Week 13

Nolan Ryan had a 27 year old baseball career. I feat many cannot say they even came close to. During his career he was an 8 times All-Star, had 5,714 strikeouts, and racked up 7 no-hitters. No wonder he was the face of masculinity in sports for decades! Times have changed though. Masculinity consists of a lot more now a days than “toughness and competitiveness”, “subordination of women”, and “the marginalization of gay men.” I mean what the heck! In 2013, athletes are held more highly when they are toughness and competitiveness only relates on the field, when they have an equal relationship with their significant other, and finally when these athletes are understanding and accepting of gay men in and out of their locker room. 

The word “faggot” is becoming more and more unacceptable in the athletic community, as the number of homosexual athletes coming out is rising. In the hockey community, this word has been unacceptable for a long time, and is worthy of fine or penalty. A notable case of this word being used or being excused of being used was in the 2011-’12 season when Sean Avery apparently called Wayne Simmonds a “monkey” and Simmonds came back with calling Avery a “faggot”. All outlets covered the comments pretty closely and it made national attention. Neither party was right and it’s neither here nor there. But, the understandingness of someone who is different than you is apart of the 2013’s definition of “masculinity”. Furthermore, being a player of women is now considered “beastly”. Consider Tiger Woods, he was in so-it-seemed committed relationship with his wife and two children, but when that hit the fan, boy did it hit the fan. 

Trujillo

Troy Maychuk
Sport Journalism
Pat Gordon
11/20/13

In this article, Nick Trujillo discusses the gender differences in the present day sports world. Trujillo also focuses on the picture of Nolan Ryan that was painted by the media. Nolan Ryan was touted as the absolute model for a dominant male athlete. Ryan pitched in the MLB for 25 years and gained the title “power pitcher” as the media used him as a scale to measure the masculinity and performance of others. It is very easy to see this in mainstream media, for women I feel like even more so. Women judge themselves against what the media provides as the ideal shape and size of what a ‘good’ woman should look and act like. For men sports provide an enormous influence to youth especially.

Rich, powerful athletes in perfect shape has become the ideal masculine model, the standard by which all others are measured. Ryan was also famed a modern day ‘cowboy’ furthering his male prowess and solidifying him in the hearts of true blue Americans. Ryan was basically a ‘good old boy’ and became the absolute pinnacle of manliness. Hegemonic culture dominates sports media- perfect example that comes to mind is lingerie football where women dressed in scant underwear tackle each other and emulate a standard football game. The media portrays these events as more of a soft core porno than a legitimate game. The cycle perpetuates itself because of the dominant male figure that is IDOLIZED in modern day media.

Week #13

Matt Snider

The article for this week by Trujillo focused on the portrayal of masculinity within sports. In particular, the author talked about how Nolan Ryan was glorified throughout the media and the five features of hegemonic masculinity. He talks about how Ryan was viewed as a powerhouse pitcher to define physical force and control, his records to define occupational achievement, Nolan Ryan as the patriarch of his family to define patriarchy, portraying Ryan in the off-season as a cowboy to embody frontiersman, and finally, his portrayal of being a good looking male throughout the media to define his heterosexuality.
I think that there are some legitimate items discussed in the article that still hold true today. In a sport like baseball for instance, the first feature is displayed prominently within the world of pitchers. More often than not a pitcher is immediately put on a pedestal if they possess the ability to throw hard. Guys like Chapman are revered for being good pitchers especially once they are unproven. It’s a similar situation whenever Justin Verlander throws 100 mph in the sixth inning. It is no doubt a great accomplishment but I’m not sure it warrants a five minute segment on Sportscenter.
Another similarity is the way athletes are portrayed constantly working out, and in relation, constantly building their strength. Nike and Under Armor have built their entire marketing campaign around showing athletes working out wearing their apparel. It is seen as the clothing choice if you are someone with strength or a tough male. In a similar sense if they ever show female athletes in these commercials they are often seen doing more of a cardiovascular workout like running as opposed to lifting weights or anything that would be strength gaining.
Finally, another common feature of hegemonic masculinity that is featured in the media and particularly advertisements has been the idea of the patriarch figure. It is seen often in big events like the Super bowl a few years ago when the Saints won. The image plastered everywhere from the event became Drew Brees holding his young son at midfield while the confetti pours down. Not only does this image paint Brees as the patriarch of his family but it also it shows his occupational achievement in winning the highest trophy a team can earn in a season. In addition to the Brees media picture a recent ad featuring Lebron James not just training at the court but also training with his sons. This is both portraying the patriarch figure as well as the power and strength James possesses.

