Film Poster for Miracle, Copyright 2004, Walt Disney Film
This week, I went to two events of theme; on November 13th, I went ‘Showing of Miracle with an introduction by John U. Bacon’, and on 14th and 15th, ‘Values of College Sport Conference’.
The 2004 film, Miracle, directed by Gavin O’Connor, spotlights the story of the 1980 US Olympic Men’s ice hockey team. Herb Brooks, a main coach, trains a team in order to beat the Soviet team, and eventually brings a gold medal.
The conference mainly dealt with benefit and problems of college sports. Especially, Amy Perco, Executive Director of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Atheltics, gave a lecture; she stated that despite financial conflicts and risk of injury, college encourages sports program.
Also, Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Fellowship winning author, gave a lecture and spotlighted the conflict between sports and academic he insisted that students should be students, and priority task should be studying.
Taylor Branch, at the 2009 Texas Book Festival, Austin, Texas, United States
Branch stated that college students should not be paid and universities should be careful about commercial side of sports. I think what he is concerned already emerged in the lawsuit O’Bannon v. NCAA, according to the article, “Dispatches From the NCAA’s Deathbed”. In this trial, former UCLA All-American Ed O’Bannon insisted that his personhood is damaged by video games. NCAA athletes are required to give up the rights to their names, images, and likenesses to the NCAA, because they are amateur players and cannot gain profit. Instead, universities, companies and institutions try to make profit from college sports. I think this trial is one of the examples that institutions interrupt and somewhat spoil the college lives of student athletes and Branch would criticize such a commercial conflict.
However, college sports are important because, as depicted in Miracle, sports unite people. And students can learn a lot from a team. They learn enjoyment, hardship, frustration, teamwork and achieving. And players entertain audience. Although in essay “The Dynamics of Modern Sport” (in the anthology Quest for Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process, Blackwell, 1986), Eric Dunning criticizes that modern sports are competitive and serious and he would disagree with seriousness of today’s college sports, students can go through meaningful time with lifelong friends.
Perco insisted that college sport is crucial despite a high risk of injury, because you can feel achievement, patience, disappointment and success. Students can grow intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically.
Perco would agree with 2nd theory of Louis Menand in an article “Live and Learn” that we read in the lecture. This idea is that college should be the place students could develop their social skills. This democratic theory states that people should attain knowledge and skills to be an informed citizen.
Those two events were connected to many materials that we read in our class. Sports and academic…both are essential for college and education. I strongly agree that college sports play important roles in universities. What we can learn from teamwork and sports are very vital in society even after graduation. I also think that college sports unite students, faculties and alumni more strongly. I hope that both audience and players keep enjoying games and performances.
Touchdown Theory 
I like how you were able to connect these two events to multiple readings from throughout the semester. Building off of what you said about sports being important because of how they have the ability to entertain and unite a group, I think this is as prevalent here as anywhere. Football Saturdays, home basketball games, and hockey nights serve as something to look forward to for many. When the academics become overwhelming I, as I’m sure many students do as well, tell myself that the sooner I finish my work the sooner I will be able to the game. Sports can serve as a motivator for even non athletes.
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Good job connecting the two events you attended to the course material and each other. I found this to be an interesting blog that really tied a lot of the readings together. Personally, I think the idea of sports and the university is a very prevalent topic. In my opinion, I believe that athletes should be compensated if universities use their image or likeness for advertisements. If the school is using them to make a profit, then they should receive part of that profit. For example, if they make posters or jerseys that have their name or number on them, then the student should be awarded a part of the profit. This debate in an ongoing one that needs to be addressed soon. Overall, I agree that sports are a crucial part to students’ development and are a central part of college life. This blog had some grammar issues that made it hard to read at some points, but it did a great job of presenting and connecting the material.
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One thing I want to say in response to your blog is about an event I went to recently. It was a panel put on by the communications department, and they brought in a few alumni, including David Berson, the president of CBS sports. Berson talked so extensively about his side of sports, the business aspect. There is far more to the sports world than just the ways the athletes partake in it. I think it should be debated whether or not that is a good thing. Does everything else about sports (money, television, fame) detract from the actual mental, social, physical, and intellectual aspects of it? I’d say it certainly does.
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