bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Blueprint for Effective Recreational Sport Leadership
Authors: Nunes Christopher M. , Baker Robert E.
Published: August 2016

Leadership is a concept that is often discussed in professional and popular literature, conference presentations, and in-service seminars, but often it remains a misunderstood concept by professional recreation sport leaders such as campus recreation coordinators, intramural supervisors, and outdoor recreation specialists. This article presents a variety of leadership techniques in a clear, well-defined manner that the recreational sport leader can utilize on a daily basis. Leadership techniques discussed include: self-improvement, benchmarking, developing a professional relationship among staff, communication, conflict management, collaboration, the learning organization, fostering creativity, the pursuit of excellence versus perfection, assessment, identification of followers' needs, and instilling confidence in organizational members. The techniques described in this article can serve as a blueprint for current and future leaders (e.g. directors, coordinators, programmers, supervisors, graduate assistants) in the recreation and sport industry. Only when the recreational sport leader examines his or her own leadership practices, will individual and organization effectiveness improve.
We Want to Play Too
Authors: Titlebaum Peter , Brennan Kate , Chynoweth Tracy
Published: August 2016

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that persons with disabilities be integrated to the maximum extent possible, and that these persons cannot be excluded from participation. Despite the size of the population, intramural directors need to be proactive in this area, and operate within compliance of the law that requires schools to make recreational facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. Industry leaders agree that the benefits of intramural sports are vast and that they should be provided to everyone. Intramural sports help many students become part of the college community.

Forming an alliance with the Disability Services on campus, the first step, is the most vital aspect of making these programs successful. This relationship is an important aspect of meeting the ADA mandate of making programs viable, and can benefit the entire campus community.

The ADA requires that sports agencies modify programs, facilities, or services to allow individuals with disabilities to participate without causing an undue burden on the agency and undue expense. Modification is the key to this compliance.

It is important to remember the difference between what can be done, and what must be done. Even with the best of intentions, it is impossible to accommodate everyone but modified games can be more inclusive. Program facilitators can use their imagination to modify rules to get even more students involved, which is the ultimate goal. Beginning a program like this can be a challenge but the long-term impact can be wonderful. Besides increasing compliance with the ADA, the program can be beneficial to persons with and without disabilities.
Club Sport National Tournament: Economic Impact of a Small Event on a Mid-Size Community
Authors: Veltri Frank R. , Miller John J. , Harris Aaron
Published: August 2016

Recreational sporting events are big business and cities throughout the United States are competing fiercely to host events (Saayman, & Saayman, & du Plessis, 2005). March (1984) suggested that the reason why smaller sporting events have received relatively little attention is because it is assumed that they are economically less significant. The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic impact of hosting a club sport national tournament on a midsize community. The current study estimates the economic impact of hosting the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division II National Championship. The survey consisted of 105 questionnaires that were completed during the three day tournament of which all 105 were used. The findings of the survey indicated that hosting a national tournament can have a positive effect on the local economy. It was estimated that nearly $2 million of new money may have been injected into the community of Fort Collins, Colorado. This research provides midsize cities with information to justify hosting one-time events and working favorably with the community university.
Recreating Retention
Authors: Moffitt Jill
Published: August 2016

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in intramural sports and student satisfaction with the collegiate experience. In addition the study investigated differences among users of the program and amount of participation in regards to perceptions of student satisfaction. The study also introduced the Campus Recreation Participation Ladder as a heuristic model specific to campus recreation professionals (CRPL). The instrument used for testing the research questions was the College Senior Survey, developed and supplied by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI). Scales were created for analysis of the data and were found to be reliable with a Cronbach's Alpha calculation of at least 0.7 for each scale. The results of the study indicated that there was a significant difference between users and nonusers regarding perceptions about satisfaction with academic life and satisfaction with campus life participation. No significant difference between users and nonusers was found on the scales of leadership and happiness, suggesting that participation in intramural sports has limited or no effect on a student's satisfaction with leadership development opportunities and overall happiness. Satisfaction levels of users based on the amount of participation were approaching significance and warrants further investigation. Implications of the results on the use of the CRPL are discussed and further suggestions for future research are listed.
The Use of Simulation Technology in Sport Finance Courses: The Case of the Oakland A’s Baseball Business Simulator
Authors: Drayer Joris , Rascher Daniel A.
Published: August 2016