Week 13 - Trujillo

               The article for this week written by Nick Trujillo is titled “Hegemonic Masculinity on the Mound:  Media Representations of Nolan Ryan and American Sports Culture.” This article discusses how media plays a big role in how the public views certain athletes, with this article focusing on how media represented Nolan Ryan as a masculine hero of sorts.

                Nolan Ryan is arguably one of the best pitchers in baseball history. During a career spanning parts of four decades, Ryan played for 4 different teams (Mets, Angels, Astros, and Rangers), and set many pitching records, including the most no-hitters by one pitcher in Major League Baseball history (Seven such games). Throughout his career, the media painted Nolan Ryan as an extremely masculine hero in various ways, in articles, advertisements, and features on TV.

                Hegemonic masculinity is defined as “the culturally idealized form of masculine character.” In American culture, hegemonic masculinity has five features, 1. Physical force and control, 2. Occupational achievement, 3. Familial patriarchy, 4. Frontiersmanship, and 5. Heterosexuality. In this article, Trujillo examined various pieces of media and how they portrayed Nolan Ryan in each of these five categories.

                Ryan’s athleticism was represented in stories saying that his pitches were recorded as some of the fastest in history. Stories about Ryan’s various baseball records pictured him as a tireless worker. Other stories would focus on Ryan as a family man, describing his great relationships with his wife and his two sons. He was also portrayed as a sex symbol in various advertisements.

                The media as a whole represented hegemonic masculinity through Nolan Ryan. If you had to pick a current version of this model, I would probably think about LeBron James first. His records are glorified, he is regarded as an unbelievably hard worker, the media portrays him as a great father figure to his sons. You could almost even go as far as to say that James may be the first black athlete to be viewed this way. I see a lot of comparisons between how Ryan was portrayed in the media and how LeBron is currently portrayed. 

Week 13 - Trujillo – Masculinity

Casey Yoos

Sports Journalism Blog

Week 13 - Trujillo – Masculinity

            In Truijillo’s article, he states 5 characteristics that describe “hegemonic masculinity”. These 5 characteristics are (1) physical force and control, (2) occupational achievement, (3) patriarchy, (4) frontiersman/outdoorsman (5) heterosexuality is defined. Sports have greatly influenced America’s idea of masculinity. The media is responsible for reproducing these ideas in the minds of Americans. Texas Ranger’s pitcher, Ryan Nolan, is known as one of the “ageless wonders” of baseball. His achievement in the sport and endorsements outside of the sport have made him a perfect example of how the media uses sports players to express what masculinity is. Trujillo looked over 250 articles in newspapers, magazines and sport-oriented magazines to describe how Ryan Nolan is expressed as an image of masculinity.

            When Nolan joined the Mets he had an extremely fast pitch and the media referred to him as “flame-thrower” and “power pitch”. Although he lacked control with the Mets, when he joined the Angels he gained control and began to win games and was a power hitter. The media emphasized him as a strong and great player, emphasizing his masculinity. When Nolan began to age, they described his playing as “will-power” and that he often “played through the pain”, changing the way they described him as masculine.

            The media also emphasized Nolan’s milestone achievements such as “no-hitter” and “strike-out” achievements. In his later years the media also complimented his work ethic and success. The media did everything they can to define Nolan as a hard-working man to the public. The media even went as far as reporting on Ruth Nolan and saying the Ryan Nolan was the breadwinner and that she chose not to or failed to follower her career path. The media emphasized his role as a father and the breadwinner in his family, almost defining what it means to be masculine.

