Semester in Review

Looking back at the semester, we have covered lots of material throughout the history in sports. Coming into this class, I had no idea what to expect. I am not a sports management major, but being an avid sports fan, I thought this would be a fun and enjoyable class to take for fun. As it turned out, I did enjoy this class. I think that the book and articles that were used in the class were helpful in understanding the material that was covered in class.

There were two main things I really enjoyed about this course. I really liked doing the blog and enjoyed listening to all the presentations each day in class. The blog was a great tool in allowing me to express my opinions and interests about sports and topics that were discussed in class. It was nice reading other peoples blogs as well and seeing their opinions and how they felt and reacted to certain situations. This is the same for the ethical issues presentations. It was interesting to hear about other people's take on different ethical issues. It also makes you realize how many ethical issues exist and can arise in the sports community. The presentations were also good for starting class discussions. These discussions were great for the class as they got a lot of the class involved and were able to share their personal ideas with the class and the group presenting the ethical issue.

Although this is a great course, I wish we could have spent more time on more current events in sports history. I do think that the whole history is important because the way the games were developed and the athletes that played back then have developed what the game is like today. So, without the founders of sports, who knows how sports would be played. Also, it had never really occurred to me until Dr. Spencer had mentioned it in class about bowling. I'm avid bowler and have been bowling my entire life. I know it's not the most popular sport out there, but it is the most participated sport in the U.S. Around the 1950s an 1960s, bowling was extremely popular among Americans and was possibly more popular than other major sports. I know most people probably wouldn't have been too interested but it would have been fun to devote a portion of one class to bowling.

So, will this course help me in my future career? This is tough to answer right now. With not being a sport management major, I don't think that this course will directly have an impact in my career. I'm a business major with specialization in Accounting and Finance and currently have a job lined up with Primerica doing financial consulting and financial services. However, in the future, I'd love to work in the business end of a professional sports organization. So, in the long run, this course may help me have a better understand of the history and philosophy of sports and help me land that job in sports.

Overall, I think this is a great course and would recommend it to everyone. Even if you aren't a huge sports fan, this class is still enjoyable and allows you to express your own views and ideas about different issues that arise in the sports world.

One of the Greatest College Players of All-Time...Tim Tebow

So, I've browsing Facebook the past couple hours and probably over half my posts on the news feed are about Tim Tebow. They all deal with how people are loving how Tebow was crying after their recent loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. Really? Lay off of Tim Tebow. I can understand that not everyone loves Tebow or the Gators but to have this kind of reaction to his emotions is kind of sad.

Personally, I'm not really a fan of the Gators but I have tons of respect for Tim Tebow. He is an absolute amazing player, leader, teammate, and person. He is the ideal collegiate athlete and then some. He has put up statistics that no other player in collegiate history has. This year he broke Herschel Walker's SEC record for rushing touchdowns and Tebow is a quarterback. Although he is not the greatest passer, he is still efficient and is able to beat teams with his arm as well as his legs. I feel he is the most versatile player in college football and is one of the toughest players to defend against. If you drop back and play the pass, he will beat you with his feet, and if you load the box to stop the run, he is capable of beating you with his arm. I have witnessed this in person. Two years ago, I saw him play at the University of Kentucky and the Wildcats had absolutely no answer for Tebow. I think he is so valuable to Florida and that they wouldn't be where they are without his presence at QB. He is arguably the greatest player to ever play collegiate football.

Not only is he an amazing player on the field, but he also has his impact off the field. He is a great leader to his teammates and I think is the key to their run as National Champions last season. He made that inspirational speech after the loss to Ole Miss that got his team fired up by saying no player or team would play harder than they would the rest of the season. And they proved that. He also does a lot of mission work in third world countries and has made an impact in many lives, not only at Florida but across the globe. I know he also has made speeches at prisons to inmates who are seeking that inspirational person that they can look up to and can help them make positive changes in their lives.