Teaching a graduate level sport finance class can be quite complex. With a variety of concepts such as pricing, budgeting, and public funding, to convey in a limited amount of time, new forms of pedagogy are necessary to assist instructors as this technologically-advanced generation enters into academia. Subsequently, technology has been created to apply basic concepts related to finance to the complexity of a professional sports organization. One such program is the Oakland A’s Baseball Business Simulator. Through interviews and “emotional recall” (Ellis, 2004), this evaluative case study seeks to determine the effectiveness of this technology within this environment.
An Examination of the Undergraduate Sport Marketing Curriculum: Tying Together Course Objectives and Assignments
Authors: Swanson Scott R. , Gwinner Kevin P.
Published: August 2016

Given the dearth of research on sport marketing curriculum, individual faculty are often left without access to substantial resources that aid in course design. Utilizing content analysis this study identifies current undergraduate sport marketing course topic areas, objectives, and presents a number of useful exercises. Significant differences between stated objectives and required exercises, as well as where a course originates are provided. The findings should assist new faculty in developing sport marketing courses, as well as aid current faculty in updating existing courses by providing new insights and ideas.
Designing Experiential Learning Curricula to Develop Future Sport Leaders
Authors: Spence Kirsty K. , Hess Daniel G. , McDonald Mark , Sheehan Beth J.
Published: August 2016

As sport management graduates enter into a rapidly shifting industry with fluctuating environmental conditions, the need for greater leadership capacity arises (Amis, Slack, & Hinings, 2004). Sport management educators can facilitate leadership development by designing and administering undergraduate curricula that focuses on students’ vertical development. According to Cook-Greuter (2004), vertical development is defined as “how we change our interpretations of experience and how we transform our views of reality” (p. 276). The purpose of this paper is to outline a curricular framework that may impact students’ vertical development and thus increase future leadership capacity. To fulfill this purpose, the conceptual connection between vertical development, the Leadership Development Framework (LDF), and Experiential Learning (EL) is first explained. The curricular framework is then outlined in the context of a pilot study facilitated within a sport management (leadership) course in January 2008. Suggestions for future empirical projects to measure the impact of EL curricula on students’ vertical development are also offered.
What are we teaching our students? A descriptive examination of the current status of undergraduate sport mnagement curricula in the United States
Authors: Eagleman Andrea N. , McNary Erin L.
Published: August 2016

As undergraduate sport management programs continue to grow and expand in the United States, and with the recently developed Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA) accreditation guidelines for such programs, it is important to examine the current status of undergraduate sport management curricula in the U.S. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of each program’s curriculum and other program components such as the school/college in which each program is housed, program name, and degree(s) offered. A total of 227 undergraduate sport management programs were identified and examined using a content analysis methodology. Results revealed the percentage of programs offering specific sport management courses, as well as significant differences between programs based on the school in which the program is housed, the status of the university (public or private), and the university size. These findings, along with recommendations for future research, are presented in the discussion and conclusion sections.
Sport Management Graduate and Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of Career Expectations in Sport Management
Authors: Mathner Robert P. , Martin Christina L.L.
Published: August 2016

The study sought to examine the accuracy of sport management students’ perceptions of career expectations when compared with perceptions of sport management practitioners. A secondary purpose of the study was to analyze differences in such perceptions over a thirteen year period, comparing only graduate students’ and practitioners’ perceptions. The sample (N = 544) was inclusive of sport management graduate and undergraduate students and sport management industry practitioners. Two stages were used to gather data (1996 and 2010 data collection periods), thus slightly different collection procedures were used. Overall results indicate that significant differences existed between the students’ and practitioners’ perspectives regarding multiple areas: salary expectations, time until first sport management job, time before advancement opportunities, and others. Implications from this study will allow sport management advisors, faculty, and students to have a reference for current industry career trends. With this, students can be better informed and equipped to make career decisions.
Constructing a Sport Management Classroom
Authors: Dane-Staples Emily
Published: August 2016

