Week 13 Nick Trujillo

Hegemonic Masculinity on the Mound
By: Nick Trujillo
Nolan Ryan is analyzed through the media to reveal how hegemonic masculinity is reproduced in mediated sport. It explains five distinguishing features about Ryan.
Throughout his twenty five year career, Ryan has become a "prominent sports celebrity." It explains what HM(hegemonic masculinity) is which we have talked about before. Masculinity becomes hegemonic when it becomes widely accepted in a culture reinforcing the dominent gender ideology.
The five distinguishijg features of HM are: physical force and control, occupational achievement, familial patriarchy, frontiersmanship, and heterosexuality. According to Connel the first feature means men have power, women are subordinate and the superiority of men becomes naturalized. Male body represents power, and power becomes masculinized. Secondly work itself can become defined along gender lines, men's work vs. Women's work. Third, males being dominant in the family and the extension of dominanceover women in society. Fourth, "frontier thesis" argues that the general US image is so defined. The cowboy is an archetypal image reproduced in media. And lastly, hegemonic male sexuality embodies personal characteristics which are manifested by males through social relationships with men and sexual relationships with women. With the ideathat you can't act like a sissy in appearance or behavior.
Mediated sport and HM
Sport has influenced the sense of masculinity over any other institution. Football in particular has extremely emphasized the male dominance and women as more cheerleaders and spectators. Mass media follows suit for fashioning hegemony. Mediated sports reaffirm mainstream values and HM in important ways. They represent these hegemonic values and ignore or condemn the alternative features of opposing gender ideologies. The media also personalizes HM when they make heroes out of the individuals who embody the masculine values and ignore those who don't.
Reproducing HM through Nolan Ryan
The media has reaffirmed Ryan's power of the male body. All throughout media Ryan is viewed and explained as a powerful pitcher which was widely celebrated. He was also viewed as a capitalist worker. "The construction of sport as work is even more powerful" in producing HM. The media makes sport to exactly relate capitalism and the protestant work ethic. They proved this through Nolan Ryan and represented him as a successful male worker in a capitalist society. Ryan continues to get praise for dominance. It seems like this writer hates everything about this.....
Disks, "men are cast into ceaseless work and action to prove their worth, masculinity becomes the definition of a superhuman so it becomes that which can never or rarely be achieved."
"Ryan has proved the system works-at least for hard working men."
Ryan was chosen as the "breadwinner" "protecting husband" and his wife portrayed as the attractive woman behind the man. Media reaffirmed the gender division of labor by making Nolan and Ruth the ideal couple. It also reaffirmed the hegemony of family patriarchy by glorifying Ryan's relationship with his sons and deemphasized the relationship with his daughter.
Ryan is also portrayed as a rural cowboy who symbolizes the frontiersman of American history. All throughout media he was portrayed this way with mentions of being back in town for a shootout and actually calling him John Wayne. In advertisments for Wrangled jeans and explaining that he was an actual real cowboy working on the ranch in the off-season.
Ryan was also reproduced as an acceptable image of male sexuality. Commented on of hisattractiveness. This was allowed because of Ryan's wholesome, monogamous, heterosexual and white being. According to a poster and some interpretation Ryan is the "hard phallus" offered only to one woman. He is the middle aged phallus with the power to still explode.
This article basically said media in sport needs to be challenged and critiqued because of the effects it has on society and all groups of people including men.
I wasn't sure really what Trujillo was getting at but it seemed like he hates that it is this way. But to be honest it won't really change. The media are going to latch on to the best players in the game and celebritize them accordingly. I don't seem any harm in that because that is what sells. At the end of the day this is a business and they are going to keep doing what makes money.

Mark Valeriano

Week 13 - Trujillo

Sports have almost always been about who is the strongest, the fastest, or the most skilled. However, sports have become much more than that. In fostering this type of environment, sports have (unintentionally) become a way of building up a masculinity mindset. As Nick Trujillo points out, sports coverage has built up this idea of “hegemonic masculinity,” portraying athletes as the ideal, uber-masculine male figures within our society.

Trujillo begins by defining what he means by the “hegemonic masculinity.” He cites other definitions of the term, which defines it as “the culturally idealized form of masculine character.” After going into further detail about this definition, Trujillo points out that there are several factors in which this mindset is conveyed through sports coverage. These features include: (1) physical force and control, (2) occupational achievement, (3) familial patriarchy, (4) frontiersmanship, and (5) heterosexuality.

Trujillo then goes on to talk about media coverage surrounding former MLB pitcher Nolan Ryan. Trujillo argues that media portrayal of Ryan best exemplifies the idea of hegemonic masculinity and these five features. He then goes on to describe in detail how media portrayal of Ryan buys into this masculinity mindset, even if it is on an unconscious level.

He first describes how Ryan is seen as a specimen of physical force. He points out that all of the coverage surrounding Ryan is all about his ability to throw the fastest fastball, which in the sport of baseball, represents strength and dominance. Coverage also glorifies his body, retelling how publications have said that his arm – not necessarily the player himself – belongs in the Hall of Fame. Coverage surrounding Ryan also exemplifies the occupational achievement feature, as his dominance in baseball is a form of his achievement. Many articles talk about his record-setting amount of no-hitters, which is the ultimate accomplishment for a pitcher in the game of baseball.

Along with these, Ryan is portrayed as someone who is a father figure not only to his family, but to his teammates. Media portrays Ryan as a loving father with the beautiful trophy wife, playing into the stereotypical gender roles. But this portrayal extends further than his family. Ryan is portrayed as a father figure to his teammates, as articles reference his father-like presence on the team and how multiple teammates have named children after him. Ryan also exemplifies the frontiersmanship feature, as he is depicted as the “Texas cowboy” dominating the West. Clearly this is an exaggeration, as there are many pitchers in the league who were also successful, but Ryan’s depiction was similar to John Wayne or any other “manly men.”

Finally, media’s depiction of Ryan played into his heterosexuality. As mentioned before, articles played into the stereotypical gender roles of the husband and wife, but his depiction was more than that. Ryan worked with several companies as a spokesman, acting as a pseudo-sex symbol in many of them. Several sportswriters even talked about how handsome Ryan was, further playing into this role.

While Trujillo used Ryan as an example in this particular case, the same could be said for many athletes in the world of sports. There are plenty of athletes that get similar coverage, which further plays into this idea of a hegemonic masculinity. Until the media changes these depictions, sports and athletes will – willingly or unwillingly – continue to build up masculinity as the only acceptable role in sports.