So, I don't really understand why everyone is so excited to see him crying after the loss. Like I said, you don't have to be his biggest fan or like him, but this kind of behavior is a sign of disrespect. He's an emotional guy and plays the game with passion. It was his last regular season game of his collegiate career. The last time he will step on the field for an SEC title. The last time he had a shot for a national title. Possibly the last time to make a statement for a second Heisman Trophy. I think that Tebow has proven so much to everyone across the country throughout his career and deserves nothing but the utmost respect and should be able to wear his heart on his sleeve and show his emotions. You can bet that the loss has lit another fire under him and they will come out gunning against Cincinnati. So, I wish Tebow the best in his career and hope he can have a successful career in some role in the NFL. If not, I know he will be a great leader in whatever career path he chooses.

Tiger Woods

Initially, I wasn't going to comment on this topic but over the course of the past week, there has been some developing and interesting aspects of this story. Personally, I was just so confused on the situation and that it was a complete mystery to me. Such as, how could his car be so smashed up and the lacerations he suffered from leaving his driveway? I was confused as to how fast could be possibly going leaving his driveway. And the fact that his wife smashed in the back window to "save" him, when the car was still in tact and she could have easily accessed either the driver or passenger doors.

Anyway, I was at a friends house of the weekend and one of them had a somewhat different view on what had happened. It is as follows. I think it's in just about everyone's minds that Tiger had been caught cheating on his wife and that is what had led to this entire situation. According to my friend's story, he said he heard that Tiger and his wife, Elin, had been in an intense argument that was escalating and could have led to physical altercations, which may have already started given the scratches and slight bleeding on Tiger's face. He said that Tiger knew the situation could possibly escalate and get real ugly, real quick, and decided to get out of the house before that situation occurred. As he was leaving, Elin chased him out of the house with a golf club and proceeded to smash in the back window and other parts of the car. Then, Tiger drove off and purposely wrecked his vehicle to make it look like an accident to hide the truth from the media. My friend also said that there was an imprint of the Nike Swoosh on Tiger's forehead, which could have been the result of Elin chasing him with a club. To me, this explains the part of the story when medics arrived and found Tiger going in and out of consciousness, possibly resulting in a blow to the head with a Nike iron. But no one may ever know what truly happened that night.

Personally, I had not heard about the part of the Nike imprint on his face, but I think it's an interesting aspect that could be true. I also think that the media blew up this story way too much. Yes, it's an intriguing story and is a pretty bizarre story, but I think the media is digging too deep into Tiger's personal life. I think that if Tiger hadn't crashed his vehicle and that it was just a domestic dispute, I'm not sure if this story would have even become an issue. What Tiger does in his personal life is his business and his family's business, not ours. Yes, if he cheated, that's morally wrong and don't agree with his choices in that department. But, I'm sure that many pro athletes are guilty of this as well and no one ever knows. I think since he is such a high profile athlete and one of the biggest role models in the world, that this has become such a big issue. However, I don't feel that this will tarnish him image. I mean it was a personal matter that no one should really have business knowing, and think he is and will be the most dominant player in golf and will continue to win and set records.

And...the NCAA Coaching Carousel Begins

Over the past few weeks, there has been nothing but talks about the future of many college football coaches, mainly at Notre Dame and Florida State. Just in the past few days, these positions have already changed, with Charlie Weis being fired at Notre Dame and Bobby Bowden deciding to retire from Florida State. Both schools are experiencing completely different situations, with Notre Dame in hiring mode and Florida State already having a coach in place.

The Notre Dame position is currently open and is considering to be a high profiled position at an elite and prestigious school. The school has already created many rumors of potential coaches that could be hired to fill the vacancy. These names include Florida's Urban Meyer, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, and Cincinnati's Brian Kelly. Meyer and Stoops have already publicly announced they are not interested in the Notre Dame coaching job. However, Brian Kelly has not made such a bold statement. Now, the question is, should schools be allowed to "recruit" coaches of other schools, while their school's teams are still playing? I don't think they should. With the example of Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, the Bearcats are creating school history this season by being 11-0, with possibly the school's biggest game coming up against Pittsburgh with BCS bowl implications on the line. So, is it fair for Kelly and Cincinnati to be tied up in this during such an important time? No. I was at the Cincy-Illinois game last weekend and Cincy seemed to struggle a bit against the Illini. I don't know the reason, whether they were looking ahead at Pitt or if it was caused by all the media distractions surrounding Kelly and Notre Dame, but I don't feel it's fair. I think Kelly should stay at Cincy. He has built a great program there and the university and community fully support and are committed to him, and the school would be devastated if he decided to leave.

