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.