Hegemonic Trujillo

As long as egos are around, the phrase “male domination” will be.  Throughout society, males have been taught to act “manly.”  But what exactly does “manly” mean and why is society wrapped around the pure domination that seeps through males?  How has this competition level not hit females, nor ever been associated with females?

Nick Trujillo analyzes this idea of overall hegemonic masculinity by studying baseball superstar, Nolan Ryan.  The crowd pleases him and while he carries many nicknames like “the living legend” and “miracle man”, one name stands out: “the real hero.”  Since Ryan had dominated the game of baseball in the early 1990’s, he had been labeled the dominant person (male) throughout the baseball world.  Trujillo plays with this phrase and breaks down how he feels the “hegemonic” man comes to be.  He must obtain a great physical force, achieve grave achievement in a capitalist industry, show dominance over the opposing gender, perceive himself as the “outdoorsman”, and thus show heterosexism.

            Trujillo believes that masculinity is the epitome of sports.  He sees how the media plays on the “power” and “force” behind Ryan playing baseball.  This is ultimately playing on his overall male dominance and his “physical force.”  When the media reviewed Ryan, they noticed in the beginning of his career that his control was distant.  Immediately the media played on this; ultimately questioning if he was this full hegemonic player.  Ryan worked hard to change his perception and soon enough people were comparing his playing to the most ridiculous images of speed.

            Not only was the media playing on his masculinity, his mother made a comment to a sports magazine about how she thought something was wrong with her son when “he didn’t cry enough.”  Obviously crying is related to being in touch with your feelings or being a “sissy”; therefore, his mom was showing examples of his exuberant showing of futuristic masculinity.

            Besides his “treetrunk legs” and overall physical appearance, the media often spoke about how many records he had broken and how the audience might be witnessing one of the best to have ever played the game.  Over and over again, they were boosting the idea of achievement and how Ryan beat out any who tried to compete.  Ryan held records in the important categories in baseball, thus exaggerating on how he was a leader over all in a difficult sport.

            Since one of the goals of journalism is to create a connection with the audience, the media had to show some backstory before Ryan became a legend.  They showed how he worked so hard to try to support his family since it was his role.  Although he was being portrayed negatively, he was still noted as being the head of the household.  As time got better, his role began to change and suddenly he became this “symbolic” father.  He was aiding the young and supplying for his wife.  It was this image that showed he played a leadership role on and off the field.

            In the final two points, Ryan was displayed as a manly man.  He was compared to a cowboy or anything that showed a dominant, yet comfortable figure.  It seemed he was not sure whether he wanted to be in that image, but the sport had made him into that image.  Even in today’s sports, we see athletes longing to put force over other athletes.  For example, LeBron James self-proclaimed himself “King James.”  Many teams desire that championship ring so they can prove their dominance.  Trujillo does not see this as a bad thing though.  He sees that sports will always have that dominance statute and that it will continue to be played upon.  He suggests that there is must to learn from it.  I agree.  Sure males are pushed into a role which makes them crazy; however, without the competitiveness, where would the world of sports be?

Week 13 -- Trujillo

“Hegemonic Masculinity on the Mound: Media Representations of Nolan Ryan and American Sports Culture”

            In Nick Trujillo’s article, he discusses the media representations of Nolan Ryan, a baseball pitcher, focusing specifically on the mediums of print and television. Trujillo first explains the idea of hegemonic masculinity within the American sports culture. Hegemonic masculinity is stated as the “the culturally idealized form of masculine character, which emphasizes the connecting of masculinity to toughness and competitiveness as well as the subordination of women and the marginalization of gay men.” This idea has become widely accepted among today’s society and American culture as many people are reinforcing the “dominant gender ideology.” Trujillo explains key features that have been representative of hegemonic masculinity within American society including physical force and control, occupational achievement, familial patriarchy, frontiersmanship, and heterosexuality. Sport has been characterized as an institution that has influenced and perpetuated the idea of hegemonic masculinity the most. Trujillo discusses that American football has, especially, perpetuated this masculinity as it “emphasizes sanctioned aggression, (para) militarism, the technology of violence, and other patriarchal values.” As the author points out in the article, mass media has played a significant role in presenting sports in this way as well. It is presented to represent and uphold dominant values and ideas among other things. Trujillo is clear when he states that by the media presenting sports as “symbolic representations of a particular kind of social order,” they also “reproduce and reaffirm the features of hegemonic masculinity.” Within the article, the author focuses on the media’s presentation of Nolan Ryan related to the representation of hegemonic masculinity.  According to Trujillo’s research, the media “reaffirmed the power of the male body” through their coverage and representations of pitcher, Nolan Ryan. In his article, Trujillo quotes another athlete in baseball, Reggie Jackson—“He’s faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive.” This quote as well as the portrayal of Ryan’s athleticism was a focal point in the news media, which continued to perpetuate the idea of masculinity being associated with sports. Some articles focused on his pitching arm as a “weapon,” which represented the association of violence with masculinity. During Ryan’s later years, media continued to emphasize masculinity, such as The Dallas Morning News article, “Pitching with pain not new to Ryan.” This article focused on the idea that masculinity was associated with dealing with pain easily and overcoming it. Trujillo also pointed out the media representing Ryan as the capitalist worker, “a successful male worker in an industrial capitalist society.” The media also presented Ryan as family patriarch or breadwinner.  Lastly, Ryan was seen as “baseball cowboy,” symbolizing the “frontiersmen of American history” as well as a heterosexual human being. Some articles throughout his career touched on Ryan’s attractiveness, emphasizing the heterosexual male stereotypes of muscles, hardness, action, body pose, clothes, etc. 

Week 11: Randle & Nyland

Similar to last week’s readings, Randle and Nyland focused their attention on fantasy sports and user participation. Randle and Nyland paid particular attention to how fantasy sports players consume different forms of media, not just television. Their ultimate goal was to look at the relationship fantasy sports players had with sports mass media as a whole and how fantasy sports might be a factor in this relationship.

The article first establishes the demographic of fantasy sports. Although the article states that many people considers themselves to be sports fans, fantasy sports typically caters to an audience of males between the ages of 18-34 year olds. Like last week’s readings point out, the fantasy sports world is a huge market, bringing in well over $1 billion in advertising and subscription fees alone. This large market gave Randle and Nyland a reason to examine the relationship between fantasy sports and mass media consumption, as the demand for fantasy sports and news relating to fantasy sports is incredibly high in today’s market.

In their study, Randle and Nyland examine the relationship between fantasy sports and media consumption in a few different ways. They ultimately settle on five different relationships: (1) fantasy sports participation and watching highlights, (2) checking fantasy sports scores and watching highlights, (3) fantasy sports participation and sports media consumption other than the internet, (4) actual sports participation and fantasy sports participation, and (5) time on internet and fantasy sports participation.