As accountability and the nature of higher education are changing to an emphasis on teaching, it is critical for faculty to have pedagogical training to develop their classroom skills. Currently, most doctoral programs do not require pedagogical courses therefore faculty must independently seek knowledge on how to engage students and to teach the specifics of sport management. This article discusses the foundations of constructivist learning and some specific teaching strategies relevant for a sport management classroom. Drawing on educational and psychological theory, a six-element framework is outlined where instructors attempt to reach long-term learning, not just a memorization of facts. The overall framework and each element are discussed and then strategies such as the Fishbowl, Active Opinion, Talking in Circles, and group selection options are introduced. The benefit of this approach to the classroom is that it is not topic specific, and can be implemented in a variety of sport management classrooms.
Sport Management Education: Accreditation, Accountability, and Direct Learning Outcome Assessments
Authors: Yiamouyiannis Athena , Bower Glenna G. , Williams Joanne , Gentile Dina , Alderman Heather
Published: August 2016

Accreditation and accountability in sport management education are necessary to ensure academic rigor and can serve as vehicles by which sport management educators examine and enhance the academic quality of their programs. This paper addresses this topic first with a discussion of the need for accreditation and a review of the accrediting agencies and other entities involved (CHEA, USDE, regional and specialized accrediting agencies, and state involvement). Next is a brief overview of COSMA’s accreditation process, and then a focus on direct learning outcomes and assessment tools. Becoming more familiar with the value and purpose of accreditation in general, as well as the specifics of the COSMA accreditation process as it relates to the common professional components (CPCs) and direct learning outcome assessments, can help with obtaining faculty commitment to the accreditation process and with continued enhancement of the academic quality of sport management programs.
Sport Participation across the Life Cycle: A Review of the Literature and Suggestions for Future Research
Authors: McPherson Barry D.
Published: August 2016

To provide baseline information for future studies pertaining to sport participation and aging, this paper summarizes the literature on sport participation patterns across the life cycle, briefly describes the importance of analyzing aging as a social process, and argues that alternative theoretical frameworks including a life-span developmental perspective should be utilized in future studies. The paper also introduces a number of theoretical and methodological issues that should be addressed concerning research in this area, and raises a variety of research questions that must be pursued in order to better understand sport phenomena from a life cycle perspective, especially during the middle and later years of life.
Media Images of Male and Female Professional Athletes: An Interpretive Analysis of Magazine Articles
Authors: Hilliard Dan C.
Published: August 2016

An interpretive analysis of mass circulation magazine articles on leading male and female professional tennis players indicates that both groups are treated in terms of a “debunking motif” which reveals their imperfections and character flaws. The flaws identified among the women are closely associated with stereotypically feminine gender roles, while the flaws observed among the men are associated with stereotypically masculine gender roles. Thus, the articles reinforce the concept of professional sport as a male preserve, while suggesting an underlying traditionally feminine gender role for the female athletes. It is argued that this construction of the female athlete role derives from the commercial sponsorship of professional tennis.
Much Ado about Nothing: The Television Broadcast Packaging of Team Sport Championship Games
Authors: Meier Klaus V.
Published: August 2016

Television is the most immediate and compelling medium for sports coverage. Consequently, the sports presentations that it delivers, particularly championship series, attract a vast and devoted audience. This study provided a detailed, descriptive content analysis of the television broadcast packaging of the 1982-83 championship games, both professional and university, of the four most popular North American team sports—baseball, football, hockey, and basketball. Videotape recordings of the entire broadcast packages centered upon these games were analyzed. The program content was divided into four specific and distinct components: advertisements, pre- and postgame programs, between-play time, and live-play time. The ensuing discussion addressed the basic structure of each broadcast package, the absolute and relative data for each of the four components of the various games and, finally, the intriguing relationship between the derived data (particularly the live-play time component) and concomitant levels of viewer ratings. Concluding comments reflected on the significance of the findings and also provided considerations for future research based upon materials presented within the study.
The Chicago Tribune Sports Page, 1900 - 1975
Authors: Lever Janet , Wheeler Stanton
Published: August 2016