As for Florida State, their position has already been filled by Jimbo Fisher, the "coach-in-waiting" once Bowden left. This makes me want to touch a bit about the whole "coaches-in-waiting" situations and whether they are good for college football programs. I can only think of 3 school that have these "coaches-in-waiting", Jimbo Fisher at Florida State, Will Muschamp at Texas, and Joker Phillips at Kentucky. Now, does naming these coaches of the future have an impact on the program? I think it does for two of these three programs, with the exception of Texas. At both FSU and UK, the teams have struggled in the past couple years. Now, UK was good a few years ago, but Phillips was named the future coach in January 2008, just after their remarkable season. I think these coaches have an impact on recruiting, as incoming recruits may not know who they will be playing for within the next year or two, possibly turning them away to more stable programs. I think these future coaches also adds more pressure to the current coaches to win now. Bowden and Florida State had been struggling since the turn of the decade and being 80 years old, maybe it was Bowden's time to go and the future coach may not have had much of an impact. But, with the struggles at Kentucky lately, has naming Joker Phillips the "coach-in-waiting" put too much pressure on and possibly running current coach Rich Brooks out of Lexington? The only exception I have is at Texas, where the program has been a powerhouse over the past 5-6 years and that decision doesn't to seem to have had an effect on the program. We will see as time goes on. Overall, I think these "coaches-in-waiting" and premature coaching rumors are bad for coaches and programs. It has them worrying too much on the future and not on the present.

NBA Age Rule

Last week, we had a presentation in class dealing with the rule of players entering the NBA Draft at young ages. Within the past few years, the NBA has implemented the rule where a player must be at least 1 year removed from high school before entering the NBA. This is in an effort to bring in more mature players and allow players more time to develop their skills to help prevent high draft pick busts.

Personally, I don't fully like this new rule. However, I do agree that players should not be allowed to enter the draft straight out of high school. I feel that the 1 year rule should be extended to more years or just abolished altogether. Does a player leaving high school really gain much maturity and skill improvements in just one year? I think the NBA should adopt a rule similar to the NFL's, where a player needs to be 3 years removed from high school before turning pro. I feel this will allow players to become more mature and have multiple years to improve their games before testing the NBA. Also, if the player chose to attend college, a term longer than 1 year will provide the player with more game experience and more life "lessons" while attending college. By spending more time in college, it prevents the school from losing that scholarship money that could be used elsewhere if the player was a "one-and-done". However, I do feel if there is a 1 year rule, maybe the player should play internationally. If the player isn't fit for college classes, then international competition would be a better route. I feel that being in a foreign country quickly causes someone to "grow-up" so to speak. I personally spent 8 weeks studying abroad in a foreign country, not knowing the language, and being a big step outside my normal comfort zone. But you learn to adapt and have to do many things on your own.

As to every discussion, there is always another side. From the personal standpoint of the player, why stay in school for multiple years when there is the opportunity to make millions at such a young age? Money is a big temptation and everyone wants to be well compensated for their efforts. And if it's a high profile player coming out early, there will be a big guaranteed contract as well as many endorsement companies lined up to sign them. This is a highly debatable issue, that can also lead into another lengthy discussion. If players are forced to go to college, should they be compensated for their efforts and revenues players generate for universities?

Overall, I think the NBA needs to keep an eye on this rule, as I feel they are moving in the right direction by at least implementing the 1 year rule. I don't know the exact solution or right solution for these situations, but I just don't feel that 1 year really serves much purpose.

The BCS Debacle

So, as everyone knows, the college football ranking systems are a complete disaster. Coming down the stretch of this year's football season, there is no difference this year. In fact, it may even be worse than ever before. Each and every year there is a debate on who should be playing for the BCS title game and who deserves to go to other BCS bowl games. This year is no different.

Going into this weekend of college football games, there are 7 teams that are undefeated. Yes, 7! And, as we all know, only two teams can play for the BCS Championship. So, how are these two teams determined? The teams are determined by a computer ranking system that ranks teams based on wins and strength of schedule. What many don't understand is this computer's logic to ranking these teams and honestly, neither do I.