In examining these relationships, Randle and Nyland were able to support most of their hypotheses. There was a correlation between all relationships except for one: sports participation and fantasy sports participation. Although all other hypotheses supported a relationship between fantasy sports and their respective variables, actual sports participation was shown to not be an indicator of participation in fantasy sports.

The implications of this study were an interesting conversation. The article stated that fantasy sports seemed to act as a “catalyst to increase interest in and likelihood of attending real life games, reading sports material, memorizing sports trivia and statistics, and being caught up (to the exclusion of other activities) in the world of sports.” While this may seem like an obvious conclusion, it goes to show just how impactful fantasy sports are – and can be – in today’s market. Not only do fantasy sports currently bring in a huge market, but they create a ripple effect on other aspects of sports, including creating unique content specific to fantasy sports, increased viewership on games, increased viewership on highlights, and many more opportunities in sports media.

Week 11 Articles Randle

"Fantasy Sports Leagues and Mass Media Use"
By: Quint Randle and Rob Nyland

There has been a huge increase in the number of fantasy sports participants and the ability to connect to the league wherever they go. According to studies it is attractive most to the audience eighteen-thirty-four year old men. Some fifteen to eighteen million Americans participate in fantasy sports bringing in an average $1.5 Billion in advertising and subscription fees. It has turned from a "Hobby to big business."
If media outlets can develop good relationships with fantasy sports fans they have the potential to gain a devoted segment of the media viewing market.
The purpose of the study was to find out if participation in fantasy sports is related to an increase in sports media, mainly T.V. but other mediums as well.
Literature Review: Participation and viewing varies between males and females. There are eight common motives for sports participation and viewing: Eustress, self-esteem, escape, entertainment, economic, aesthetic, group affiliation and family. Males are more motivated by eustress and entertainment than females. Males make up largest demographic of sports viewing and participation. Not a big difference in percentage of males and females liking sports but the difference comes in how they demonstrate their interest. Men spend more time watching sports on T.V., have a greater knowledge of sports, different motivations for watching and significantly greater interest in sports than women. Females motivation is different. For women, being a sports fan means attending, watching and cheering at sporting events. For males, it means playing sports and acquiring sports information.
Background of Fantasy Sports Leagues: The first fantasy players had to crunch their own numbers and statistics and now the computer does all of that. Fantasy football is most popular with eighty-five percent of the participants. Users can win money but more dramatically owners can lure in advertisers changing up to seven-figures for advertising space on their sites.
Role Playing Theory: Useful in examining the relationship between fantasy sports league participants and consumption of sports news and information. Different meanings for the word but studies have looked at it as an essential part of creating an online experience. The online experience should take the user out of their everyday role, and involving them as if they were producing the media text. The greater the role-taking the greater involvement and positive experiences within those environment.
Five hypothesis were created all having to do with sports, fantasy sports and the consumption of sports media.
Methods: Two principle variables, (1) Independent variable which was the participation in fantasy sports leagues and (2) Dependent variable which was the amount of time spent viewing sports on T.V. The majority of respondents were males and over eighty percent were single, eighteen percent were married. Most were dedicated sports fans.
Findings: Out of the five hypothesis created, four of them were supported with the data and only one was not.
Discussion: Results indicate that participation of fantasy sports is related to media use across the board: watching sports news, listening to sports radio, reading sports articles and watching sporting events on T.V. and in person. Participants often visit their fantasy league site which means that playing host to fantasy sports leagues would be beneficial to an organizations website because it will bring an increase in traffic and loyalty to the brand. It would be another means to self promotion. There was no significance in actual participation in team sports and participation in fantasy sports. Any media-or content-based website can attract and build ongoing relationships with heavy media users by creating and hosting fantasy leagues.

Mark Valeriano

Randle Fantasy Drives

      Fantasy is a sport that accepts all genders.

      Until you play it and realize it’s strictly drafting male players.

       According to Randle, the entrance of fantasy changed the addiction of football.   First he considered the role of fantasy football.  Suddenly people craved watching every game and knowing every statistic.   He introduces the connection between fantasy and mass media.  Although he only spends a page on the topic, he provides the idea that fantasy has boosted the drive for mass media.                Suddenly we have created experts on fantasy and writers analyzing the best players to pick up. 

 Fantasy is a booming phenomenon which boosted the appeal for sports.  One such crazy change was the sudden advertising for fantasy sports.  Direct TV began playing commercials for fantasy football and then advertising where people should look for information.  This drives the economy because people are putting money in and are looking up professional information so they can win their league.  So how this craze of fantasy playing begin and why did it work out so well?

        To understand, he broke down these thoughts by looking at the main audience of fantasy.  It seems the relatively younger crowd seemed much more intrigued by the thought of running their own team.  In a surprising twist, he also shared the breakdown of gender in fantasy.  Before playing fantasy, he provided statistics of the overall interest in sports.  It seems that early teens are very into playing and watching sports.  The gendered interests were similar which was surprising.  Most girls genuinely wanted to participate in sports.  So how did we lose this audience in transition to fantasy?  Only 1/3 of “owners” are female today, thus losing the drive to watch and participate with fantasy sports.  Kinder states that although the numbers look promising as an equal audience, males drive more to learn numbers and compete; thus stating females are still the ultimate minority.  While Randle does not provide evidence as to why we lose the female audience, he does provide the different reasoning as to why the genders play.

        He determines there are a few reasons as to why people enjoy fantasy football.  He states that being a sports fan for males involved knowing the numbers and analyzing each game watched.  The definition of a sports fan for females is cheering and attending the games.  Girls may not want to play fantasy because it is more about knowing the numbers.

        To understand the new craze with fantasy, Randle made a couple of hypothesis as to the overall connection between watching sports and enjoying fantasy.  After comparing viewer numbers, the three out of five that were completely supported were: fantasy sports participation and watching sports, more participation came from hours engaged and the constant checking of scores meant more watch time.        These appear obvious because in order to have a successful team, one must understand the variables leading into the player.  

        One of the unsupported hypothesis was the connection of playing sports and playing fantasy.  This would show evidence that although many females play sports, it does not mean females desire to play fantasy. 

        The overall realization is there is an increased connection between playing fantasy and watching sports; however, we are still unsure what the true effect fantasy plays on all levels of sport appeals.