A content analysis of The Chicago Tribune’s sports page from 1900 to 1975 provides an empirical base for assessing the changing nature of organized sport in American life. The findings show that there has been an expansion of the sports page relative to the rest of the newspaper; there has been remarkable stability in the coverage of the dominant sports of baseball and football; and there has been a progressive shift from amateur to professional, from local or regional events to national ones, and from individual to team sporting activity. This expanded role for sport is part of a more general trend to be expected in a leisure oriented society.
Divergence in Moral Reasoning about Sport and Everyday Life
Authors: Bredemeier Brenda Jo , Shields David L.
Published: August 2016

The observation that sport represents a unique context has been widely discussed, but social scientists have done little to empirically examine the moral adaptations of sport participants. In the present study, the divergence between levels of moral reasoning used to discuss hypothetical dilemmas set in sport and in everyday life contexts was investigated among 120 high school and collegiate basketball players, swimmers, and nonathletes. Protocols were scored according to Haan’s interactional model of moral development. It was found that levels of moral reasoning used to discuss sport dilemmas were lower than levels characterizing reasoning about issues within an everyday life context. Findings were discussed in terms of the specific social and moral context of sport experience.
Measuring Academic Exploitation of College Athletes and a Suggestion for Sharing Data
Authors: Figler Stephen K.
Published: August 2016

College athletes are exploited when some aspect of their athletic involvement mitigates against their receiving a full and useful education toward a postcollegiate career. We do not have a systematic means for assessing degree of academic exploitation within and among campuses. To be useful to athletes, measures are needed that will assess degree of exploitation while it is occurring and is correctable, rather than measuring exploitation after the fact. Two specific means for assessing academic performance and progress of athletes are suggested here. These measures provide a timely assessment of progress for athletes that more acutely measures their academic performance than traditional means. Further, these measures may become a base of data that can be used to assess academic performance of athletes between teams on a given campus or between schools. Privacy regulations prohibit researchers from obtaining raw data from academic records at institutions other than their own. A method for pooling and sharing this individually obtained data is suggested. Use could be made of this data base by social scientists, administrators, and prospective athletes who want to compare the academic environment for athletes at colleges they are considering.
High School Athletic Participation and Postsecondary Educational and Occupational Mobility: A Focus on Race and Gender
Authors: Sabo Donald , Melnick Merrill J. , Vanfossen Beth E.
Published: August 2016

This study examines the impact of race and gender differences on the social mobility of high school athletes using the longitudinal, panel data of the High School and Beyond study. Regressions of educational and occupational attainment measures on sports participation were estimated for subgroups differentiated by race/ethnic status, gender, and school location (urban, suburban, and rural). It was found that participation in high school sports was most likely to affect the postsecondary status attainment of white males and, to a lesser extent, suburban white females and rural Hispanic females. High school athletic participation had almost no effect on the college-going behavior or educational expectations of black males and females. Interscholastic athletic participation was generally unrelated to postsecondary occupational status and aspirations.
Desperately Seeking Michel: Foucault’s Genealogy, the Body, and Critical Sport Sociology
Authors: Andrews David L.
Published: August 2016

This paper focuses on the theoretical and substantive innovations developed by Michel Foucault, and specifically his understanding of the disciplined nature of bodily existence. Foucault’s understanding of the human body is then linked to the critical discourse within sport sociology. This illustrates how his research has been appropriated by critical scholars in the past and briefly outlines how his work could be used to develop innovative research agendas. The paper concludes by putting the onus on the critical element within sport sociology to confront poststructuralist and postmodernist theorizing, such as Foucault’s genealogy. This is the only way to ensure the intellectual development of a critical, and legitimate, sport sociology.
Gender Differences in Burnout among Coaches of Women’s Athletic Teams at 2-Year Colleges
Authors: Pastore Donna L. , Judd Michael R.
Published: August 2016

