Gender Equality

                                                                 University Accusations
                                                                       By: R.J Swartz

                                                                                                               

                      This articles more closely connects to what is upcoming and what we discussed on Tuesday (4/14).  In this article there has been an accusation made to the Dennison University athletic department saying they do not comply with the Tittle IX rules and regulation. The article states that the university is made up of 56% of woman but that is only reflected on by 42% of the athletics at the institution being devoted to the woman's programs. The accusation was made my a 76 year old man who lives over 2,000 miles away from the school. Herb Dempsey, the accuser, has devoted much of his time to researching and reporting schools who do not comply with the legislation after his daughters very successful high school volleyball team was over shadow by a mediocre football team. This connects to the upcoming and current topics of gender equality and Tittle IX. People like Herb have reason to be upset. The idea of gender equality is sport is something that is very new tho the industry. Woman has been and continue to fight this uphill battle so that they have the same oppurtunities as males in the wide world of sports. The book hits on this on page 233. Coakley discusses how the Tittle IX legislation was passed and made sense to people when it came to education and the classroom but not in the world of sports. The enforcment of the law was delayed to be enforced by many insitutions for 7 years. It is also discussed how the battle is ever going and the idea of gender equality as taken off like a rocket over the last two generations.  

                                                              

                                                                    UNC Grade Changes

                                                                           By: RJ Swartz

            This article takes a look at a potential scandal involving the University of North Carolina. These accusation involved the football and men's basketball team. The article talks about an African studies program that most athletes would take. The academic adviser from the university comments in the article talking on how he rarely if ever saw athletes coming to him to look for advice on what courses he should schedule, he would see "normal" students quite regularly. The transcpript from a former football player was investagated and it found he was taking courses and receiving credits for courses that had never meet. If you view the video attached you can see the submittion of a paper that received an A- and it clearly does not show anywhere near that effort.

Scandal Video

             This connects to our class discussion where we looked at examples of deviance in sports and the problems of studying deviance. This scandal from the University of North Carolina is a direct example of deviance we took note of in class as well of how tough it can be to study this issue. We all know that for one of us to plagarize or to turn in poor work we will receive a poor grade, but when it comes to athletes and the pressure of your program to succeed academic cheating is way too common especially at the division 1 and FBS levels. This is looked at in Coakley's text on page 172, although it seems to maybe contrast the points made from the article and video. In the text it is disuccused that todays deviance is way less common before the days of mass televison coverage. Although we still see corruption such as this one if we look back on the early 80's and SMU giving players cars and receiving the death penalty. Although we all know that this is a deviant act by the university the video touches on how the reality of the situation is that they were the ones who were caught and this is more common then we actually know in  intercollegiate sport.   

The Media

     The New News Coverage.

By: RJ Swartz

             In this article from the April 14-20th, 2014 Volume 17 Issue 1 of the SBJ, which can be found on page 12, It discusses the media in sports. In this article it touches base on how networks are now only only broadcasting games or tournaments but how each network creates a sub network with in their own station. During the NCAA tournament and the BCS championship game companies such as CBC and ESPN would broadcast the games on different networks within their organization giving the viewer not just different camera angles but a totally different viewing experience. For example ESPN has several channels available to watch and experience events from different views, such as ESPN 2 or ESPNU which features prominently collegiate athletics. This connects to class when we discussed the introduction of sports and the media. These are two of the most successful industries not only in the country but in the world. It only makes sense to for the media and news stations to suck as much money as they can from the sport industry. This also connects how the sport and media feed of one another. Sport has become increasingly popular in the last 10-15 years and as a result we are seeing more news and media coverage and stattions. This is referenced in Coakley's text on page 394 where he talks about how sports and the media are interconnected. We all use media and the news in way one or another to be sure we are caught up whats going on, especially when it comes to the latest in sports. This only makes sens that netwokrs such as ESPN and CBS would want to provide the most coverage possible. These major netwokrs that provide several different oppurtunities for us as fans to watch our favorite events in near geniuss. In the article Bruke Magnus of ESPN is quoted saying " The notion hat you can capture more fans through multiple presentations is not as far-fetched as it probably was 10 years ago."

The SEC Network - This videos provides the announcements and some facts about ESPN launching the SEC Network.

 

Sports and the Economy

The Truth Behind Major College Athletic Budgets

                                                                        By: R.J Swartz

                       

        In this article it discusses how colleges and universities at the D1 level are able to cover their budgets for the athletic season. This shows that although some of the "big name" schools such as Alabama, Texas, and Michigan do generate profit, it is due to them taking subsidies from places such as the university or student fees to help cover their expenses through out the year. The article talks on how the just 23 of the 228 D1 school generate enough to cover their own expenses. Of the that group of 23 schools, 16 took some sort of subsidy. What can be seen as even more terrifying is 10 of the 16 school that did report receiving extra money from the school, state, or student fees actually received more money in 2012 then they did in 2011.  We talked in class on how only 1 in 5 school at the division 1 level make a profit at the end of a fiscal year. We continued the discussion by talking about how this contributes to the schools being such big spenders. Dr. Higgs used the example of her being in Las Vegas one Summer and there was a big off season hoops tournament going on. She explained how she was staying in a hotel that cost roughly $400 a night, every school that was apart of this tournament was also staying in her same hotel. Clearly these schools needed multiple rooms and were staying for multiple nights. In Coakley's text on page 380 he discusses how athletic programs try to "sell" their departments in order to gain sponsorships to assist in paying for money, scholarships, equipment, and apparel. 

                                     The "sad" truth of collegiate athletics is that although these programs make a killing it simply isnt enough for the schools to cover their expenses on their own. It is only a "sad" situation because of how much the school is willing to spend to make sure athletes enjoy stays in the best hotel, have the best meals and have the most prestine facilities to use.