            Following this even further, according to the article Nolan was described as, “a rural cowboy who symbolizes the frontiersmen of American”. He was even known in the media to be a real cowboy who owned and worked three cattle ranches. The media also reaffirmed his identity as a white male by presenting him as a white male to the public. The media, such as sports illustrated describe Nolan in articles as “handsome”, “a natural-born hero” and a heterosexual male who the women found attractive. The perception of masculinity in the American culture has made it extremely hard for women in sports, gays and lesbians.

Week 13 Trujillo

In Nick Trujillo’s article he discusses hegemonic masculinity in sports culture and the media representations of Nolan Ryan, specifically. Trujillo’s write about the media’s portrayal of Ryan as the ultimate male icon, or the pinnacle of hegemonic masculinity during his 25 year career and a pitcher in MLB. Trujillo analyzes five features of the media coverage of Nolan Ryan that reinforces this idea: the embodiment of the male athletic power, as an ideal image of the capitalist worker, as a family patriarch, as a white rural cowboy, and as a phallic symbol.

Trujillo argues that sports are the most influential to American’s sense of masculinity. With football becoming increasingly popular, the idea that men are strong, aggressive, and violent has definitely emphasized the idea of what hegemonic masculinity means in this country.

The media has portrayed Nolan Ryan as the “embodiment of male athleticism”, and have reaffirmed the power of the male body by referring to him as a “power pitcher” throughout his career. Nolan Ryan is an ideal image of the capitalist worker which is showcased by the media’s fascination with his pitching records both individual and as a team. Capitalism strives to breed the best workers possible and Ryan was definitely one of the best at his job. Third, the media portrays Ryan as the family patriarch, the bread-winner, the man of the house who works hard to support his family. Next, Ryan as a “cowboy”. The all-american cowboy is a classic image of an ideal man. Finally, there’s the media’s portrayal of Nolan Ryan as a sex symbol which is essential to being the poster-boy for hegemonic masculinity. 

            I think the notion hegemonic masculinity in sports is important to understand because it is everywhere. While advertisements for men’s sports I see are over-masculine at times, ads for female athletes can often be an extreme opposite in that they are hyper-feminine. I guess in the mind of the media that style tries to “make up” for the perceived masculinity of successful female athletes.

Week 11

     I found this week’s reading to be out dated. In the abstract alone it discusses companies implementing an interactive source to their website in regards to fantasy sports. The thing is most major website if not all have an interactive function to it, if not write-ups on fantasy sports themselves. Fantasy Sports is already a major industry where websites do not need much influence or help on how to reach their audience. 

     The study explored how the target Fantasy audience is mainly men. How is this a “finding” within a study. You can take a small survey of a random room and find out that men are the majority in Fantasy Sports. Or another finding in the study says the mass of the people surveyed said that they either “loved sports” or “liked it a lot”… Shocking. 

     Furthermore, some of the hypotheses such as: “the more hours a day a person spends participating in fantasy sports leagues, the more days a week a person spends following sports in communication mediums other than the internet,” and “as the number of times people check their fantasy sports scores increases, the more time they spend watching sports highlights,” are pretty obvious. I honestly find whomever did this study to have wasted their grant money.

Randle 11

Troy Maychuk

Sports Journalism

Week 11 Randle

           Fantasy or Reality?

Fantasy Sports Leagues have without a doubt seen a major increase in popularity within the last decade. I can remember a time when participants were few and far between, now it seems as though just about everyone participates on some level. In the article, “Participation in Internet Fantasy Sports Leagues and Mass Media Use” by Quint Randle, he discusses a study that showed Fantasy Sports having a symbiotic relationship with media usage. Randle argues that all sports media outlets should adopt Fantasy Sports to bolster station views

Around 18 million people participate in Fantasy Sports annually, with the biggest participation found in Fantasy Football. Everyone that I personally know who participates in Fantasy Sports does so with football- its absolutely huge. 85% of the total Fantasy Sports participants engage in Fantasy Football. In the study that Randle expounds on, 240 surveys were done that showed a definite link between Fantasy Sports participants and increased views of sports media. Even things such as Sports Center highlight reels showed an increase in consumption as Fantasy Sports participants pour over media outlets to gain information of their teams and prospective atheletes. Randle showed that there is an undeniable link between the two, showing just how powerful the new media age has grown to become.

