Art

    I define art as an expression of something thought or felt mostly in visual form. What art means to me is a way to express yourself and how things make you feel in a visual and expressive way. I look at art as a way to express yourself.

            For this blog I have selected a piece of art that is an illustration of the Texas A&M football team in a huddle. This piece of art captures someone’s interpretation and/or expression of Texas A&M. In the background of the piece of art that was painted is the A&M student body standing (of course) along with the Nationally Famous Fightin Texas Aggie Band and members of the corps standing on the side lines. This is an expression of the Texas A&M tradition of the twelfth man. Purposely enough I feel like, the side of Kyle field that was painted is the side that has “Home of the 12^th Man” painted between the decks of student seating. This piece of art is during the context of a Texas A&M football game and participates in the representation of our fine school. This could be used in the media as a representation of Texas A&M and some of what it stands for by exhibiting unity as is shown at football games through the twelfth man. 
   

Photo present on this site: http://blog.ticketcity.com/2007/07/29/texas-am-tickets/ 

Social Networking

I began to touch on social networking last week when talking about YouTube. I had never thought about YouTube as a social networking source until last week when I saw it in a different light. (see blog for details). However YouTube was only a smaller sector of the large world of social networking. Upon entering my Sociology of sports class this semester I was told that I would need to keep up with what was happening in sports. Rather than setting aside time each day to watch a television program about sports or even to spend time on the internet exploring the sports world I turned to the social media on my phone. I began to follow several sports related twitter names such as @ESPN. I feel as though in the way that I turned to social networking as my first thought of where I could best be informed says something about how social networking has become a part of our daily lives. There is even social media for sports that is specific to your university, for example “Texags” which there is also a Twitter that goes along with their social networking website to follow.

This week being home for thanksgiving I am exposed during such a sporting day of the different modes that people use to stay informed. While watching the game the person next to me is on their smart phone learning about other games and what is going on in the life of athletes. Social networking like Twitter not only allows you to bring several different sources to one location but also several different opinions. Even just being on Facebook if you want to or not you will be informed about what is going on in sports and you will know what happens to the athletes in their personal lives.

YouTube

When you Google YouTube beneath it is written, “Share your videos with friends, families, and the world.” and that is exactly what YouTube does. It has the capability to share videos with people not only that are in your life and close to you but on a larger scale too you are able to share videos with the world. Many sports clips are shared in this venue.

Television channels such as ESPN and shows post things on YouTube. Replays of sports clips, embarrassing or bad things that athletes do on and off the field/court are on YouTube. Not only will these things be present on YouTube but there may also be a remix of it. The clips may have things done to them including putting it to music, cutting the clip and replacing it, color changing effects etc. YouTube clips are often present embedded on websites or blogs. Some people create a sort of video blog by talking to the camera commenting on things and gaining a following discussing things including sports or just telling stories and posting their videos on YouTube.

YouTube is a powerful platform for the media because of the capabilities to post a video and within seconds it is available to be seen by people worldwide. This could be dangerous when it comes to the reputations of athletes having this quick of outlet to spread information.

Internet

The internet is a huge resource in every area of life. The media especially utilizes the internet as an outlet to display their news.  All media is presented on not only television shows but can also be accessed on the internet. In fact when it comes to sport I feel that is the preferred outlet to receive news from. While games are all watched on the television and ESPN is often kept on cycling the internet is a place that is often pursued in order to discover what is going on in sports.

Now in the world of sports there are more than just scores and game times presented in their news. It is not uncommon for a large portion of the news to be information on the players. Their personal life is sometimes explored but you can bet the moment that there is a crime or any scandal that that information will be presented ASAP on the internet.

Not only are there endless sports sites. For example simply look at the blog roll on this blog for places online that you can receive information about athletes in the media on an internet site. There is also social media and forums and many many more and different things online where sports news and information about players is broadcasted. Social media is one very interesting way that news about players is presented because it comes with each persons personal bias. You can bet if something has gone on with an athlete that there will be multiple statuses and post discussing the occurrence sometimes joking about it or sometimes taking the athletes action to heart. It is in part because of the internet that athletes reputations are so easily broadcasted allowing for the molding of their character as “bad boy” or not. If their story is on the internet then it was note worthy and got their name out. Perhaps that is why athletes do bad things, in order to gain more publicity? Either way the internet is a place where this information dwells readily waiting and actively accessed by many learning of athletes reputations.