Burnout has been identified as a factor contributing to the continuing decline in the number of female coaches. The present study examined the perceived level of burnout in coaches of women’s teams in 2-year colleges using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to measure burnout levels. The findings revealed significant gender differences on the Emotional Exhaustion subscale. The possible reasons for female coaches experiencing higher levels of burnout are discussed.
The Politics of the Body and the Body Politic: Magic Johnson and the Ideology of AIDS
Authors: King Samantha
Published: August 2016

This paper analyzes the discourse surrounding AIDS and HIV in the light of Magic Johnson’s public announcement that he was HIV positive. In the context of the New Right backlash of the 1980s, the bodies of Johnson and others have been used to (re)produce specific, narrowly defined messages about the meaning of AIDS and the HIV virus. Commercial and professional sports interests have used this event to enter into a well-established discourse that reproduces and reinforces the dominant messages of homophobia and misogyny surrounding the syndrome.
Intercollegiate Sports Success and First-Year Student Enrollment Demand
Authors: Chressanthis George A. , Grimes Paul W.
Published: August 2016

This paper investigates the effect of winning, postseason play, and television appearances for football and basketball on first-year student enrollment demand over a 21-year period at a representative NCAA Division I institution. Empirical estimates confirm popular notions that winning on the football field, after traditional enrollment demand factors are controlled, does attract students. However, postseason play and television coverage have no significant effect. The results also suggest that sanctions imposed by the NCAA for rules violations reduce first-year student enrollment demand.
Racial Participation and Integration in Intercollegiate Basketball: A Longitudinal Perspective
Authors: Yetman Norman R. , Berghorn Forrest J.
Published: August 2016

This article adds a 5-year period (1985-1990) to the longitudinal evidence on racial participation and integration in intercollegiate basketball since 1948. In addition to extending through 1990 the analyses of previous studies, the paper includes the first longitudinal evidence of racial relations on women s basketball teams, examines the changing structure of the coaching staffs of both men’s and women s teams, and considers the discrepancies between student-athletes’ experiences on the basketball court and in the collegiate environment generally.
Beyond Analyses of Sport Media Texts: An Argument for Formal Analyses of Institutional Structures
Authors: Duncan Margaret Carlisle
Published: August 2016

Sport media scholars have been increasingly interested in studying sport media texts for their meanings, particularly meanings that relate to gender and gender stereotypes. I argue that it is time to go beyond our present level of sport media analysis by identifying the formal structures that give rise to individual texts. Using the method of homology, I examine three dialectical formal structures or mechanisms of patriarchy: objectification, commodification, and voyeurism. I then select a particular text, the March 1992 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, to show how these mechanisms are manifested in the photographs and captions. Finally, I situate the three mechanisms in the historical and cultural contexts of the last decade and a half, where political events reveal the underlying formal structures of patriarchy.
Discipline and Excel: Techniques of the Self and Body and the Logic of Competing
Authors: Heikkala Juha
Published: August 2016

In the practical discourse of sport the focus is on the individual athlete as the autonomous and independent locus of action. This discourse is deconstructed from a, poststructuralist perspective. It is argued that in sport the disciplinary techniques of the body and self, as depicted by Michel Foucault, are both an instrument and an effect of competing. Disciplinary and normalizing practices such as bodily exercises or filling in a training diary are instruments for athletes to transcend their current performance, which is the core of the logic of competing. Furthermore, disciplining is the outcome of this “rationale” to excel. Giddens’s notion of structure is used to explicate the structure of competing. Yet his Cartesian conception of agents as knowledgeable is qualified, that is, within the practices of training and the structure of competing, some consequences of these practices escape athletes’ intention. The constitution of athletes’ subjectivity and even the consequences of the process of competing may be beyond their control.
In Search of an Alternative Explanation of Stacking in Baseball: The Uncertainty Hypothesis
Authors: Lavoie Marc , Leonard Wilbert M.
Published: August 2016