Week 10 -- Randle & Nyland

“Participation in Internet Fantasy Sports Leagues and Mass Media Use”

            In Quint Randle and Rob Nyland’s article, they explore and discuss “the relationship between participation in web-based fantasy sports leagues and mass media use,” while also looking at the influence these leagues have on the use of various media outlets. Fantasy sports, especially fantasy football, have become a major aspect of sports fan’s entertainment and social lives. Technology has made it increasingly easier for anyone to get involved. The popularity of fantasy sports has also provided mass media outlets another market to deliver to. Fantasy sports allows for the possibility of major profit for media outlets and advertisers, “with some fantasy league hosts commanding up to seven-figures for advertising space on their websites.” Television also has gained profit from advertising and subscriptions, such as Direct TV, which has a “built in feature to their NFL Sunday ticket service.” The authors discuss the theory of role-playing in society and relate it to fantasy sports. Cited in the article, Moyles, explains that role-playing is recreation. He states that, “it continually recreates the society in which it is carried on.” Essentially, role-playing allows people to participate and be challenged in ways that wouldn’t be possible in real life. After conducting their study, Randle and Nyland found that most of their hypotheses were supported. According to their findings,  “fantasy sports league participation is related to media use across the board” including watching on TV (games and news), listening to radio, and reading articles. Responses to the survey found that participants would frequently view “websites that host their particular league.” The authors express that these organizations would benefit from acting as host to fantasy sports leagues. This then leads to more “traffic and loyalty to the brand.” The idea of role-playing is emphasized in the results that prove many participants don’t actually participate in sports in real life due to various reasons. The role-playing within fantasy sports is present as most all participants would have little to no possibility to participate in real life. Lastly, media outlets can gain relationships and heavy media users loyalty by becoming active in the fantasy sports league popularity and hosting fantasy leagues. The ideas of role-playing and involvement have led to developments of interactive activities, allowing all different types of people to participate, and creating new markets to deliver to and profit from. 

Carroll & Fortunato

“’A Perfect Baseball Day’: Black Press Coverage of the East-West Classic”

            Although first being seen as a “perfect baseball day,” the East-West Classic, played within the Negro League, was abandoned as the black press began to focus on the heroes playing the major league, including Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, and Monte Irvin. The black press had originally been the main source to producing an intense amount of content regarding the Negro League. Writers and editors such as Wendell Smith played a significant role in displaying the talent of African American athletes in baseball. Their efforts were not just an attempt to give these black athletes a chance to gain a position in the Major League but present the idea of integration in all aspects of society as well as the equality among all individuals. Business and economic support of black baseball become a major factor in society, as black businessmen encouraged each other to come together and support the league. After the collapse and reconstructing of the Negro National League, “the business-based rationale for integrating professional baseball became more prominent in black press coverage.” While major league baseball was facing increasingly lower attendance rates and profit, major black sporting events were gaining more success. According to the authors this “provided concrete evidence that integration was in everyone’s best business interests,” especially the East-West Classic. It quickly became the biggest sporting event within black America, aside from Joe Louis’ fights. Black newspapers began to include ballots for fans to cut out and send it with their vote for players, which became a big deal for the black community who never had this type of voting opportunity. According to the authors, the East-West Classic “owed its existence to the black press,” who helped to stage the event. Apart from sending press releases to many black weeklies and white dailies, the black press also promoted the event constantly, while also gaining advertisements for the event in some papers. The success of the game over the years along with the black press encouraged integration. White mainstream media increasingly became a little bit more interested in this event, and in 1936 the organizing committee for the Classic hired a white man to promote the event to the public. Through the assimilation of black players such as Robinson and Campanella to the major league teams, interest and attendance to the East-West Classic as well as Negro League games.

“The relationship of fantasy football participation with NFL television ratings”

            In John Fortunato’s article, he focuses on the fantasy football and the effect it has on NFL game viewing. He states in the introduction at the purpose of the study was to “examine whether fantasy football participation can serve as an additional motivating factor for fans to watch National Football League games on television.” After conducting the study and examining different variables and factors, Fortunato found that fantasy football played a significant role in the NFL game viewing. The data implied that there was a relationship between the two—fantasy football and NFL game viewership. Fortuanto advises that with these findings, the “NFL should use the attraction of fantasy football and the appeal of certain players as another variable in putting together its television programming schedule of games.” This in return would allow ratings and viewership to continue to increase. Although it is hard to determine what games would get the best TV ratings according to their past season’s records, Fortunato suggests that the high percentage of fantasy football teams might be. The main idea that fans are more inclined to watch a game if their own players on their fantasy football teams are playing as well as if their opponents of their teams are playing.

Week 10: Carroll and Fortunato

As part of a continuation of last week’s readings, Brian Carroll’s article discusses the black press during the Negro League era. Rather than focusing on stories such as Jackie Robinson and all of Negro League baseball, Carroll narrows his focus to one specific topic within the Negro Leagues: the East-West Classic.

The East-West Classic was essentially the Negro League’s version of the MLB All-Star Game. It featured the Negro League’s biggest stars facing off against each other in Chicago, as Chicago was one of the focal points of black baseball and also allowed for fans from all over the country to attend the game. The game was heavily-attended – as Carroll points out – and was the highlight of Negro League baseball. The game, in many ways, was actually much more successful than the MLB All-Star game for many years.

Throughout his discussion about the East-West Classic, Carroll attributes much of its success – and failures – to the black press of the time. Much like last week’s readings, we see how large of a role the black press played in the success of the Negro Leagues and the East-West Classic was no exception. Carroll explains how dependent the game was on the black press. Papers such as the Pittsburgh Courier and the Chicago Defender were responsible for the advertising and organization of the game, even down to the detail of counting the ballots for who would play in the game.

However, as Carroll points out, the success of the East-West Classic was not able to be sustained. The East-West Classic, which at one point was one of the top African-American social events in the country, began failing for a variety of reasons. After the desegregation of baseball, the Negro Leagues did not get nearly the same amount of coverage and support from the black press. This – along with several other reasons – would contribute to the Negro League’s ultimate demise, including the demise of the East-West Classic.

On a completely different note, John Fortunato’s article focuses on the topic of fantasy sports and how fantasy sports might affect viewership of a game. He looks specifically at fantasy football, which is the most popular fantasy sport to date. While Fortunato acknowledges that there has been studies on fantasy sports in the past (economic impacts, for example), he notes that there has been nothing about how fantasy sports might influence the amount of viewers for a game.

With this topic, Fortunato asks the question whether fantasy sports is a variable in the number of viewers. He examines a number of variables: fantasy football players starting in fantasy leagues, the teams’ past success, the two teams’ current winning percentage, and the score of the game. Using these variables, Fortunato examines just how strong the influence of fantasy football is on the NFL.

