Taking a Stand

In a time with many controversial topics in society, many people choose to voice their own opinions. People hold demonstrations, strikes, and fundraisers in order to raise awareness or gain public support. Although many ordinary citizens love to take stands on certain issues, professional athletes and other prominent figures refuse to step into the spotlight. Kelly Candaele and Peter Dreier discuss this phenomenon in their article, Where Are the Jocks for Justice?.

Athletes are increasingly taking a stance on controversial issues

They claim that endorsements from sponsor’s and greater economic compensation having rendered political and social activism from star athletes obsolete. Their argument makes complete sense. Players would rather protect their multimillion dollar contract then speak out on an issue that may or may not make a difference. Can we blame them? The authors reveal a downward trend over the last couple of decades in terms of player’s activism, but there is some cause for hope in the future.

Are Sports Worth the Risk?

Sports have become ingrained as a major part of modern society. Sports have many benefits; for instance they provide competition, exercise, entertainment and business. These factors make sports a key piece in the nature of society. This is especially true at the University of Michigan. I was able to attend the Michigan basketball game over break where they lost in a close game to Villanova. One of the most significant events of the game was when Michigan freshman D.J. Wilson suffered a knee injury.

One in Three NFL players suffer brain trauma in their career.

He is expected to miss 3-4 weeks, possibly even longer. Although the injury isn’t very serious, it got me thinking about the growing injury concerns in sports and the changes that are being made. In recent times, controversies
have struck the sports world. One of the more significant ones is whether some sports are proving to be too dangerous and if so, what changes need to be made.

Conservatism in Detroit (No Way!)

The Spirit of Detroit sculpture, dressed in a Red Wings’ jersey for the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, embodies what Detroit is all about.

Andrea Joyce, a sports broadcaster who is a woman (worded as she would have it) has covered the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the P&G Gymnastics Championships, and at least 12 Olympic games.  I learned, at her event on October 30, she earned her degree from the University of Michigan and has ties to the Detroit area.

When asked, what is it with the proud tradition in sports business in Detroit, she responded with “It’s Hockeytown.  You’re in Detroit and sports are so much part of your life.”  Because sports are “so much part of life” in Detroit and have been for years, does this mean that the sports culture in Detroit is conservative or liberal?

Bread, Circuses, and Spandex

Football games are fun, there’s no doubt about that. But branching outside of The Big House to other university sports results in a fundamentally different experience. For one thing, everything else is in a much smaller building. Cliff Keen arena, where volleyball is played, and Yost arena, where hockey is played, both provide an intimate experience. The smaller arenas don’t take away from the fun of being a spectator, they enhance it. Sure there aren’t 100,000 people around you, but the ones who are there can have a much greater affect on the game. In these smaller settings the role of the crowd becomes very apparent and the student section becomes almost Rousseauian.

BASE jumping and The Harm Principle

After reading the article, It’s More Like a Suicide Than a Sport written by Ed Caesar.I wanted to know  why anyone would put their life in danger, and then the thought came into my mind; how would Mill react to the riskiness of this sport. I Google  searched for the information and found many articles. Ed Grabianowski in his article explains that the name “BASE jumping” is an acronym for the four types of objects that people jump from. “BASE” stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans or bridges, and Earth. BASE jumpers jump from various cliffs and high man-made  buildings, towers, bridges, and airplanes, at low altitudes with only a few seconds to deploy the parachute. There is no time available for jumpers to deal with problems or malfunctions.

Animated Movies Exhibit a Balance Between Conservatism and Liberalism

I’m the type of person who feels that animated movies offer extensive life lessons and character development just as well as live action films. Sure, they’re presented in a way that makes them extra silly and less serious, as they can be pretty detached from reality. However, many animated movies also tell valuable life lessons and intricate stories that have made it hard for adults and larger children, such as myself, to cut them out of our lives. On a hazy late night last week, I found that Netflix has a great selection of animated movies, and I couldn’t resist watching The Emperor’s New Groove, an early 2000s childhood classic. Upon watching it, I made connections between the movie’s political themes and the ideals we learned from classic conservative Edmund Burke and liberal Jon Stuart Mill.

