Crime and Punishment

They Ray Rice incident is just one of many examples of NFL and sports-world tragedies where a player in an abuser is a relationship. Unfortunately, the actions of athletes that are shown in media are dependent on the race of the accused, and Ry Rice was used as an example to America of what an abuser looks like. With the point being made in the article by Dave Zirin on Kurt Busch that white athletes accused of domestic violence are not portrayed in media as the monsters that they too are. They too meaning in addition to their black counterparts also being accused of domestic violence, but the black athletes are being publicly scrutinized while the white athletes are getting little to no public repercussion. Even in the case of domestic violence leading to death, nothing was said about domestic violence against women, discussed in Zirin's article about questioning the NFL as a force against domestic violence.

The three most popular forms of crime most prevalent in US Sport do not surprise me. Sexual assault probably is a"Blurred Lines" attitude from players towards women who want the attention of the players, but not the sexual tendencies that they probably insinuate. Also, even if a person does not want sex at all, the player probably has a mentality that they are better than that, that they cannot be told no, and they won't take no for an answer. As far as substance and illegal weapons abuse, I think it's probably a mentality that they have enough money not to get caught in their illegal activities. That doesn't make it okay, but what would you do if you thought you'd never caught doing anything that you knew you weren't supposed to?

Zirin, Dave. "Kurt Busch, Ray Rice and How Sports Disseminates the Burdens of Racism." Kurt Busch, Ray Rice and How Sports Disseminates the Burdens of Racism. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Zirin, Dave. "Yes, I 'Question the NFL's Commitment' to Being a Force Against Domestic Violence." Yes, I 'Question the NFL's Commitment' to Being a Force Against Domestic Violence. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Is Sport a safe space for LGBT athletes?

I think that in its entirety, Sport is not a safe place for LGBT athletes because athletes are either hyper masculine or hyper feminine, but as Collins points out, "Pro basketball is a family," and with the 'Three Degrees of Jason Collins' rule, then everyone knows him on some level. If everyone that had met him personally spread to the rest of the organization that he was a good person regardless of his sexual preference, then I think that it could vary as a safe space between some sports, but that depends on the players involved. So as microcosms, yes I think it's safe.
Careers could drastically change if LGBT athletes 'came out' during their playing careers. Collins points out that he's glad he waited but also that life is short and not to wait too long. If players were to come out during their careers, especially mid season, other players would question the wrong things (like the integrity of the player) and immediately jump to negative conclusions about the player's intent without being given time between games to think those questions through and realize that nothing about the player has actually changed. When given some breathing room, people can think more logically and clearly and not make harsh comments based on immediate decisions.
If we lived in a perfect world, the microcosms of sport would be inclusive of everyone playing that sport, be they male, female, both, anywhere in between, and regardless of sexual preferences. If each smaller group of specific sports could do that, then as a whole, Sport would be a more open space for athletes to identify the current injustices that they face for feeling outside "the norm" of what an athlete is "supposed" to be.


Collins, Jason. "Why NBA Center Jason Collins Is Coming out Now." SI.com. Sports Illustrated, 29 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.

Hoop Dreams: Is sport a viable passport out of poverty?

A main difference between West Garfield  (WG) and St. Joseph’s (ST’s) is that the socioeconomic status is highly contrasted, with West Garfield being a predominantly black school and SJ’s being a school of mixed race, with a lot of white kids there. The WG neighborhood had a heavy influence of poorer people that couldn’t afford much and focused their time on buying or selling drugs, while SJ’s had people that were not only able to pay for the private school they went to, but have nice things as well. While it was great that both William and Arthur had the opportunity to attend SJ’s, they did not end up with similar outcomes from being given the opportunity. William went farther than he would have at WG, at the expense of his athletic health after injuring his knee repetitively and only after the owner of Encyclopedia Britannica paid for his tuition; Arthur was looked at as expendable. Because he couldn’t make the money for his schooling, Arthur was sent back to the other school in the less fortunate area while living with a fatherless family in a sometimes electricity-free house because his mom had lost her disability and they could no longer afford the extras that most people look at as having a right to and not as a privilege. 

While basketball was each of the boys’ entire lives and that was a good motivation for each of them, they were looked at as tokens for their family and almost set up to only be basketball players. Grades were an important factor in the beginning but with the divide in surrounding socioeconomic status, Arthur was looked at solely for basketball (especially by his father) and William was struggling with juggling being a father, an injured basketball player, and a student.

I don’t think that my view of the idea of sports being a “passport to poverty” has changed. While it’s a great concept, it seldom works out for multiple people in one area. It isn’t always a good thing to those that come across the fortune either, especially when people start coming out of the woodworks. So the people that don’t encounter it can actually be just as unfortunate or more fortunate than those that do make it big playing a skilled sport from a young age as far as relationships go.