After examining the relationships, Fortunato was able to determine that fantasy football is indeed a variable in viewership. All of the data – number of players starting and TV ratings – supported a relationship between fantasy football and football TV ratings. There were some relationships – prior winning percentage, for example – that was not necessarily an indicator of TV ratings.

This goes to show just how strong of an influence fantasy sports (specifically fantasy football) is to their respective sports. Fortunato concludes that fans – even the most casual – are more inclined to watch a game if their (or their opponent’s) players are involved in a game. Thus, it is implied that not only is there a huge economic impact of fantasy sports, but these fantasy sports games and sites also provide a boost in popularity for each respective sport.

Week 10 Readings

"A Perfect Baseball Day"
By: Brian Carroll

In the 1930's the joined owners in building up the sport. In the 1940's owners became very greedy and sportswriters distances themselves from ownership and focused on the games along with integration. In the 1950's integration moved into the major leagues, fans became stewards of the game and the papers joined the fans in covering the players breaking into the major leagues. This left little coverage for the Negro Leagues and its yearly celebration of the East vs. West game. Again, the sportswriters left their focus of Negro leagues and shifted it onto the black stars that came from those leagues.
The primary evidence supporting integration's potential economic benefits was the East-West Classic. It was the biggest sporting event in Black America next to Joe Louis' fights. Although newspapers wouldn't reproduce the partnership with the Negro National League they did come together to make the Classic possible.
The Negro League allowed their fans to choose the heroes and allowed them to vote for their favorite and best, unlike the Major Leagues. It was originally about racial pride and it owed its existence to the black press. The black press was relentless in its promotion all over the country.
"East-West All-Star game accomplished what the colored World Series could not."
It attracted positive attention from mainstream society, including white media and MLB leadership. It was also very successful in a business aspect and for positive press by white mainstream media.
Again in 1936 the Classic attracted roughly 30,000 fans and remained a huge financial success. !937 another huge success, attracting nearly 60,000 fans. This was significantly more than the MLB could do, further pushing the idea of integration of blacks into the major leagues. The Classic continued to grow, in 1941 the fans that attended reached 50,000 and brought in over 49,000 in gate receipts alone.
Even with the war in the 1940's, causing major concern for both black and white leagues, the Classic proved otherwise. 1943, 51,723 came to Comiskey Park for the celebration.
When there was word of blacks in the major leagues the Classic lost fans and the attention shifted towards the integration. Black baseball began to lose at the gates because its fans had heroes on major league teams.
Black league coverage began to become a mere footnote. In 1949 the Courier did not even cover the Negro League's annual conference. Black team owners went into debt with more and more black ball players joining the major leagues.
1953 only 10,000 fans attended the East-West Classic.
1954 The Classic's last year because of declining coverage and fans and overall money and revenue.
"All that remained for black baseball was barnstorming and clown acts."
1955 there was no Classic. John Johnson declared, "Negro baseball has served its purpose." "A relic of a Jim crow period."

"The Relationship of Fantasy Football Participation with NFL Television Ratings"
By: John A. Fortunato

In 2009 an estimated thirty million people participated in fantasy football. There has been little research conducted on this growing phenomenon. The purpose of the study is to find out if fantasy football participants are motivated to watch the NFL on television more.
Rubin identified two media-use orientations towards a medium that are based on audience motives, attitudes and behaviors: (1) Ritualized media use, and (2) Instrumental media use. The ritualized orientation focuses on how people use leisure time and the instrumental orientation focuses on purposive exposure to specific content and is more intentional and selective.
Sport audience has been described as very loyal and watching sports has been proven to satisfy emotional needs. Participation in fantasy sports is motivated by internal psychological variables and external psychological variables. Internal are the ability to exert control as owner of a team, the desire to escape reality and the feeling of achievement obtained by being successful. The external are being a part of a community and the opportunity to socialize with family, friends and colleagues.
Research question: Does having more players start in a fantasy league cause an increase in the televisions rating for that game? Four more questions are asked along with this most important one.
Two versions of fantasy player measures were used for the analysis: (1) the number of NFL players starting in greater than fifty percent of fantasy leagues and (2) the number of NFL players starting in greater than ninety percent of fantasy leagues. A third measure was used and it was the teams winning percentage at game time. And a final measure was the margin of victory.
Correlations- For question one, there was a significant correlation between ratings and players starting in greater than ninety percent of leagues for both NBC and ESPN. No so much for players starting in greater than fifty percent of leagues.
Discussion- Purpose of the study was to see if participating in fantasy football can be a motivating factor in watching NFL games on T.V. more often and if it can help the NFL schedule games better. The evidence provided does show that it can. Not entirely but it does help the ratings extremely when there are high numbers of players starting against each other. But there are several factors behind the ratings of each game so this study does not prove that fantasy football is the sole motivator. No matter what the NFL has outstanding ratings but evidence shows that they can have greater ratings during these instances of fantasy football players being played.
Implications- The NFL should use the attraction of fantasy football as another variable in scheduling games. The broadcasters of the NFL could also cater their telecasts more to the fantasy football audience, (which they have, 2013).

Mark Valeriano

Week 10

Being dedicated to sports has kept the overall passion for sports alive.  Whether gaining allegiance through the Negro League and the black journalists or watching more NFL due to your love for Fantasy, everyone must work together to benefit each other.

Fantasy Football has been consuming lives since 1962 when the Oakland Prognoginators emerged.  Since then people have been gushing over winning and running their own league to the point where losing has begun a “Losers Tattoo League.”  It’s an obsession that drives sports’ fans alike to the addiction to the television on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and sometimes even Saturday nights. 

Fortunado plays with this concept about whether Fantasy Football has any effect on the ratings of the NFL.  In order to figure this out, there had to be a study done showing if there was a relationship.  First he had to see if fantasy influenced two important concepts in media: 1) ritualized media use 2) instrumental media use.  It was discovered that we found Fantasy to be instrumental because it was on a set schedule manipulated by the NFL and it was for pleasure.

            After it was established of the importance Fantasy plays in a person’s life, we looked at the personal toll.  Baerg asked us to get more in depth with Fantasy.  Basically, he analyzed the theories as to why we long to stay addicted to forms of communications for Sunday all day: 1)To control a team 2)To escape reality 3)To brag about our success.  It’s obvious about our obsession with Fantasy; we love football.