Scholarly Article

In order to find a scholarly article on my topic I utilized EBSCO Host. EBSCO host made it relatively easy to find a scholarly article through the search at the top for key words in which I searched “Athletes” and “Bad Boys”. One extremely helpful attribute of this site was on the left side there was a check box for “Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals”. Through this database I found Richard “Pancho” Gonzalez, Race and the Print Media in Postwar Tennis America from “The International Journal of the History of Sport” by Jose M. Alamillo. Alamillo begins the article with a brief history about Richard ‘Pancho’ Gonzalez then analyzing the way that different media sources portray him as a ‘bad boy’ during wartime and throughout his life. Then it looks at the way that media transitions into portraying Gonzalez for his athletic achievements making him out to be a role model.

Gonzalez starts out as poor boy whose mom bought him a cheap tennis racket to keep him off the streets. Then was welcomed into a country club where he felt a little out of place. He was really good though and was then invited to many tournaments playing against big names and given a $60,000 contract. But then he had an awful season and was let go from his contract. Gonzalez continued into having to choose between the United States and Mexico. He chose to keeps his citizenship in the United States over Mexico.

            The main point of this article is how a Gonzalez, a Mexican American citizen overcame all sorts of barriers in order to achieve his status as a tennis player. The difference between Gonzalez and athletes today I would venture to say has to do with his race. Gonzalez was widely known and scrutinized because of his race and racial assumptions/stereotypes. For example in the article it is said that, “Gonzalez’s ‘bad boy’ image was partially attributed to his early teenage years when he ‘played hooky’ from school and was sent to reform school for stealing. But it was his face scar and racial and ethnic identity that were given greater importance within the racially charged atmosphere of wartime Los Angeles.” (950, Alamillo) Through Alamillo bringing us as his audience through Gonzalez’s life we are able to see where his attention comes from. Alamillo’s audience in writing this text is meant for sports fans, specifically tennis fans. Gonzalez is a well-known tennis player and this journal article takes a journey through his life and athletic career something that is very much of interest to tennis fans. I find it fascinating in the conclusion of this article that from Gonzalez’s own autobiography he would note that, “I’ve got the feeling that the interest in Pancho Gonzales was not based on what I could do with my racket, but rather, on what I had achieved off the court – as a non-conformist. I was a curiosity number.” (Alamillo, 960) Gonzalez notes that the attention he gains is not from his performances but from what is happening off of the court. Alamillo presents this rhetorical message successfully through the story of Gonzalez’s life. I can’t help but wonder in hearing about how the media tracked Gonzalez throughout his life noticing in this article that it was largely based on things off of the court and that being a fact that he took note of as well… Do athletes do deviant things in order to be known? Is that why athletes are often times known as ‘bad boys’? In Gonzalez’s case, I don’t feel that that is something he sought after however it has revealed to me the way in which athletes become known and that is through deviance. Gonzalez’s deviance was because of his culture  which turned into a positive form of deviance, but often times deviance is easiest to obtain through negative means.

José M. Alamillo (2009): Richard ‘Pancho’ González, Race and the Print Media

in Postwar Tennis America, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 26:7, 947-965

Just Do It

     Lebron James makes “The Decision” to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and join the Miami Heat(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTeCc8jy7FI). Many basketball fans began to dislike or even hate LeBron because they felt he was taking the easy way out of the situation.

     Nike, a multinational corporation that has a history of being accused of unethical corporate actions such as having sweatshops, sponsors LeBron James. Nike released a series of advertisements in the form of commercials called “What Should I Do?” where LeBron asks the audience to give him advice on how to handle the situation differently (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DccOb5sgBG0).

     The goal of this commercial was to change the public’s perception of LeBron James and identify with him a little more. Nike hoped that this would increase sales of their LeBron James related products in order to maximize their profits. This is an example of a corporation using the media to try to manipulate the perception of a bad boy athlete.

Karate Krunch

     The movie “Karate Kid” is a classic underdog story about a boy named Daniel LaRusso who is bullied by a group of karate students.  The bullies are the well built, natural athlete types who give off the “bad boy persona”.

     The leader of the group of bullies is Johnny Lawrence, the best student at a martial arts school, “Cobra Kai dojo”.  They teach a merciless form of martial arts at Cobra Kai dojo, and the students practice their malicious skills beyond the doors of the school.

     In this film, the “bad boys” are the talented athletes.  Given that “Karate Kid” is an underdog story, Daniel learns how to fight and eventually defeats Johnny in the big karate tournament. However, in this blog, I am analyzing the group of bullies.

