Monday, September 9, 2013
Pros The Pros Would Pay to See - Travis Kash
In “Pros the Pros Would Pay to See” (McCallum, J.) , Sports Illustrated polled more than 600 players from the MLB, NFL, and NBA to see which other professional players they admired the most. The results included famous athletes like Tiger Woods, Barry Bonds, and Shaquille O’Neal. There were many qualities that the polled athletes were looking for in other athletes when choosing their favorites. One of those was style of play. In the article, Donovan McNabb chose Michael Vick as the athlete he would pay to see because “He's got so much ability; he can throw, he can run.” Ability and skill were typically the main factors when choosing a male athlete, but when it came to women it was a little different. When choosing female athletes the most important factor seemed to be looks and outfits, with 4 different athletes choosing Serena Williams in hopes that she would be wearing her signature cat suit outfit. It seems that when people choose to attend male sporting events, they are interested in mostly the skill of the players. When it comes to female sporting events, however, it appears that the looks of the athletes are also a substantial factor along with skill. One reason it depends on the sport when it comes to the popularity/ growth of women’s sports is because in some sports there are just more popular and exciting alternatives where there isn’t really a competitive option for women. For example, there is no football league for women simply because the NFL has some of the biggest, strongest, and fastest athletes in the world competing so it is hard to have other exciting leagues when there is one that has all the best in the world. Other sports that don’t require “super human” strength and speed such as tennis and soccer have more room for growth because females can train to become just as good as some males in those sports, so it makes it extremely competitive and more exciting to watch. In the end, I think it is the competitiveness and skill of the athletes that determines a sports popularity. In reflection, I think it’s unfair that female athletes are judged more on their looks than their skills. Being an athlete, I know I would personally be offended if I competed well in an event but got scrutinized because I didn’t “look good”. I sympathize with female athletes because that must be extremely frustrating.
source- McCallum, J. Sports Illustrated 27 Dec 2004/3 Jan 2005: Vol. 101 Issue 25. p. 86-88;91-92;94 5p.
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Travis,
ReplyDeleteI agree that females are usually seen not only because of their skill, but also because of their looks and attire. I would be demeaned as well if I was seen more as a physical appearance to my viewers as opposed to an athlete. I think this is not only present in athletics, but also present in society as a whole. We often view women for what they look like, and what they wear opposed to their personality as an example. I also like how you talked about how there is not a football league for women because the NFL takes up so much attention. There is the lingerie football league which once again mainly viewed for what the women wear while they play their games. I personally have never watched a game, but I have skimmed past a game while flipping through channels and the game looked like it was sold out. I think this backs up what I said previously about our societies views as a whole.
Brandon Focht
Growing up, others always saw me as a leader of a group but I did not think so. I was told that I do the right things all the time and make a positive impact when I stand up and take control. Now that I am older, I can feel the abilities of becoming a leader coming on more and more each day. Like Travis stated from the article, people would most likely want to see players that dominate their sport and I would be a part of those people that do. However, I would pay even more money to see an athlete who can demonstrate a positive influence as a leader both on and off the field. This trait of an athlete stands out to me especially in today’s society. With the media and up to date information on phones, being able to be a leader today is something to be proud of. Whether it is a female superstar or a male rookie, if they could show extensive leadership qualities I am not sure there would not be a price I would not pay to go see them in action.
ReplyDeleteBilly Nowak
Growing up, others always saw me as a leader of a group but I did not think so. I was told that I do the right things all the time and make a positive impact when I stand up and take control. Now that I am older, I can feel the abilities of becoming a leader coming on more and more each day. Like Travis stated from the article, people would most likely want to see players that dominate their sport and I would be a part of those people that do. However, I would pay even more money to see an athlete who can demonstrate a positive influence as a leader both on and off the field. This trait of an athlete stands out to me especially in today’s society. With the media and up to date information on phones, being able to be a leader today is something to be proud of. Whether it is a female superstar or a male rookie, if they could show extensive leadership qualities I am not sure there would not be a price I would not pay to go see them in action.
ReplyDeleteBilly Nowak
When I'm going to a sporting event and it doesn't feature one of my favorite teams I want to see athletes who are dominant in some area of the sport. For example if I was going to pay to see a baseball game that didn't feature my favorite team I would pay to see the Dodgers with Clayton Kershaw on the mound. He's a physically dominating lefty who has put up numbers comparable to Sandy Koufax this season. The Dodgers also feature rookie phenomenon and physical specimen Yasiel Puig. He can hit for power, run fast and has a cannon for an arm. These are all the physically dominating features in an athlete that I would pay to see and it's these type of athletes that generally get my attention.
ReplyDelete