            Fortunado took our love and put it to the test by comparing ratings to teams that had the most desired Fantasy teams.  The Giants and Cowboys both were 1-0 going into week two and playing Sunday Night Football.  Both teams had many desired players and proved to be the highest rated night of football.  There were many other instances proving why teams with fewer players showed weaker weeks and vice versa.  The study seemed pretty conclusive except that there were outlying factors such as other sporting events on television.

While the overall study stated there was some influence on the NFL by Fantasy Football, the study was not conducted long enough to show solid support.  Only following statistics for one season limits the relationship accuracy.  Although we are unsure how much effect is played into the relationship, this still proves the importance of teamwork.

Going off the teamwork concept, Carroll shares the story of the Negro League and the black journalists.  After Smith and the Pittsburg Courier had successfully gotten Robinson into professional baseball, there was still a doubt of sharing awareness and the wonder of what was to come of the Negro Leagues.  It was this all-star game that was aiding this new found integration.

Smith and many other journalists began working together to gain popularity.  They were taking ballots and trying to put effort to change the image of the various leagues.  The East West Classic brought a huge fanbase, but as it grew in success, the Negro League struggled.  It could be blamed that the drive of integration in the journalism field, killed the acceptance of the Negro League.

After the West and East All Star game’s successes, it seemed that the National Negro League was beginning to dwindle.  It became a joke to people and was even adding more females for desperate attention.  It slowly did as America was finally accepting this integration.  As one journalist remarked, it was the end of the Jim Crow era.

Basic lesson for this week’s blogs:  teamwork is necessary for success.

Overall life lesson: Payton Manning is ALWAYS worth watching.  Fantasy and alliance to team cannot change that.

Week 9 Post

“Democracy on the Field – The Black Press Takes on White Baseball”

            In this article, authors, Chris Lamb and Glen Bleske, discuss how the press treated the first integration within baseball. Known as one of the “first institutions in American society to become desegregated” and “most widely commented on episode in American race relations of its time,” baseball brought about the discussion and push toward a more equal society. Specifically within this article, Lamb and Bleske discuss the two perspectives of the press’ treatment of this integration—“the advocacy role of the black press and the status quo role of the white mainstream press.” The authors highlight player Jackie Robinson and his try-out for the Montreal Royals in 1946 to be a critical moment within the beginning of integration within baseball and sports, in general. At this point in time, black sportswriters used this event to spread the idea of integration within society and reported on it far more than the white press. White sportswriters reported little about the event. The authors point out that the white sportswriters were “unsure and afraid of how their readers would react to the story.” With the mainstream press consisting mostly of white writers, the story about Robinson gave little “social or cultural context”, which according to the authors, it deserved. The black press presented coverage on the Robinson story that expressed the signing of a black player on the team to be historically significant. It was obvious that the event meant more to the black press, as they were known as the “fighting press.” According to the authors, the “black press made no attempt to be objective in its reporting.” These black journalists helped to make the progress of civil rights possible. Opposite of the black press, white mainstream press provided little content to its readers of the significance and importance of this historic event. The authors explain that most white sportswriters “either criticized integration, ignored the issue completely or said that no good would come from raising the race issue.” The story appeared on the front page of black newspapers including the emotional and historical context of Robinson’s signing compared to the white newspapers that reported the story as if it were just another sports story, giving it little significance.

“Wendell Smith, the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal and the Campaign to Include Blacks in Organized Baseball, 1933-1945”

            In this article, author David Wiggins discusses the significant role that sports editor Wendell Smith and the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal had in lifting the racial barrier within American baseball. This ability to break down the racial barrier was due to the newspaper having the largest circulation out of all Black newspapers in the country. Along with the large circulation and readership, which increased almost by 100,000 more when Robinson was signed, the paper was “effective because it refused to relent in its call for complete equality in baseball.” According to Wiggins, the newspaper “continued to remonstrate against discrimination in the game despite the efforts of friend and foe alike to restrain its protests.” Finally, Wendell Smith made the papers initiatives effective through his dedication to the equality within baseball and the paper. Although Smith and the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal were both essential in the push toward desegregation in baseball, Smith began his advocacy for this type of equality long before the signing of Jackie Robinson. Smith as well as other journalists would attempt to discuss and bring out the idea of desegregation within their writing, trying to convince readers, society, and important figures to promote this idea as well. Smith also played a major role in the signing of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers; when approached by Branch Rickey, Smith gave him Robinson’s name. This led to the turning point within baseball and segregation. Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers, leaving Smith to be known as the person helped to make desegregation possible within American baseball. 

Week 9, Desegregation of Baseball: Lamb and Wiggins

In this week’s set of reading, we see the struggle of the black athlete and black journalism in the mid-20^th century. The two readings pay particular attention to the Negro Leagues, Jackie Robinson, and an influential black journalist by the name of Wendell Smith, who almost single-handedly changed the face of Major League Baseball and professional sports in America.

The reading by Chris Lamb, “Democracy on the Field,” discussed the different roles black sportswriters and white sportswriters played during the desegregation of baseball. The article focused particularly on Jackie Robinson’s first Spring Training with the minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946. Using this event as an example, the article focused on the roles that black sportswriters and white sportswriters played in covering the event, as well as the differences in coverage between the two.

Lamb first begins by stating a major difference between black journalists and white journalists as a whole. Lamb identifies black press as a “fighting press,” or a press that constantly challenged societal norms of segregation, even if it largely went unnoticed by the majority of white society. Black journalists were incredible advocates for desegregation, both in sports and in society. They were not only critical against segregation, but also helped to establish a sense of unity within the African-American community in America.

With this established, Lamb went on to describe the different roles that black journalists and white journalists played in the desegregation of baseball, focusing on Robinson’s first Spring Training with the Montreal Royals in 1946. Throughout his article, Lamb described how black journalists – especially Wendell Smith – advocated on behalf of Robinson and Johnny Wright, another black teammate of Robinson. They put the stories of Robinson and Wright into a much larger context, explaining the importance of the beginning of desegregation in baseball and society. Along with this, Lamb describes how black journalists displayed a tendency to downplay any struggles faced by Robinson and Wright, instead choosing to highlight their ability to overcome adversity and essentially act as the face of desegregation.

However, as Lamb described, not the stance taken by most white journalists. Most white sports journalists, including the famed sports writers of the time, did not approach the desegregation of baseball with the same importance that black sports journalists did. They did not contextualize the importance of what was really happening in baseball, if they chose to even acknowledge it at all. In most cases, white journalist and the white press barely covered the event, writing a few short paragraphs about their first game or sending quick information over the news wire. The desegregation of baseball, despite its obvious importance, was an afterthought in white press.

