SPORTS – Page 4

Obscures Profound Exploitation, Inequality – The Rise Of Female UFC Fighters

15Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SPORTS

Obscures Profound Exploitation, Inequality – The Rise Of Female UFC Fighters

The mixed martial arts pay-per-view event UFC 261 features two bouts that would have been unheard of just 10 years ago. Russian-born Valentina Shevchenko will fight Jessica Andrade, a Brazilian and an out lesbian, for the women’s flyweight title on April 24, 2021. That same night, Rose Namajunas, an American of Lithuanian descent, will square off against Zhang Weili, who has caused the popularity of the UFC to surge in her native China, for the women’s strawweight title. The rise of women in mixed martial arts – which the late Sen. John McCain once derided as “human cockfighting” – is remarkable, and reflects the diversity and global appeal of the sport. But as I write in my new book, “Fighting Visibility: Sports Women and Female Athletes in the UFC,” it’s important for fans and spectat...

For LGBTQ Americans Sports Remain Hostile Territory

6Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ, SPORTS

For LGBTQ Americans Sports Remain Hostile Territory

For all of the gains LGBTQ people have made over the past few decades, sports remain a highly visible reminder that homophobia and transphobia persist. CC BY-ND In recent years, more professional athletes, from U.S. women’s soccer team player Tierna Davidson to Olympic gymnast Danell Leyva, have come out of the closet. However, locker rooms remain less inclusive of LGBTQ people than places like schools or workplaces. And though many sports teams and figures have publicly campaigned against homophobia and transphobia, half of LGBTQ respondents in our recent study said that they’d experienced discrimination, insults, bullying or abuse while playing, watching or talking about sports. Mistreatment doesn’t discriminate by age For the study, we surveyed 4,000 U.S. adults and asked them whether t...

Esports Teams Dominated By Men, At Colleges Nationwide

12Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION, SPORTS

Esports Teams Dominated By Men, At Colleges Nationwide

Although esports – competitive, organized video gaming – has exploded into a billion-dollar industry, women players are hard to find on esports teams at America’s colleges and universities. In the following Q&A, Lindsey Darvin, an assistant professor of sport management, shines light on the reasons. The Conversation, CC BY-ND 1. Why are college esports dominated by men? Women and girls experience many obstacles throughout esports environments – both in terms of participation and employment. These include the way they are subjected to gender-based harassmment from male esport players, toxic masculinity, stereotyping and prejudices, as I and colleagues wrote in a forthcoming article for the Sport Management Review. These circumstances have resulted in lower numbers of women and girls i...

Sports Teams Are Being Eliminated By Colleges – And Runners And Golfers Are Paying More Of A Price Than Football Or Basketball Players

3Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION, SPORTS

Sports Teams Are Being Eliminated By Colleges – And Runners And Golfers Are Paying More Of A Price Than Football Or Basketball Players

North Carolina Central University, a historically Black college, announced in February that its men’s baseball team – which formed in 1911 – would cease to exist after this season. The school’s athletic director called it “one of the most disappointing days in my career.” University leaders concluded that financial shortfalls due to COVID-19 were too much to support the team going forward. Since COVID-19 emerged, dozens of colleges and universities have announced the elimination of different intercollegiate athletics teams. The vast majority of these cuts are at schools and teams that never show up on ESPN’s SportsCenter. As professors who study higher education, we took a closer look at the 300 teams that were dropped between March and October 2020 by 78 colleges and universities. It’s...

From Football Game To Entertainment Extravaganza – The Super Bowl’s Evolution

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SPORTS, VIDEO REELS

From Football Game To Entertainment Extravaganza – The Super Bowl’s Evolution

In just 50 years, the Super Bowl has become one of the biggest “shared experiences” in American culture, up there with attending religious services, voting in presidential elections and playing Pokémon Go. But curiously, many of the tens of millions who tune in don’t actually want to watch football. Perhaps it’s because the game itself has never been all that exciting, with the outcome rarely a close call. As a response, it seems the NFL has created a thriving, celebratory atmosphere around the game. So how did a battle of gridiron gladiators become second fiddle to a flashy spectacle of singers, fireworks and advertisements? The Super (boring) Bowl The Super Bowl is generally super boring – at least, in terms of the typically lopsided score. The game is so boring that a rehash of all 5...