The stacking of blacks in noncentral positions is a time-consistent feature of professional baseball. It is shown that differential batting and slugging averages between positions are also a structural feature. The structure of stacking as well as its evolution are well explained by the uncertainty thesis, that is, the belief that discrimination and differential barriers to entry are linked to the difficulty and lack of objectivity in assessing player performance at a given position. However, because the uncertainty thesis fails to predict the expected performance differentials between black and white players, auxiliary hypotheses have to be entertained. It is concluded that a combination of the uncertainty thesis and the well-known centrality hypothesis may best explain what occurs in baseball.
Body Talk: Male Athletes Reflect on Sport, Injury, and Pain
Authors: Young Kevin , White Philip , McTeer William
Published: August 2016

This paper examines how participation in physically demanding sport, with its potential and actual injurious outcomes, both challenges and reinforces dominant notions of masculinity. Data from 16 in-depth interviews with former and current Canadian adult male athletes indicate that sport practices privileging forceful notions of masculinity are highly valued, and that serious injury is framed as a masculinizing experience. It is argued that a generally unreflexive approach to past disablement is an extraordinary domain feature of contemporary sport. The risks associated with violent sport appear to go relatively unquestioned by men who have suffered debilitating injury and whose daily lives are marked by physical constraints and pain.
The Life of the Body in Discipline and Punish
Authors: Vigarello Georges
Published: August 2016

The concept of discipline traditionally suggests the image of a sterilization of life. Processes of domination, they prohibit, they forbid, they are supposed to block initiatives and forces, and they shape the body into passivity. A conception of physical exercise can emerge from these ideas, one regarding the docility of the body. But the process of rendering the body docile is not possible without a liberation of forces, without a solicitation of initiatives. It is then possible to look at physical exercise as a paradox, that is, a process of subjugation through autonomization. It is possible to read Foucault in a way that emphasizes what the author has suggested in Discipline and Punish, that is, a “’positive economy.” It is this feature of Foucault’s theory that is developed in this article.
Body at Work: Michel Foucault and the Sociology of Sport
Authors: Rail Geneviève , Harvey Jean
Published: August 2016

This paper is an introduction to the topic of Michel Foucault and the sociology of sport. First, we discuss the concepts used in the works of Foucault that have had the greatest impact in sociology of sport. Second, we present a brief review of the important articles in sociology of sport that have been inspired by Foucault’s approach. This exercise allows us to provide indices of the influence of the Foucauldian perspective on the sociology of sport: directly, by allowing us to situate the body at the center of research questions, or indirectly, in the context of the development and use of contemporary social theories.
Toward an Anthropological Analysis of New Sport Cultures: The Case of Whiz Sports in France
Authors: Midol Nancy , Broyer Gérard
Published: August 2016

The paper presents an anthropological analysis of whiz sports from a new standpoint in the social sciences. This standpoint ignores the existing split between a science of society and a science of the individual. This approach also offers a new way of thinking the “collective.” The concept of transitional space defined by Winnicott is put forward as a central concept that permits consideration of the individual/group interface.
Opposition, Social Closure, and Sport: The Gaelic Athletic Association in the 19th Century
Authors: Mullan Michael
Published: August 2016

The rise of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in late 19th-century Ireland offers significant diversity to a “normal” model of national sport development. The GAA, influenced through much of its early history by a vanguard of determined Irish militants, was fiercely opposed to anything British, including the “new” bourgeois sports. Yet, in spite of its alliance with separatist politics, the growth of the GAA displayed a social dynamic, albeit in reverse form, similar to other national patterns seen in Western sport development. Parkin’s (1979) concept of social closure is suited to the sociological analysis of Victorian sport, including the early GAA; using indices of occupational exclusion based on religion, this study suggests that a system of vocational closure at the top of 19th-century Irish society eventually invited a challenge from the forces of opposition below.
Patriotic Images and Capitalist Profit: Contradictions of Professional Team Sports Licensed Merchandise
Authors: Sage George H.
Published: August 2016