For the Love of the Game

This past week, I had the privilege to attend two LSA Theme Semester Events, the showing of Miracle with an introduction by UM instructor John Bacon and the Values of College Sports Conference, where Amy Perko and Taylor Branch commented on their reasoning of why college sports should stay around.

Stamp depicting a shot by Rob McClanahan, a player on the 1980 US Mens National Hockey Team, against the Soviet Union

During both sessions a general idea began to form. People played sports because they enjoyed it. They won because they enjoyed the journey to winning, playing the game. Kids want to continue playing the sport that they love so they work their way up the proverbial ladder of levels of play, each with varying levels of competition.

The NFL Is Not Changing For the Better

NFL Logo

Change is inevitable. Some people believe that without change, the human race would not be in the place it is today, which is true. But change can be bad. According to Edmond Burke in his book Reflections on the Revolution in France, change is bad when the thing that is being changed becomes unrecognizable. This could be used to understand a lot of things, government, climate, but recently, there have been many proposed changes in the NFL that could change the way football is played forever.

There once was a time in the National Football League when field goals were 5 points, forward passes were illegal, and there were only 10 teams in the league. While this is very different from the game and league we all know and love today (unless you are a Raiders fan), football was still football. There were still highlight worthy runs, crazy, bone crushing tackles, and feats of amazing athleticism being shown on the field.

Recently, with many former players suffering with long term problems because of concussions and other things related to their time playing in the league, the NFL has decided to possibly change the rules of the game. In class, we read an article in The New Republic, an American magazine, that plots out the different rule changes that are possibly being adopted in the league, among them being banning ball carriers from lowering their helmet to break tackles, getting rid of tackling during preseason camps, and getting rid of the kickoff to start a drive entirely.

Change

These rule changes are absurd. Edmond Burke would hate that the NFL is changing these rules because it not only changes the way the game is played, it changes the strategy behind being successful in the game. Banning ball carriers from lowering their helmet would get rid of amazing plays like this. Never again will we see the NFL’s elite ball carriers running right through the defense and moving the ball farther than expected. This not only changes the way how people carrying the ball will behave while running, but could also change the type of player carrying the ball. A strong player, like Eddie Lacey or Marshawn Lynch who run the ball while being very  aggressive, could be hindered by this rule and could lose their starting spot to a player who runs with a style that caters better to this rule change. If this rule is changed, then football will not be football.

There will be a lot of penalty flags being thrown if these rule changes are made

If kick offs were eliminated from the game, then that would not only put a lot of players out of a job, but it would also change the whole strategy of the game. It would eliminate the need for a coin toss starting the game, it would eliminate teams starting in different areas on the field, and it would eliminate the amazing 99+ yard runs that players somehow achieve on kickoffs that give their team an extra 6 points on the board. If kick offs are eliminated from the game, then football will not be football.

I understand that these specific rule changes are being made to lower the possible concussions and other long term effects that playing in the NFL has on players, but if a player wants to play football, they should play football as it should be played. I hope the NFL realizes that changing these rules will result in a dramatic negative change to the sport and the possible annihilation of the sport of football as we know it. Without hard hitting runs and a kick off to start each possession, football will cease to be football.

Dynamics of Modern Gaming

Videogames Consoles: The Wii, Playstation 4 and Xbox One

Videogames are an integral part of many people’s lives, as they provide an output through which people can blow off steam, relax, have fun, kill boredom and compete in a non-serious environment. What allows many players to get these benefits out of videogames is the fact that what happens in the virtual world typically has no effect on the real world.

However, in recent years a new trend, Major League Gaming, has gained considerable popularity, though not nearly the level of popularity seen in most major sports. The key difference between the Major League Gamers and other players is that these professionals compete against each other for money.

Major League Gaming: Call of Duty Ghosts

Rah, Rah, Sis Boom Bah

Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan

The sense of pride was prominent on Monday night in Crisler Center when Austin Hatch scored a stirring point. Students, fans, players, and coaches stood for the success of Austin, chills came from the sense of honor in the arena, and tears ran down the faces of some. Overcoming obstacles, such as Austin has, is not a walk in the park and it was this instance, of conquering defeat; that I realized the influence of the Michigan community.