Blog, Blog, Bloq

Over the course of the past ten weeks or so, this blog has helped me to look at sports a different angle from the perspective of the reader and writer as some of the themes and events presented to me were new territories. One of the themes that I was interested to explore mire deeply was the perspective of women in sports and how segregated the sports world was and still is as women are still looked down upon despite many proving that they are credible sources. This was one of the more difficult topics to talk about because I felt that I had no idea what I was talking about and that this was not my place to pry on about a topic that I was ignorant on for the most part. Looking at the author's discussing these new waters helped me to find my own footing as the assignments created an opportunity to dive deeper and make interpretations based off of my own findings. The weekly blogs were the biggest contributor to developing a style on how to approach sports writing from a critical ang

Playing a sport has many different meanings to people dependent on what their ulterior motive is for playing that sport. Whether they are pursuing the sport for the sake of a career, as an escape from reality, or simply for the sheer enjoyment that can be derived from being a part of something bigger. From my experience in sports, I would say that I was trying to escape from the real world in order to feel like I could belong to something larger. I would have a brief stint in baseball that would eventually become solely focused on the sport of hockey. That is not to say that I did not enjoy baseball, but hockey felt more free of constraint. By pursuing hockey for years I was able to not only learn about the outside world, but I was able to figure out more of what hockey had meant to me as a person. Hockey was not my first love because I was already in baseball and I did not know much of the games existence until my older brother had started to play. Even though this was only his fir

The meaning behind man and how masculinity impacts society displays strengths and weaknesses that can lead to the leaders of the future or the protectors of the old text. Not all masculinity is necessarily bad for men to attribute themselves to. The idea of toxic masculinity is where the thoughts and actions begin to show the cracks in the form of elitism. The subject of man then becomes this figure that must be copied or one that claims to be a man must relinquish themselves from the exclusive club of the "true man". The article, Toxic Masculinity in Sports, by Lizz Darcy defines term as, "The difference between toxic masculinity and masculinity is that with toxic masculinity, men are shamed for behaviors seen as feminine or for not meeting the masculine ideal". This definition rings true for many activities that are seen as exclusive to men such as  sports. A hit against former Detroit Lions Wide-Receiver, Calvin Johnson, that subsequently knocks his he

Throughout history man has been trying to define themselves whether it be through business ventures, ruling countries, or even sports, an activity associated heavily with the male audience. Men often put the label of masculinity onto sports especially because many believe that women either have no idea what they are doing or in terms of the more violent sports, they will not be able to handle the physicality. Many women that wish to partake in sports or any other activity that has this label of masculinity have thought of the idea as toxic. This toxicity not only leads to men limiting women, but also limiting themselves by issuing the labels in the first place.  In the article,  What We Mean When We Say, "Toxic Masculinity"  by Colleen Clemens, the author explains this phenomenon of "Toxic Masculinity" as this idea of limiting one's own viewpoint on how-to live-in society. The issue comes about because men perpetually committing violent acts such as murder

The role of an athlete is like that of any other citizen except their jobs might be a little bit more exciting. The way that athletes choose to represent themselves whether it is coming off of success or anger is what makes them human. Still people are trying to control athletes as if they are these made-up characters for the amusement of the audience. In Morgan Jerkins's article, What Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem Protest Tells Us About America, and Greg Howard's article, Richard Sherman And The Plight Of The Conquering Negro, explore how two different reactions to two different subjects have been scorned by people because it is not in line with their views.  Jerkins discusses how Kaepernick's seemingly peaceful protest was met with such hate that you would think that he was torturing people in order to make a statement. Jerkins described the act as, "When Kaepernick chose to remain seated for the National Anthem, he chose to channel his aggression traditionall