The professional team sports industry has consistently worked at constructing a symbiotic relationship in the collective American mind linking professional team sports with United States patriotism. Professional team sports organizations use a variety of advertising images, rituals, and ceremonies to reinforce this association. One means by which the organizations perpetuate this association is through league logos, all of which use only the colors red, white, and blue—the precise color combination found on the flag of the United States. League logos are prominently displayed on all their licensed merchandise, merchandise that generates about $10 billion in annual revenue for professional team sports. This paper focuses on the contradiction or paradox that exists between the imagery of All-American patriotism professional team sports construct and the fact that much of their licensed merchandise is manufactured in foreign countries by exploited labor. The analysis centers on meaning-production by deconstructing and critiquing the managed image of professional team sport organizations.
Toward a Feminist Understanding of Physicality Within the Context of Women’s Physically Active and Sporting Lives
Authors: McDermott Lisa
Published: August 2016

This paper offers a critical feminist review of how the notion of physicality has been used within the sport sociology literature. Despite the lack of conceptual rigor associated with the term, and the tendency for physicality to be associated with men’s sporting experiences, a discussion ensues regarding not only its viability as a concept when examining the physically active experiences of women, but also its importance vis-à-vis sport feminist research. A reconceptualization of physicality is called for, and it is argued that our conceptual usage of it must be situationally specific. Drawing on research in progress, the author sets out one particular way in which a concept of physicality, grounded in the physically active, bodily experiences of women, can be developed.
Competition, Legitimation, and the Regulation of Intercollegiate Athletics
Authors: Baxter Vern , Margavio Anthony V. , Lambert Charles
Published: August 2016

This article uses data on sanctions against member schools of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from 1952 to 1990 to examine density of competition and legitimacy of rules as regulatory dynamics in a relatively stable population of organizations. The NCAA regulates athletic competition through enforcement of rules that mediate between various definitions of legitimate conduct. Schools in less densely competitive environments are more likely to receive penalties for rules violations than are schools in more densely competitive environments. It is also found that NCAA Division I schools in the South, Southwest, and Midwest are significantly more likely to receive penalties than are schools in the Mideast and East. The article concludes that the legitimacy of rules varies across schools and across regions, creating different cultures of competition that affect the likelihood of deviance and sanction.
Networks: Producing Olympic Ice Hockey for a National Television Audience
Authors: MacNeill Margaret
Published: August 2016

This paper presents an ethnographic study of the Canadian Television Network’s (CTV) production of the 1988 Winter Olympic ice-hockey tournament. Interview data and media documents are analyzed to uncover how CTV strategically employed hockey as a spectacle of accumulation to boost ratings, expand market positioning, and to attract sponsors while blocking media competitors. At another level of understanding, ethnographic observations of the televisual labor process provide insights into how Olympic broadcasting constitutes a form of mediated communication or a spectacle of legitimation. Observations illustrate how the crew remade the live sporting event into a series of select cultural images. The manufacturing of Olympic images is revealed to be a social process that reproduces select systems of meaning, reinforces particular modes of media production, and strengthens monopolistic network relationships.
Maori Women and Positional Segregation in New Zealand Netball: Another Test of the Anglocentric Hypothesis
Authors: Melnick Merrill J.
Published: August 2016

In order to test Hallinan’s “Anglocentric Hypothesis,” New Zealand head coaches of female netball union teams completed two mailed questionnaires. The statistical analysis was based on 177 European (69.1%) and 79 Maori (30.9%) players. An overall chi-square for Race x Playing Position was nonsignificant, χ2(6) = 8.40. Specifically, Europeans were nonsignificantly overrepresented at center, the most central, highest interacting position. Occupancy of the most tactically important playing position, goal defense, also did not significantly vary by race. Lastly, goal shoot, the position judged by the coaches as being highest in outcome control, also did not favor either race. The results are discussed in terms of the historical record of Maori women’s participation in netball, majority–minority relations in New Zealand, and several methodological issues and concerns that attend “stacking” investigations.
American Jordan: P.L.A.Y., Consensus, and Punishment
Authors: Cole Cheryl L.
Published: August 2016