Week #11

Matt Snider

    In the Randle piece for this week, the hypothesis of whether fantasy football participation impacted sports viewership was tested. In contrast to last week, this focused more on whether or not fantasy players would watch sport highlights and spend more time soaking in sports information than their non-fantasy playing counterparts.  The findings of the study resulted in the conclusion that there is a correlation between fantasy sports and the increase of other sports information gathering activities like watching highlights and internet research.

              
               To me, it seems as though the result that the trials proved were already common sense. It seems as though most participators in fantasy sports are bigger sports fans than non-fantasy sports fans and therefore, would be more inclined to spend more of their free time soaking in sports information. Although there are undoubtedly some fantasy players that wouldn’t consider themselves “hardcore” sports fans, they most likely would at least have an interest in sports. It is very similar, in my perspective, in discussing the people who would buy a sports video game such as Madden. Sure there are people who play video games that are sports fans but if you are a big time football fan and own a video game console, chances are you own a Madden video game. It’s similar in that both mediums consist heavily of major sports fans, yet do include their own outliers.
             
                The results that were founded were also slightly skewed in my opinion, especially considering hypothesis three. Hypothesis three dealt with the relationship between the amount of time people spend researching fantasy sports and the time they spend discussing sports outside of internet. I feel as though if a person spends a significant amount of time invested into fantasy sports, they are going to be motivated to try to win. Therefore, that in turn means that they know to obtain as much information as possible to make a more informed decision regarding their teams. Again, this means that they will seek any form of media offering information on fantasy which will undoubtedly turn their attention to forms like the radio. 

Week 11 - Randle

    This article, “Participation in Internet Fantasy Sports Leagues and Mass Media Use” by Quint Randle discusses a study done to try and link fantasy sports with media use, trying to convince all sports media outlets that having a fantasy sports influence will increase their viewership.

                

                The article starts out by discussing how big fantasy sports have become. It goes through the amount of people playing, which at the time of the article, I believe they said was around 15-18 million people, noting that fantasy football was the biggest sport, with 85% of fantasy players saying that they participate in a fantasy football league. One statistic that I found shocking when I first read it was how many females say that they are sports fans. I’m not trying to sound sexist, but when I first read that 70-something percent of females consider themselves to be sports fans, I thought that had to be a typo. But when I went back and really thought about it, I think I felt that way because women’s sports aren’t as popular as men’s sports, and women can be fans of men’s sports. Some of them may not watch all the time, but they still have a rooting interest, they still wear a certain team’s clothing, so on and so forth. I was clearly mistaken in finding that to be shocking.

               

               The study that this article focuses on was trying to link fantasy sports participation to media usage. 240 surveys were completed, and based on those results, the researchers found links between fantasy participation and watching sports highlights, also between hours spent checking fantasy and days spent following sports in mediums other than the internet, and between general internet use and hours engaged in fantasy activity. All in all, the researchers determined that a media outlet could almost definitely increase its usage/viewership by incorporating fantasy sports, which is amazing in itself.  

Week 11 Randle

Randle and Nyland’s article discusses the various outlets fans use to get information on their favorite sports teams. It todays world, people can look directly on their smartphones for the latest news or score of any game. With the rise in popularity of fantasy sports, the media availability of sporting news has become even more crucial. Through fantasy sports, fans can become even more involved with their favorite sport by drafting their favorite players and keeping tabs on the entire league. The study explained in this article was done to show if there is a relation to the increased popularity of fantasy sports and the advancement in sports media communication and increase in sports media consumption.