     The sensei at Cobra Kai dojo is John Kreese, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam Veteran.  Kreese teaches the boys how to fight unethically. His star student, Johnny Lawrence, along with the other bullies, is known for his skill as a fighter. Their skill is one example of the reputation that athletes typically have. Next, the group’s other characteristic that athletes are known for is being bullies. This particular group of boys uses their “sport” to hurt others.  Athletes aren't always known for using their sport of harming others; however, in this case, they are. In the end, the athletes who are known for their skill are also cast in a fearful light. This is indicative of the bad boy persona athletes usually have.

     It isn’t uncommon in movies and TV shows for the athlete to be the character who goes around being the bully. Why do people in Hollywood do that? Do the athletes not gain enough attention on the court/field? Regardless, it is noted that those who participate in sports are often displayed as also being the bully/bad guy.

Genre in Advertising

 In an advertisement for the video game Assassin’s Creed Revelations three athletes are present. The advertisement begins with Derrick Rose who is a professional basketball player pulling up his hoodie shaped like the main character of the video game Ezio’s armor alongside his game statistics followed by Adrian Peterson a game changing running back doing the same thing and then BJ Penn a two time MMA champion lastly the video game hero Ezio Auditore puts on his armor shaped hoodie.

 I chose this specific advertisement for my blog because these three celebrities known for their athletic ability were chosen to represent a video game of role playing in a combat situation. This continues to represent athletes in a light of bad boy/rebellious.

This advert belongs to the combat genre. The intense music used sets the tone of the battle style role play along with the dark lighting and seriousness of the athletes facial expressions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2pKH_VNeic

Athletes Preference of "Bad Boy" Persona on TV

Episode one of season one of Reba begins at a court mandated therapist session dealing with life changes that have recently happened in Reba’s family. During the therapy session it is revealed that, Cheyenne (Reba’s daughter) who is a senior in high school is pregnant with her boyfriend’s child. The conversation about Van (Cheyenne’s boyfriend) emphasizes his position on the football team and his skill introducing him to the viewers as a high school athlete/star player.

Now, Reba is a television show that appeals to a middle aged crowd perhaps around their twenties and it is important to keep that in mind for context sake. In the episode the portion that I am honing in on in this blog is subtle and background noise in comparison to the major appeals/themes of the show, but it is my goal to observe the athlete and his reputation.

 In taking a closer look at Van, the athlete in the show, I notice the argument that he is an athlete so he is expected to not be a rule follower. In later conversation about Cheyenne and Van becoming pregnant the point is brought up that it was both of their first time to have sex that resulted in the pregnancy. Van shook his head and made a face in denial of the fact that it was also his first time, obviously embarrassed by the statement but revealed to be a true statement. Why? Is it because him getting his girlfriend pregnant furthered his “bad boy” persona BUT it being his first time to have sex wasn’t furthering that persona? Otherwise the fact that it was his first time to have sex would be a fact that in this situation would be in his favor to enhance his reputation to Cheyenne’s parents. It seems that the bad boy reputation is something in the show that the athlete desires to be known as.

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBtiL0-OSt4

 

Introduction

I love sports… I consequently have found a love for the athletes that play sports! Athletes have become much more than minions we watch play the games we love. Athletes today are celebrities brought into the media because of their impressive skill at their given sport. However often times the focus on them in the media isn’t just about game performance but about their life off the court/field. I have noticed a theme that the tendency of the media portrayal seems to cast a “bad boy” persona on athletes. Throughout this blog I am interested in the way that media portrays athletes as “Bad Boys”. Some examples of “Bad Boy” reputations that I think of right away are stories about how Ray Lewis “killed someone and got away with it”, Kobe Bryant with his rape charges and “Me First” attitude, the list goes on and on.

My blog is inspired in part by a comment that somebody made to me about the situation with new Texas A&M quarterback to the 2012 season getting in trouble with the law. He was out on Northgate and got in trouble for drinking, fake ID, and fighting. The comment that was made to me was that, “It’s a good sign that A&M players are getting in trouble, statistically the bad boys are better athletes.” Could this be why professional athletes in the media are given the bad boy persona in order to make them seem like better athletes? I was fascinated by the comment and by the bad boy persona I began to take note of after that comment, even in television shows athletes are given that same stereotype. I am interested to explore athlete’s bad boy persona that I have noticed in the media.