This trend would continue in the other reading for the week written by David Wiggins. Wiggins focused on a black journalist by the name of Wendell Smith, who was a sports editor for the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal, one of the largest black newspapers in America during its time. Wiggins focused on Smith and his influence on the eventual desegregation, but unlike Lamb, Wiggins’s story begins well before Jackie Robinson.

Wiggins describes the long journey of Wendell Smith and how he was an advocate for desegregation in baseball well before Jackie Robinson ever signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In fact, Wiggins described Smith as advocating for desegregation in the 1930s, when Smith compared the struggle of black athletes and the black community to what Hitler was doing in Europe during this same time. Wiggins described how Smith and other black journalists advocated on behalf of black athletes and the black community to everyone in a position of power: Major League Baseball commissioners, baseball owners, players, managers, and even the President of the United States. Despite many failed attempts at convincing these figures to desegregate baseball, Wiggins continually described how Smith and other black journalists of the time continued to fight for the desegregation of baseball.

It was not until much later in the article that Wiggins would touch upon Smith’s direct influence in getting Jackie Robinson signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. After years of advocating and speaking with owners in order to even get black athletes a tryout with a team, Smith was finally approached by Branch Rickey. Wiggins described how Rickey used the thin veil of a United Baseball League in an attempt to scout players and because of Smith’s advocacy over the years and knowledge of the Negro Leagues in America, Rickey asked Smith directly who might be a candidate to try out for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Smith, of course, gave Rickey the name Jackie Robinson and the rest is history.

However, as both readings pointed out, it took years and decades of black journalists advocating on behalf of black athletes and convincing white owners, players, managers, and league officials to even consider the desegregation of baseball. Without the role of these black journalists, it is entirely possible that the desegregation of baseball would have been severely delayed.

Week 9 Readings Chris Lamb, David Wiggins

"Democracy on the Field"
By: Chris Lamb and Glen Bleske

The black press takes on white baseball.
Baseball was one of the first institutions in American society to become desegregated. Many whites feared the integration. Laws stating people would be killed and or "left dead."
The article is about press treatment of baseball's first integrated spring training from two perspectives-the advocacy role of black press versus the status-quo role of the white mainstream press.
Studies showed that black sportswriters were more active in covering the story than white reporters. Black reporters were instrumental in spreading the integration issue into mainstream media.
The coverage of the Robinson story became a metaphor for equality on civil rights. This integration of Robinson was used to push further into society. Black sportswriters reported this story with emotion, emphasizing its historical significance, while the white reporters generally viewed it as a curiosity or a publicity stunt. White reporters remained relatively silent because of fear and uncertainty. Mainstream press didn't five this story the social or cultural context it deserved.
The integration of baseball meant more to black sportswriters in personal, societal and journalistic terms than it did to white sportswriters. This was obvious throughout the article.
Wendell Smith the "Crusader for integration" was known as the writer who most fought for the inclusion of blacks in organized baseball. Black journalists were more aware of progress in civil rights and helped make progress possible. By the spring of 1946 newspapers recorded their highest readership. The white mainstream press was limited in content and context on the story of Robinson during the spring training. Most white sportswriters either criticized integration, ignored the issue completely or said that no good would come from raising the race issue.
Robinson signing barely made white newspapers or columns and was given little importance with little historical context, again. One paper said, "If he were white and six years younger, he might be good enough for Brooklyn's AA team." I thought that was very interesting. For black newspapers it hit like a "bombshell" and got page one status. And of course it was written with tons of emotion and historical context and significance. Major stories during that spring were suppressed. The fact that Robinson was signed was even suppressed for months before it was released.
Black sportswriters thought white sportswriters didn't care or wanted Robinson to fail. They kept the story close where white reporters kept it "at arms length" gathering information from Rickey or other team officials. When Robinson made his way to Florida for the spring he was met with much discrimination and had multiple problems with flying and other transportation because he was black. White newspapers tried to cover this up while black journalists revealed the true story.
It was interesting that both black and white newspapers reported that Robinson was integrating with white players well during training but that wasn't really true. He barely made contact with any players besides the pitcher that was brought in with him, who was also black.
Many games were cancelled by southern cities because of the two blacks on Montreal's team. Rickey stood up for Robinson and Wright by not compromising. But for mainstream press these cancellations barely made the paper where blacks reported on this profusely and challenged officials who cancelled the games. They wouldn't let up.
Overall, it was clearly a different story for black sportswriters than it was for white sportswriters. The objective, establishment press focused on hard news values; a history making game and a game cancelled. To black reporters and their readers the story symbolized the hopes and dreams of integration, not just on the field but in society.

"Blacks in Organized Baseball"
By: David K. Wiggins

Jackie Robinson makes it clear in his book that he is indebted to Wendell Smith for telling Rickey about him and really pushing for the integration of blacks in America's pastime.
The Courier-Journal proved most effective in seeing that the game's racial barrier was finally lifted. It had the largest circulation of any black newspaper in the country. It was also most effective because of the "tireless efforts" of Wendell Smith.
It was only after the stand taken by Broun and Powers at the baseball writer's dinner that the Courier-Journal began to fight for the integration of blacks in baseball. It began with conducting the "Big League Symposium" which was set up to solicit the opinions of leading baseball men concerning the sports exclusionary policies. Of course at first the respondents said there was no exclusion happening and even dared to say there was no race-line. When the Big League Symposium ended, although it was somewhat instructive, the Courier-Journal was faced with the problem of what it should do next to ensure that blacks would finally be allowed in organized baseball. So they would compare black athletes to those in the Major Leagues and send telegrams to the owners stating how they would benefit skill wise and financially.
There was an East-West Classic that showcased the best black athletes and gathered more than 20,000 fans each year. This "Classic" served the Courier-Journals crusade very well, along with the games that black club's would play against major leaguers and win.
Wendell Smith, in 1938 shifted the CJ's tactics to advocate more radical procedures for ending discrimination in the National game. Smith would lash out at the national game for its racial policies. Smith did not only call for the color line to be dropped in baseball but also for self-improvement, racial pride and group unity among black Americans.
"Smith believed that black Americans had to identify positively with their own race before it would be possible for them to stage any effective campaign effort."
It is clear that Smith made a huge impact. He encouraged the CJ to stand strong in its efforts to promote integration and an end to discrimination. All while trying to change a community of people to be more proud and to stick up for themselves and to encourage self-help and organization. He believed they could conquer this goal as a group proposing this idea to the NAACP. He compared this exclusion to the practice of Nazi Germany. He said if we are shouting for freedom in other countries why not in our own. Smith's first interview with the leagues owner Ford Frick found some answers. Frick said that it accepts black athlete's but players could not because they weren't educated enough and said major league baseball was like the newspaper in that it could not make changes without public opinion's readiness.
Smith conducted more interviews and found that only one owner would not use or like black athletes in their club. The CJ kept fighting and the war crisis added more reason and opportunity to protest against discrimination. The war provided a unique opportunity to expose the gap between America's creed and its practice.
With the CJ gaining momentum, other sources and sportswriters joined the fight against race discrimination in baseball, but Smith continued to set the tone. Smith was trying to get the President to make an address but got no response. So he went after Griffith who was very outspoken about not letting blacks join even though he would hire non-American citizens. Black ball club owners didnt' even support Smith's campaign because they thought it would put an end to the black league.
Smith finally got to meet with Landis the commissioner and they spoke openly about their campaign. But even after the great points made by multiple important people Landis did nothing in his power to integrate black ball players. So Smith continued to attack Landis and the issue.
A year later blacks were finally trying out for national league ball clubs. Smith was asked to bring in the best three black players to Boston for the tryout ad they performed "magnificently." None of the five were signed and since Roosevelt died the day after, the tryouts got little to no press which fueled Smith's anger.
Rickey set up a new league which was skeptical but he really wanted to scout black athletes for his own club. And after being questioned and somewhat attacked by the CJ he asked Smith about potential black athletes to tryout for his team. Smith responded with Jackie Robinson. This led to his signing and Smith soon had a change of heart towards Rickey, mentioning his open-mindedness in the CJ. Finally, after twelve years of campaigning Robinson was signed.