There are a few instances this past week that have many questioning these rankings. For example, going into last weekend's games, Oregon was ranked 10th playing then 5th ranked USC. Now, how is this ranking accurate? They were both one loss teams who lost on the road, but Oregon lost to a MUCH better team in Boise State. Then Oregon pounded USC and only moves up two spots in the polls? Doesn't make much sense.

Another example is the case of Iowa. Somehow last week Iowa was ranked #1 in the computer polls but only 4th in the human polls. First, I think Iowa is terribly overrated. They've trailed in many of their games this season and have relied on 4th quarter comebacks to survive these games. In my opinion, they aren't winning convincingly against any of their opponents. I feel there are some teams that deserve to be ranked ahead of Iowa. For example, Cincinnati, TCU, Boise State, and possibly even Oregon as the best one loss team in the nation. However, I do feel Iowa will stumble coming down the stretch and lose at least one game.

One more example involves the 2nd spot in the BCS. Going into last weekend, Alabama was ranked 2nd in the BCS and had an off week. Meanwhile, Texas trailed them in the BCS and were ranked 3rd right behind the Crimson Tide. Last week, Texas won convincingly over #14 Oklahoma State, who were missing their star wide receiver and were the not the quality team that they should have been. However, in this week's polls, Texas jumped Alabama to take the #2 spot in the BCS. How can Alabama be punished for having a bye week and doing nothing to deserve the drop in rankings?

Sometimes I just don't understand the world of college football rankings. The rankings are based off these ridiculously complex mathematical equations and algorithms, which may be too in depth to determine these rankings. I don't know the exact solution to this problem. I know many believe that a playoff system is the best solution. I like the current bowl system that is in place, I just don't fully agree with how the teams are ranked by the computer polls.

Are Athletes Truly Overpaid?

This week in class, we had a presentation on whether professional athletes are overpaid. Many believe that they are, but I'm not too sure. Athletes go through physically demanding seasons and busy offseason workout schedules, giving little time with friends or family. In essence, they work hard for their money like everyone else. Also, athletes are at high risk of career ending injuries, which could limit their ability to work. Therefore, these high salaries may have to last an athlete an entire lifetime. To give you an idea of what I am talking about here are the salaries of the highest paid athletes in each of the major sports.

Kevin Garnett - $25,000,000
Alex Rodriguez - $25,000,000
Donovan McNabb - $15,000,000

So, are these athletes overpaid? Absolutely not. Am I crazy saying this? I don't think anybody in our society can really ever be overpaid. We live in a society where you are free to accept a job and someone is free to hire or not hire you. This is especially true in sports where the ONLY thing that matters is how you perform and do your job. Obviously, the owner of each of these clubs believes that each of these athletes is worth the money. Nobody put a gun to their heads and forced them to give the money to the players.

Now, if the players don't get the money who will? The owners. A lot less people whine that they are making too much money. Some people complain that instead of making all this money that they should reduce ticket prices. Well if you ran a business and you could sell a product for $10 or $20 what would you do? I think most of you would probably charge what the market would bear.

What I don't understand is that many of the same people who complain that athletes make too much money are those clamoring to get more money for either themselves or working class America. If average Joe American has the right to make as much money as possible, how come the same can't be said for athletes? I realize that $25,000 is quite different than $25,000,000, but the principle is the same.

Everyone should be paid what they are worth. Sports just happens to be very big business in America and it makes lots of money. How can you begrudge a man his money which he rightfully deserves. I mean a star athlete, more than any other employee, has a direct impact on the revenue of his company. He plays well, fans come to see games, fans buy more merchandise, etc.

A Life Taken Too Soon

Last week during class, we had a presentation about athletes and crime and whether they should be allowed back in their respective league again. However, I want to write about athletes and crime in the opposite manner. This would be criminal acts that regular citizens do to professional athletes. Although many minor events may occur, I want to focus on a much more significant issue, murder.

This issue stems off an incident that occurred over this past weekend at the University of Connecticut. It was homecoming weekend this past weekend at UConn and the football team had a big game against division rival Louisville. UConn ended up winning the game 38-25 and had many reasons to celebrate their most recent victory. After the game, the school had sponsored a dance in the student union where students could come together and celebrate the victory and other homecoming festivities.

