Basketball, more than any sport played on a major scale in America, characterizes the plight of Blacks in their struggle to acquire equality as a race. Basketball has proven to be an area of society where Blacks have not only obtained equality but have managed to demonstrate a remarkable superiority. On the confines of a small competitive surface, Blacks have exhibited their talent, their creativity, and their physical energy.
In his essay, The Black and White Truth about Basketball, author Jeff Greenfield examines this phenomenon. Greenfield does so by basing many of comments on racial stereotypes but, nevertheless, his comments touch home on many levels. Written in 1975, many years before Blacks began to dominate the sport like they have today, Greenfield was prophetic in his comments and, thereby, demonstrating that the stereotypes that he utilized in making his points may not be stereotypes at all but definable facts.
Greenfield argues in the space of just a few short pages how Blacks, as a group, are more creative, more agile, and more determined than the whites that play the same game. In an article that is now dated, because it utilizes players that have long retired and moved on, Greenfield has demonstrated in a socially acceptable and sensitive manner the views that many people, Black and white, have felt for a long time.
Basketball, as a sport, parallels the life of Blacks in America. Developed as an urban sport, basketball has developed as Blacks have emerged from the confines of urban slums and begun to participate in the full American experience. Basketball was designed to be played on a small space and it required a minimum resources. A ball and a hoop, with or without a net, were all that was required. Contrast that with baseball and its need for wide open spaces; football with its fancy and expensive equipment; and hockey with its need for ice and a specialized building and it is easy to understand how basketball became the sport...
26). The fan culture that sprouts up around MediaSports is a curious social phenomenon. While there were no doubt fans of ancient Greek athletes who booed for their most vilified opponents from the rafters, the obsession with sports in modern society is unprecedented. Hovden (2003) points out an even more potentially destructive facet of MediaSports: the "sexualization and erotization of women's sport and female athletes," (p. 11). The relationship
sport has come to be the leading definer of masculinity in mass culture." Bob Connell, 1995 This statement covers such a huge amount of sociological assertions, a doctoral dissertation would not be able to do it justice. What is "masculinity" defined as and how has that definition evolved? What about "mass culture?" How far back shall we trace "historically recent times," and what was the situation before said times? What
Sports and Sexual Stereotypes L. Jones Anger and the WNBA Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily this is not difficult. Charlotte Whitton P.E. -- to me there was nothing closer to my seventh-grade conception of hell than that infernal class. There, wearing the requisite blue short-shorts and pulled up tube socks, facing forty-five long minutes of humiliating (to my adolescent sensibilities) sweat-inducing activities,
Basketball Psychological and Sociological Aspects of Basketball Basketball is not only a sport but a massive cultural institution, both in the United States and abroad. Over the past three decades, the sport has grown exponentially in global popularity, and the representation of basketball players as changed as well. As with any cultural institution of similar influence, it is clear that there are many psychological and sociological effects. Not only is basketball a
Sports and Anti-Trust Is the National Football League's Requirements to Enter the Draft a Violation of Antitrust Law? If so why? Why does the NFL think it is not a violation? Defining the AntiTrusts Legislation Sherman AntiTrust Legislation Clayton Antitrust amendment Presidential support The Maurice Clarett Case The NFL's position, The effect is could have on the game. Judge Scheinin's decision Sherman Antitrust Act Clayton Act Basis of Judge Shira Scheinin's Decision Other cases from other Professional sports leagues, like the NBA, that are
Turkey, clearly has a proud and longstanding history with sports and sports enthusiasm. Sports, as a cultural access point in fact is written into the Turkish constitution, as an aspect of cultural and personal growth goals for the entire nation. Turkey is one of the rare countries in the world which has an article related to sports in her Constitution. Article 59 of the Constitution says, "The State takes measures
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