member of the family. In the urban African American society, a father figure might not always be present."

"Lack of NCAA Scholarship opportunities. Colleges and universities definitely do not help develop urban African-American baseball talent, as they are more concerned with revenue-earning sports like football and basketball. A Division 1 baseball program has only 11.7 scholarships available, and rarely provides a baseball student-athlete a full scholarship. In contrast, a Division 1 football program has 85 scholarship opportunities, and most players are granted them in full."

"And the national marketing of the game of baseball. Also, baseball has always been very traditional in its marketing. It has not addressed the "cool factor," which other sports do. Baseball has been marketed as a traditionalist sport, and is not holding the interest of most African Americans. "

Position on the Michael Sam Situation

The way I see it, if Michael Sam is a good enough player to be in the NFL, then he deserves to be drafted and get a chance to make a team. If he isn't draft someone else worthy and pass on him. If he was drafted because he came out as gay, then I think society has got to check itself. I have plenty of gay family members and friends, so I am not critical of him being gay by any means. What I am critical of all the media and attention that goes along with it. When Tim Tebow was open about being extremely religious, he was mocked. Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend on National TV after being drafted was celebrated. People always talk about how gays should be treated the same as heterosexuals, but now it has created a double standard. Gays are now celebrated and told how brave they are, but it almost seems as though there is more support for homosexuals than there are those who are against it. An NFL player has already been fined for a negative tweet about him. If a gay player tweeted negatively at a straight man I highly doubt there would be any fine. Michael Sam is about to have his own reality TV show, but then says he wants to be treated like everybody else. He says he just wants to keep to himself and be like everybody else, but then goes and reaches out to the media and becomes nationally celebrated. My advice to Michael Sam, go out and make a name for yourself on the field, and do less off of it.

Michael Sam & Tony Dungy

The world of sports has yet to be in tune with society as a whole. Currently, sports and sexual orientation is still a taboo subject with many athletes expressing their personal business. Former University of Missouri football player Michael Sam, is the latest to find himself in controversy over his sexual orientation. After being drafted 249th in the 7th round of the 2014 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams, Tony Dungy recently stated that he would not draft Sam because of the distraction that would follow. It must be noted that Dungy was asked whether or not he would have drafted Michael Sam not if Sam deserves an opportunity to play in the NFL. I don’t think Sam’s sexual orientation should be anybody’s business. However, in a sports league that is mostly African-American and with players spending a lot of intimate time together one’s sexual orientation becomes a huge deal. While I understand Dungy’s position and opinion, I feel as though stating things opposite to popular society belief only brings criticism, especially in sports.

Welcome to the Blog

Welcome to the Blog

The Original Post for this Blog (read it to give you some guidelines as to what to do)

(Orginally posted in Spring 2012 by me. Sorry its not timely, but its a good example of what you can do, and also discusses--towards the end, what I expect of you on the blog)


As countless Americans take time out of the work day to fill out brackets, to check out the shooting % of Hampton's 3rd string PG hoping that he can play a role in dismantling the Evil Empire and to take money out of their kids' 529 fund to finance their entry fees into the 28 pools they have entered, we are reminded of the American obsession with sports. We listen to "experts," psychics, no-nothing grandmothers and even follow the directions of random animals whose knowledge of sports mirrors Rep. Michelle Bachmann's knowledge of American History. We turn off stories about teenage moms and the 98 potential fathers, actors gone completely insane and of non-stop greed, lust, deceit and partner swapping (I'm referring to Soap Operas, not Jersey Shore) for 2 days to watch the first, excuse me, second round of games played by teams that we couldn't identify if you gave us a web address and GPS coordinates (hint: you cannot see Russia from any of the schools in this year's tournament). We stop to celebrate the accomplishments of 916 Black men--for once--and stare in amazement while many privately root for the 14 white men trying to overcome the odds. March Madness captures the soul and our attention for at least 2.1 seconds (long enough for Christian Laettner to sink a game winning shot or for yet another child to be conceived thus providing Maury with one more shows worth of material).

Sports serves many purposes, for some its a vocation, for others it represents a legal and relatively harmless deviation from the daily stresses of life, liberty and the (endless and futile???) pursuit of happiness. For a nerdy few (if you can't do, study???), sports serves as a laboratory to study society.

This blog will house not only my views (and rants and raves) about the world of sports but also those of 30 students in my AASP 498R class in the summer of 2012--Race and Sports. As the late Linda F. Williams always reminded me, race is the most salient issue in American politics....similarly race has and continues to be a critical element in the ongoings of American society, the sports world included. The goal here is to intelligently opine and analyze issues that arise in the sports world. On an almost daily basis we see the issue of race embedded in the world of sports--in the ongoing labor negotiations in the NFL, in the evolution of the NBA, in the seemingly hourly off the field and court deeds of athletes both professional and collegiate, and even in how we view and characterize our athletic heroes. (try this for fun--listen to how CBS announcers--regarldess of their race describe the young men (and young women--go Terps!) in the mens and women's NCAA tournaments..what do you notice?).

Sports and society......race and sports....race and society......pure madness, 12 months a year.

I hope you enjoy the postings here and support the students (and students support each other). Students, post away and feel free to include links to any articles or random stuff on the internet you see fit. Friends and family, feel free to read, comment, criticize and most importantly, fill out that bracket!