The findings were: there was a moderate positive correlation between playing fantasy sports and watching sports or highlights, the more people pay attention to their fantasy sports the more they will watch sports highlights, the more a person participates in team sports the more time they will spend playing fantasy sports, and the more internet use the more time spent playing fantasy sport. The findings in this study say that fantasy sports is associated with all kinds of sports media like newspaper, tv, radio, internet, etc.

The article also says that participants in the study believe that playing fantasy sports is important to being a sports fan. Personally, I can’t speak about fantasy football because I have never played it and I suppose it would be different than what I know since that is more of a weekly game. I’ve only played fantasy hockey and I find that I check out the status of my team every single morning during the season to see who is playing that night. Fantasy sports definitely add interest in other players and other teams other than the Flyers and I think it’s made me a more knowledgeable fan of the game. I’m more inclined to check out the stats and histories of players I may have never heard of before as well as watch other team’s games and watch their highlights if I see a player on my team has had a particularly strong night.

Week 11 – Randle

Casey Yoos

Sports Journalism Blog

Week 11 – Randle

            

            Quint Randle and Rob Nyland conducted a study to examine if there is an increase in sports news compensation due to participation in fantasy sports leagues. There were two main variables in this study. The dependent variable was the amount of time spent watching sports on television and the independent variable was the participation in fantasy sports leagues.

          The findings in the study were as predicted. Fantasy sports are related to media use in all aspects of mass media. The findings include those “watching sports news, listening to sports news on the radio, reading sports articles in the newspaper, watching sporting events on television or in person”. The study found that there was no significant connection between those who play team sports and those who play fantasy sports. Therefore the study found that those who cannot participate in real sports due to “lack of talent, physical capabilities, and/or time and place constraints” participate in sports through the fantasy leagues.

Fantasy leagues have led those who participate in them to watch more sporting events, attend more games in real life, read sporting newspapers or magazines and learn more about sports facts and statistics. Media outlets can benefit from containing important fantasy sport information on their shows, papers or websites because it will drive more traffic to their outlets.

The study found that any media outlet could benefit from including fantasy leagues, similar involvement or role-playing. Role-playing the relationship between fantasy sports league participation and the amount of sports news and information people watch.  If more media outlets use this involvement in their content they can have increased traffic and increased profit in advertising.

Week 10: Carroll and Fortunato

The first article, “A Perfect Baseball Day” Black Press Coverage of the East-West Classic by Brian Carroll discussed the role that black media played in making the Negro League’s East-West Classic such a huge phenomenon and a legitimate rival to Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. The East-West Classic was first played in 1933, and featured the best African-American baseball players, guys like Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell and Oscar Charleston.

                Black newspapers of the time, like the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal pulled out all the stops in covering the event. They would have stories in the days leading up to the game, the day of, and days after the game, making it into the spectacle that it became during the 1930s and 1940s, the height of the event’s popularity. The most amazing thing that I took from this article was that not only black people attended. Approximately  5,000 white fans would show up to this annual event. Also, there was one particular year where nearly 8,000 more people showed up to the East-West Classic than showed up to a Cubs game on the same day in the same city. That’s crazy to think about.

                The second article, The relationship of fantasy football participation with NFL television ratings analyzed a study done to determine whether or not the National Football League and its TV partners, specifically NBC (Sunday Night Football) and ESPN (Monday Night Football), should use the popularity of fantasy football to influence their scheduling of games. Fantasy football, in recent years, has skyrocketed in popularity. Even if you don’t play fantasy sports, you know what they are. And the NFL especially has fantasy sports to thank for some of their viewership.

                Personally, one of the main reasons I play fantasy sports is so that I have can have a vested interest in the games that don’t involve the teams that I am a fan of. I will always watch the Raiders, the Celtics, and the Phillies when they are on, while a Yankees/Orioles game or a Vikings/Rams game wouldn’t typically intrigue me. That being said, if I have C.C. Sabathia on my fantasy team, or if I decide to start Sam Bradford against the lowly Vikings defense, I am going to have interest in both of those games. Even if money is not involved, it’s that competitive nature that makes people flock to fantasy sports.