However, it was the incident after the dance that has caused so much conversation. After the dance, Jasper Howard, UConn's starting cornerback, was stabbed to death in the center of the Connecticut campus. As of now, the investigation of this murder is still on-going and the killer is still at large, but reports have shown that police are ready to arrest a few potential suspects very soon. Jasper grew up in a very rough neighborhood in Miami, FL. It is very rare for young men to escape this town and all the trouble it possesses and even more rare for young men to attend college. He was the first in his family to attend college and wanted to take his game to the next level and repay his family for the sacrifices they had made for him.

I think this is a very heart-breaking story. This was a young man, only 20 years old, trying to provide a better life for himself and his family. He defied the odds and escaped his dark childhood to help achieve his goals. Jasper was also expected to become a father in the near future and makes this story even more disheartening. It's sad to see an athlete that many people respect and admire be taken of their life for no real apparent reason in this case. This young man is a college student just like us and deals with the life of a college student just like us. It's crazy to think about. What if this were to happen to someone we knew or one of our favorite collegiate athletes that we look up to? This is an unfortunate story of a life that was taken much too soon.

Jasper Howard #6 1989-2009

rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-uconnstabbing&prov=ap&type=lgns

Ethical Behavior of a Professional Athlete

So, it's been a great past week for me in the sports world. Last week, I shot my best round of golf twice, then later that evening I bowled my 3rd career 300 game during league. I was excited as it had been almost 2 full years since my last 300 game.

Anyways, back to the topic. In this post, I want to discuss the behavior of a single Major League Baseball player. His actions over the course of the summer have led him to being suspended for the rest of the season by the team and could possibly end his tenure with his current club. That player is Chicago Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley.

Within, the past couple of weeks, Bradley was suspended by the Cubs for "conduct detrimental to the team." The specifics of his actions are not stated. Bradley has been bouncing from team to team throughout his career in the majors. He has played with 8 different teams in his 13 seasons in the league. At every destination, has caused some sort of commotion, which has led to him being traded quite frequently. Bradley had went through anger management while playing with the Dodgers, but came unraveled during his 9 month tenure in Chicago.

This somewhat raises the question of whether the actions of professional athletes are tolerated. In this case, they were not. I think that some professional athletes get some "special" treatment, in that they can get away with certain actions because of their name. I think some teams let these negative actions slide because they feel they can't win or put fans in the stands without that athlete on the field or court.

I don't think that these actions should be tolerated. I think that the athlete should be reprimanded and learn from their negative behavior. However, the sports world is a business and it's all about making money and putting fans in the seats. Although Bradley was suspended, I feel that a short-term suspension may not be severe enough for him to learn. After the season, there will be a team willing to take the chance on a switch-hitting outfielder and that team may not be prepared for the "extra baggage" he may bring into the clubhouse.

History and Influence of Native Americans in Sports

Hey again, everyone. Over this past week during class, we have been discussing the history and evolution of sports and the roles of Native Americans in that process. The Native Americans have been somewhat overlooked when it comes to the history of today's sports. Although many of today's sports have come from Europeans, the Native Americans participated in many sports related activities even before the Europeans arrived here in America.

Some of the sports that the Native Americans participated included lacrosse, shinny (similar to field hockey), hoop-and-pole, double ball, and some more common ones such as swimming, racing, and bow and arrow contests. However, these last few are debatable on where the sport was actually created. Many believe the only true sport of the Native Americans that is still widely played today is lacrosse. Historians also feel that lacrosse is the only indigenous sport to North America. 

However, no matter where the sport was created, the Native Americans still produced some prominent athletes in various sports. The most notable athlete was Jim Thorpe, who won gold in the 1912 Olympics. I was unaware that Jim Thorpe was a Native American. Some other notables are Billy Mills, also an Olympic runner, Allie Reynolds pitched for the New York Yankees, and Notah Begay, who is a professional golfer and played alongside Tiger Woods at Stanford University. 

Along with the history of Native Americans and sports, another controversial issue today is the portrayal of Native Americans as mascots. This has created a big stir as many believe it is offensive to use Native Americans as mascots. Personally, and in most cases, I don't believe that the use of those mascots is completely offensive. 

I feel that the use of Native Americans recognizes and honors the Native Americans. I think that these mascots are effective in remembering the history of Native Americans. If these mascots weren't used would people forget about the Native Americans? Other than in school history classes, the Indians aren't a part of everyday life conversations. 

