Conclusion

Overall, I really enjoyed the class. Dr. Spencer is one of the best professors I had during my tenure at Bowling Green State University. She shows great passion in sport and she really take interest in you as a person/student. She had great stories about her tennis background and many other topics we discussed. The course itself took shape by it's self. The class always participated in discussion. There was never a dull moment especially with me in the class. Before I took this class I was a little skeptical about it but now after taking it I learned a great deal about sport and gender. I loved how you could express you opinion to the class and to Dr. Spencer and they all would take interest in what you were saying. The video clips Dr. Spencer showed in class were all interesting and they all grabbed my attention. My favorite one was the one about Nick Mangold's sister playing football for her high school team.

Although, the course is called Sport & Gender you learn a lot more than just that. We discussed AIDS, Homosexuality, Hip-Hop, and etc. My favorite class discussions were about women playing on men teams, the cool pose, caster semenya, and masculine and feminine. Each topic had heated discussions with many views and opinions. I just hope my opinion made people think and maybe view the topic differently.

This was my first blog ever. I have always been interested in blogging but never took the time to start one, so I was glad to be able to in this course. I think having a blog and not traditional homework was so much better because although it was homework it was very subjective. I liked reading the comments other blogger's left to see how they feel about what i wrote and do they agree or disagree. Blogging put many topics in perspective with me like my blog about Michael Jordan's arrogance. As I wrote the blog I started thinking differently and harder about Michael Jordan and because of the blog I will never look at MJ the same. The blog presentations were all good in my opinion. My favorite would have to be the group that set-up their presentation as a discussion group. I thought it was cleaver and it gave every group member a chance to voice their opinion.

From this course the most important thing I will be taking isn't any of the knowledge I learned from this class, but the way I will look at everything in life now. This class taught me how to think outside the box and to not limit my thoughts or ideas. I would recommend this course to every BGSU student because it opened my mind. Thanks Dr. Spencer, I owe you one!!!!!!

Men Coaches of Women Teams

Geno Auriemma is considered the best women's basketball coach. He coaches the UCONN Huskies and last year he lead his team to an National Championship. His teams are always one of the best in the country every year. He gets the best recruits around the country. Even though all of those accomplishments, do we really believe he could coach men basketball as good. Personally, I think it's possible but I can't really see it becoming a successful transition for him. Men and women are different. They way you would approach a woman is different than as you would a man. The strategies work different in men's basketball than women's. For example, zone defense is heavily used in women's basketball and is hardly used in men's basketball. Then the next problem would be the men players respecting him. Since he coached women's who are inferior to men in basketball, the players would think he was inferior too. I really want to see this happen though. Like do we think Pat Summit could succeed in Men's hoops??? I do not at all. The best coaches the best. Men are the best in basketball so after you reached the accomplishments Auriemma and Summit has then why continue to coach women and not men.

Females on Men Teams...NO

Over the course of the entire semester my SM425 class discussed frequently women playing on men teams. There were many mixed emotions. I say the opinions were about half and half. Personally, I don't think women should be allowed to play on men teams at all. Physically they can not compete with men at all. Recently, the NBA commissioner David Stern said he thinks there will be a woman in the NBA in the next 10 years. I think not. Just imagine Candace Parker who plays power forward/center tries to guard Dwight Howard who also plays center. There's a reason why the NBA is so much better than the WNBA. If women had equal talent as men in sports then I think women sports would be equally popular to men sports. If a woman played on a men's team how would she get dressed in the locker room. I heard many stories of women reporters being harassed and even assaulted by men in the locker rooms, so why even put her in that situation. Women can't run, jump, swim, hit, or throw better than men. I'm not being sexist, I'm being a realist!!!!!!

Serena and $82,000+

If you were in my SM425 class then you know about what Serena did to a line judge at the US Open. So the tennis association has fined her 82,00 dollars and put her on 2 years probation. That is the biggest fine in tennis history and one of the biggest I seen for what she did. I think the fine was too harsh of a punishment for some curse words. You have to understand that athletes are very emotional people. I have seen way worse than what she did in baseball, basketball, and football. In baseball, players and coaches every game get in the umpires face and yell and curse and they don't get fined. I think because she is a women she is held to an higher standard when it comes to her emotions. Society view women as weak/passive people while as men are viewed as strong and aggressive. I'm not saying what she did was right but c'mon she yelled for like 15 seconds and went back to her match. If the 17 year old new tennis sensation did that do you think she would have been fined so harsh? I think not. So lets be fair people. Gosh!

HIV/AIDS in sport

After Magic Johnson announced that he had the virus. The world put the disease in a real perspective and now it's one of the leading causes of death for African-Americans each year. See what many people don't know is that the virus doesn't kill you it kills your immune system. So when you have the flu or something similar you don't have the anti-bodies in your system to fight it off and you die. I think HIV is the reason the NBA stops play when a player has a cut and makes him stop the bleeding and cover it up before he can resume. However the NFL doesn't do this and I think it's odd. I know in the NBA you have more of your body exposed than the NFL but shouldn't it be a concern. NFL players can be bleeding and they are still allowed to continue play. I wonder does boxing make the boxers get tested before each bout because its always someone bleeding badly in boxing. I respect Magic for coming out and starting serious awareness about HIV/AIDS.

Be a murderer or be gay?

In today's society being gay is scrutinized greatly and especially in sport. Men in general are very homophobic so this is why it's a major issue in sport. Male athletes do not want gay males on their team or in the locker room with them because of the fear of getting hit on. News flash: not all gay men want you. Lets get serious, would we really as a society disown LeBron James if he was gay. I think not. Being a gay female athlete is a lot easier because society accepts their lesbianism more. I think when a female athlete looks manly and non-feminine then the assumption is that she is gay. When I made that statement in my SM425 class many people didn't understand or didn't like what I said but hey its reality. Gay is now looked at similar to being black was looked at 70 years ago. People don't like people who are not the same as them. So they discriminate against them.

Tiger is truely a great player

Recently, we have all heard about the car crash involved with Tiger Woods and his alleged affairs with up to 11 women. The Tiger who we all grew to love as a golfer, is now being hated as a person. This story has become a circus and the ringleader is mainstream media. The CNN's, ABC's, NBC's, ESPN's, and etc. are painting an ugly picture of Tiger Woods for the entire world to see. Did Tiger make a mistake? Absolutely. Did he commit adultery? Yes. Does he have things in his personal life to work on? You bet he does, but don't we all? It was an domino effect. One alleged girl came out with her story about Tiger then everybody started coming out. Everyone wants to be center of attention.

Now that Tiger has come out and took a step away from golf, what happens next? The media tried to destroy him didn't work. I hate to use race, but I feel since Tiger really doesn't embrace the black community, nobody will stand up for him in his defense. If you notice nobody really publicly has spoken out. When Kobe went through a similar situation, the black community had his back. The world still doesn't like interracial relationships and this makes them have a real reason to now.

His big endorsement deals are still there and he only has been dropped from one company as there endorser. Although, Gatorade has taken his drink off of shelves and a lot of companies have stop airing their ads with Tiger in them. Well media you have done it again. You have successfully brought someone to their lowest point. I hope your happy with your ratings.