                Based on the study results, there are certain instances where the NFL should definitely use fantasy football as a factor in scheduling there games. People, the results showed, were more likely to watch the games that had heavily used fantasy players in them. For example, an Aaron Rodgers –led Packers team going up against Adrian Peterson and the Vikings will probably be watched more than the Buccaneers, with no notable star players, face the Jaguars, another lowly team. 

Week #10

Matt Snider

                One of the readings for this week dove into a topic that has ballooned into the mainstream culture more and more every year. As the article by Fortunato noted, over 30 million people participate in fantasy football every year. The question raised within the study was whether or not the practice of fantasy football contributed to higher TV ratings for any of the football games. The results of the study concluded that there was some correlation between the more highly rated football games and the amount of fantasy players that a majority of those people playing fantasy football had started in their lineups.

                To me, it seems as though the study was a little unnecessary to conduct due to the common sense nature of the whole thing. Fortunato went into detail noting the teams with higher winning percentages often drew higher tv ratings as well. Both of these facts seem to make sense without any research being conducted. If someone were to be a casual football fan would you rather watch two undefeated teams square off or would you rather watch two teams sitting at the bottom of their divisions? It seems to me as though the easy and predictable answer would be to watch and see what team is dealt their first loss.

                In addition to that concept, many teams that are successful in the NFL have a roster full of talented athletes. Talented NFL players often put up good stat lines during their respective games which then translate into a healthy fantasy football point accumulation. Then, in turn, this leads to those players becoming good fantasy players who will be owned and started in more and more fantasy leagues. Therefore it would make sense that good teams with high winning percentages or impressive records boast a roster that is made of a variety of fantasy football stars as well.

                Another topic that was hinted at the article was the motivation for playing fantasy football as well as watching the NFL. Speaking from personal experience I see fantasy football as another way sports fans can interact with football besides just watching it every Sunday or Monday (and now Thursday). It even allows a sports fan who might not be the biggest football fan an added incentive to watch the games on tv.

                

Week 10

Troy Maychuk

Sports Journalism

Black Press East-West Classic by Carroll

Fantasy Football and TV Ratings by Fortunato

Week 10

Fantasy Football is an enormous industry and institution in the United States. Over 30 million people participate in Fantasy Football at some level annually. I have played a few times but have friends that revolve their life around picking players with the best stats and putting them head to head in fantasy combination teams. Through instrumental and ritualized media implicating, Fantasy Football garnered media attention and skyrocketed in popularity throughout the past decade. The NFL has Fantasy Football to thank for a noticeable increase in viewers, spreading the brand like absolute wildfire. I personally know so many people who participate in Fantasy Football, it is without a doubt an American institution and media storm giant!

I can’t even imagine being a black athlete during this point in history, day after day you bust your ass to prove yourself and are disrespected and ignored simply because of your skin color. National press payed no attention to the Negro Leagues although some some publications such as the Courier played an enormous role in the desegregation of athletics. One of the most famous black athletes in baseball history, Jackie Robinson openly admits how crucial a role that Wendell Smith of the Courier played in publicizing his signing with the Dodgers which headlined all black press week after week. Even the rest if America took notice although it ignored the historical significance of a black athlete emerging into a white- dominated sports world. It blows my mind how blatantly resistant people can be to any type of change, ignorance smothers so much of our history but thanks to solid journalism the truth can be broadcasted and obtained by the masses.

The East-West Classic game reinstituted the Negro League after its demise in 1931, solidifying it’s place in American athletics. Although the East-West Classic was largely meant to bolster black pride and reignite the Negro League, mainstream media and MLB took notice as well, shining a positive light on black athletes and furthering social integration. Baseball played an enormous role in our nation’s history to help expose the implications of racial inequality and establish a common ground between different social groups. Without the positive support of black newspapers the East-West Classic would have likely never made it off of the ground.