Mark Valeriano

Wiggins and Lamb

Many people have no idea of the impact they displayed during their time in sports.  In 1946, the number 42 was just a jersey to the sports world.  Today, it is remembered as one of the significant first steps in the attitude of acceptance in America.

                According to Wiggins, Jackie Robinson was just a man who wanted to play the game of baseball.  Wendall Smith was just a man who wanted to write about sports.  Branch Rickey was just a man who wanted to win baseball games.  Together Robinson and Smith began changing society’s views all because of their talents protruding through their skin color.  Rickey was just a man who gave both of them the opportunity.

                Smith was a sports editor who was trying so desperately to integrate the meaning of sports.  He knew blacks could do it, but society just was not ready.  Besides the newly reluctant acceptance of the blacks in a white man’s game, the blacks were feeling different pressures of their own race.  Blacks were worried their league would be shut down now that some blacks could move to the professional league.  They wanted to preserve their league which did end up dying out eventually.  Smith even tried to get the leaders to comment on their feelings, but they stayed silent until the end.  It seemed like they definitely were not into the change especially since they knew only a few stars would get the opportunity to play if the black league died out.

While there still were cynical attitudes toward blacks, there also was much more positive reaction to black players.  Right as it seemed that change was upon us, the attitudes changed when a black player was refused a promise to play in the league.  This created a sever tension between races and it made them want to segregate more.  Harlem riots were increasingly worse and even though it seems sports (both professional and journalism) had a fighting chance, the atmosphere Smith was left in was fatal.  He wanted so badly to change the game as a stepping stone of changing the world.

Finally when Branch felt the need to show black exposure, he called upon Smith for the changes to be made.  Smith recommended Robinson and then 42 went down in history.  People can say the main concern with journalists is their professional and maybe they are right because had Smith not broken his professional barrier, the integration would have been much later.

         In Wiggins, we saw the struggle, but in Lamb, we finally saw the overall success.  With the integration of baseball, it seemed as if black writers would finally receive more recognition and job offers.  It did change because of Robinson.  When he was first covered, there were 28 news outlets that picked up the story.  The main man on the scene was Smith.  He was trying to rebuild the black pride and let the community to be known, but it was starting to seem like blacks wanted the pride within their races.  Just like in Wiggins, Smith was pressing for this better future and he was the leader of change.  This article followed the harsh criticizes Robinson received by white writers.  The story was completely differently received by who was writing.  Black writers were supportive and positive; white writers were negative and unsupported.  While civil rights were important, it seemed the writing was questionable due to the underlying context.

      Both articles talked about the important role integration played; however, they showed two different sides.

Week 6: Females in Sports Journalism, Hardin & Shain

Prior to diving into the topic of women in sports journalism, it is clear as an outside observer and consumer of sports that it is a male-dominated field. Major sports coverage – with the only possible exception being women’s college basketball – covers male athletes with the coverage and reporting done by male reporters, broadcasters, and writers. As any sports reader or viewer might be able to tell you, this is very evident; however, Marie Hardin and Stacie Shain decide to tackle the topic of females in sports journalism head on.

In the reading, Hardin and Shain discuss the lack of women in sports journalism. To begin, they pull out the hard facts. There are very little women in sports journalism; in fact, only 13 percent of employees in sports departments are women (Hardin &Shain, 2005). This number is then contrasted by the percentage of women in journalism overall (38 percent), showing the large disparity between the women in journalism and the number of women in sports journalism.

In order to better understand these numbers, the reading then moves on to describe some of the why. During these discussions, Hardin and Shain come up with a few possible reasons: sexual harassment in the workplace, lack of career advancement opportunities, overall discrimination toward women in the sports department, etc. Hardin and Shain then decide to expand on some of these factors in the form of an open-ended survey of a number of women in sports journalism. Included in the questions are: how they characterize their career choice, how they characterize their job satisfaction, and how they characterize the factors that impact tenure/promotion and how they see a possible resolution of the factors (Hardin & Shain, 2005).

Within their responses, these women in sports journalism demonstrated just some of the issues facing women in sports journalism today. Although women do the job for the same reasons as men – presumably for the love of sports and journalism – they are sometimes looked down upon for their career choice. Along with this, the lack of women in sports journalism leads to a weak support system for other women attempting to enter the field. Additionally, women acknowledged their negative treatment in the field, being discriminated against by sources and even readers. Despite the negative treatment, they still felt positively about their career choice. Lastly, women also acknowledged the lack of women in higher positions in sports journalism. Because of several factors – caring for families, sports departments “meeting their quotas” for women in the newsroom, etc. – women are not given the same opportunity to advance in their careers.

In all, this article pointed out a lot of difficult factors women must face in the field of sports journalism. However, they are not limited to these factors solely when they enter the field. They face these factors even before entering sports journalism, as many women struggle to find a spot in the “boy’s club” of sports journalism. As Hardin and Shain point out, sports journalism needs to address not only how women are treated once they enter the field of sports journalism, but the lack of women in the newsroom must be improved upon.