Although I mainly believe that the use of mascots is not offensive, there is a point where it can be pushed too far. For example, the use of Indian mascots that mock tribal dances. I think those can be seen as offensive in that they are not correctly used with the same meanings that the Native Americans had intended. Also, I feel that the name "Redskins" is highly offensive. I think that this a really racist term to use to describe Native Americans. My high school nickname actually is the Redskins. In high school, I never really thought about the term as being offensive and more as being proud and resembling the warrior-like qualities that the Native Americans possessed.  I think that many respect these qualities in the Native Americans but they can easily be portrayed with different mascot nicknames other than Redskins.

Intro

Hey everyone! My name is Ben Wuebbenhorst and I am from Wapakoneta, Ohio. I'm 22 years old and am starting my 5th year here at Bowling Green State University and can't believe my time here is almost up. I will be graduating in December through the College of Business with a dual degree in Finance and Accounting. I am nervous for that time to come, as I don't have a full-time job locked in and have no idea where I may end up. I would really like to find any sort of business related job within the field of sports but if that doesn't work, I'd like to do something with the stock market and investing. 

Also, this past summer I participated in study abroad program in France through the College of Business. I spent 8 weeks abroad and it was the greatest experience of my life. I traveled to 8 different countries and saw many things in that 8 weeks that most people don't in an entire lifetime. If you are an underclassman, I highly recommend you look into a study abroad program. Alright, enough about school. 

As far as regular life, I am an avid sports fan and will pretty much watch anything. First, I am a die hard Atlanta Braves fan. However, I have only had the opportunity to see them once at Turner Field in Atlanta back in 2006. They had played the Boston Red Sox, which featured many All-Stars. But one of the most interesting things was who the starting pitcher was for Boston, Jon Lester, who was making only his second career start in the majors. 

Although, I've been to only one game in Atlanta, I've been to several in Cincinnati over the years, seeing many of the great Braves pitchers, Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine. But the most recent game I was at was the best of them all. It was a great game throughout, starting with Griffey hitting homerun #599. It was a one run game into the bottom of the 9th, when the Reds scored a controversial run that led to the ejection of Bobby Cox, just adding to the record of ejections. Then in the 10th inning, Jay Bruce hit a walk-off homerun for the first homerun of his major league career. 

In addition to these, I've been to several different types of sporting events and have seen some very interesting feats and events. I also saw Sammy Sosa's 599th career homerun in Cincinnati. I'm a big fan of Morgan Pressel of the LPGA and saw her make a hole-in-one at the 2007 Jamie Farr Owen's Corning Classic. Last summer I was at the Los Angeles Sparks and Detroit Shock WNBA game when the brawl/fight broke out among the players and coaches. Also, my sister attended the University of Kentucky a couple years ago and went to a couple football games. One being against the 14th ranked Florida Gators and Tim Tebow. Kentucky was ranked #8 and was the game that the College Gameday crew attended. The other game was last year against the Georgia Bulldogs, featuring Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, two top draft picks last year. 

Outside of watching sports, I also like to participate in sports. I played baseball up until college, but the sport I'm most active in is bowling. I have a pretty deep history and list of accomplishments in bowling. I started bowling when I was 5 years old and continue to bowl today. I currently have bowled 2 perfect games and carry a 225 average. I bowled 4 years varsity on our high school bowling team, which we won the state championship my senior year. The state of Ohio had roughly 350 teams at that time, and it was our school's first team state championship title. Also, my senior year, through a series of tournaments, I bowled in a youth national tournament, where I competed against the best bowlers in the country for a chance to make Junior Team USA. 

My sophomore year here at BG, a friend and I started up the club bowling team here at BG. The first year, I managed to make one all-tournament team. Our team ended up finishing 7th at sectionals, only 200 pins from qualifying for nationals in only our first year! During the second season, I bowled the 2nd of my 300 games at a collegiate tournament. I went on to make two all-tournament teams, as well as being voted to 1st Team All-Conference. However, we only finished 10th at sectionals. I no longer bowl for the university and just compete in local leagues and tournaments in the area.

Although this class isn't required in my major, I am excited about learning what the class is all about. With a goal of one day working in sports, I hope this class will give me a deeper look into the history and philosophy of sports and help me achieve that dream job.