Despite Tide In Public Support For Paying Athletes Having Turned – NCAA Amateurism Appears Immune To COVID-19

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, SPORTS

Despite Tide In Public Support For Paying Athletes Having Turned – NCAA Amateurism Appears Immune To COVID-19

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, college sports have mostly chugged along – albeit with cancellations, postponements and pauses in play. While many college athletes are grateful for the opportunity to compete, the pandemic has laid bare just how few basic rights they possess. College athletes are navigating this strange sports season with increased health risks, but with little leverage or say about the conditions under which they’ll play. In contrast, their professional counterparts in leagues such as the NBA, WNBA, MLB and NFL, thanks to their respective unions, actively negotiated special accommodations, health measures, truncated seasons and the ability to opt out of playing. They also continually negotiate their economic rights, such as how their sport’s revenue is split up and the...

Sports Teams Sustainability Efforts, Does It Matter To Fans?

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS, IN OTHER NEWS, SPORTS, VIDEO REELS

Sports Teams Sustainability Efforts, Does It Matter To Fans?

While the sport sector’s environmental impact is not fully understood, it has a social platform and reach to influence a significant number of people worldwide to choose more sustainable behaviors. Brian McCullough, associate professor of sport management at Texas A&M University, says that sport organizations should be proactive in becoming more sustainable to increase business performance, deepen connections with fans and attract new ones. Do fans care about sports teams’ sustainability efforts? How are sports being affected by climate change? And how might they be affected in the future? To use a sports analogy, there will be winners and losers as a result of climate change. Certain sports, like outdoor winter sports and even surfing, are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. ...

Let’s call athletes ‘workers,’ and let’s call these NBA protests what they were – strikes

31Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SPORTS

Let’s call athletes ‘workers,’ and let’s call these NBA protests what they were – strikes

The Milwaukee Bucks’ startling refusal to take to the court for their NBA playoff game on Aug. 26 was the most consequential political development in sports over the last 50 years. In recent years, the prevailing media narrative is that athletes have routinely used their platforms to “raise awareness” or “bring attention” to a social issue. Awareness, though, has its limits. Rarely does it lead to the kind of structural changes the shooting by police of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin seems to demand. In this case, the players met the moment, marking a fundamental shift in the direction of activism generated by Black athletes. The mass player walkouts that followed the Bucks’ initial protest were no exercise in awareness, though some commentators framed it as that way. Instead, these...

As professional sports come back, members of the US women’s soccer team are still paid less than the men’s

29Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SPORTS

As professional sports come back, members of the US women’s soccer team are still paid less than the men’s

The U.S. women’s soccer team reported being “shocked and disappointed” by a federal judge’s dismissal in May of the team’s lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The lawsuit alleged discriminatory pay practices by the federation between its men’s and women’s team, which seemed especially unfair because the women’s team was so successful compared to the men’s team. The U.S. women’s soccer team dominated the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament last summer, taking a record fourth World Cup title. The U.S. men’s soccer team, on the other hand, failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2018. On June 24, the federal judge denied the women’s team request to immediately appeal their equal pay claim. Members of the U.S. women’s soccer team are the first professional athletes in the United S...

Why safely reopening high school sports is going to be a lot harder than opening college and pro ball

24Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS, SPORTS

Why safely reopening high school sports is going to be a lot harder than opening college and pro ball

Along with the revival of professional sports comes the yearning for a return to amateur sports – high school, college and club. Governing officials are now offering guidance as to when and how to resume play. However, lost in the current conversation is how schools and club sports with limited resources can safely reopen. As an exercise scientist who studies athlete health and an emergency medicine physician who leads Michigan’s COVID-19 mobile testing unit, we wish to empower athletes, coaches and parents by sharing information related to the risks of returning to play without COVID-19 testing. This includes blood tests to see if athletes have already had COVID-19 plus nasal swabs to test for the active SARS-CoV-2 virus. Regular COVID-19 testing on all athletes may seem like overkill, ...