In this paper l consider how the contemporary national imagination is fabricated through racially coded deviance by interrogating what Nike calls its P.L.A.Y (Participate in the Lives of American Youth) campaign. P.L.A.Y., represented as a practical challenge to recent developments that deny “kids” access to sport and fitness activities, is part of a promotional network through which Nike seeks to secure a patriotic, charitable, and socially responsible public profile. In part, this profile and the complex terrain Nike occupies are territorialized through the somatic identity of Michael Jordan. I argue that representative figures like American Jordan are both effects and instruments of modern power. As such, Jordan is an element in and expression of a discursive formation that works to delimit and render intelligible what/who count as violent, criminal, and dangerous. The regulatory ideals invoked through a nation-centric discourse, American principles, Michael Jordan, and the apparent inverse relationship between urban sport and gangs work to bound and limit identities in ways that mask the complexities of the terrain occupied by transnational corporations like Nike, while exacerbating punitive and vengeful desires directed at Black urban youth.
“It’s Gotta Be the Shoes”: Youth, Race, and Sneaker Commercials
Authors: Wilson Brian , Sparks Robert
Published: August 2016

This paper examines the impacts of athletic-apparel commercial messages on youth and youth cultures. Sneaker companies routinely use celebrity Black athletes, like Michael Jordan, to help position and market their premium brands. While concerns have been raised over the potential negative impacts of this practice, the processes through which athletic-apparel commercials become interpreted and assimilated into youth cultures have not been well-researched, A study is reported that used focus-group methodology and Radway’s (1991) concept of “interpretive communities” to examine how Black and non-Black male adolescents view sneaker commercials and celebrity Black athletes. This paper explores the ways that “cultural power” and “symbolic power” (Lull, 1995) are exercised by both the sneaker companies that feature celebrity Black athlete spokespersons and by the youth “communities” that consume these images. Overall, the youth in the study comprised two distinct interpretive communities defined by cultural differences related to their distinct social locations and racial identities.
Stacking in Cricket: A Figurational Sociological Reappraisal of Centrality
Authors: Malcolm Dominic
Published: August 2016

This paper examines the phenomenon of stacking in the sport of cricket. It is argued that cricket is a particularly revealing case study of “race” relations in Britain because of the diversity of “racial” groups that play it and the variety of national identities that are expressed through it. Data presented show that the two minority “racial” groups in British cricket are stacked in different positions; Asians as high-status batters, and Blacks as low-status bowlers (pitchers). The author uses the work of Norbert Elias to argue that stacking can best be explained, not in terms of positional centrality, but through a developmental analysis of cricket that focuses on historical class relations and Imperial relations in the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent.
Physical Education, Sociology, and Sociology of Sport: Points of Intersection
Authors: Sage George H.
Published: August 2016

This paper examines the linkages between physical education, sociology, and sociology of sport in North America. Physical education and sociology in North America have had numerous mutual ties since the beginnings of both fields. In the first section of the paper, I describe the rise of sociology and physical education in North America, emphasizing the linkages that initially existed between physical education and sociology, and then the separation that transpired between the disciplines. The second section examines the connections between social theory and physical education before the sociology of sport was formally developed. The final section details the rise of sociology of sport, with the main focus on the role of physical educators (a.k.a. sociocultural kinesiologists, sport studies scholars, human kinetics scholars) in the development of sociology of sport. This section concludes with a discussion of the linkages of social theory, critical pedagogy in physical education, and sport sociology in physical education.
Out of the Shadows: The Critical Sociology of Sport in Australia, 1986 to 1996
Authors: Rowe David , McKay Jim , Lawrence Geoffrey
Published: August 2016

The sociology of sport in Australia has reached a key point in its development A critical tradition in the subdiscipline has been established over the last decade, but its intellectual and institutional progress has been uneven. This article briefly traces the emergence of critical sports sociology in a country outside the major centers in the UK and U.S., its break with functionalist approaches, and its attempts to overcome the neglect of local mainstream sociology. The authors proceed to examine (self-reflexively) the changes of theoretical direction and the new lines of research that are being explored in the field. A recent “skirmish” with narrative history over the preferred theories and methods in sports analysis is discussed as illustrative of the difficulties encountered by an energetic but small, dispersed and underorganized scholarly movement in Australia.
“Disciplining the Body”: HIV-Positive Male Athletes, Media Surveillance, and the Policing of Sexuality
Authors: Dworkin Shari Lee , Wachs Faye Linda
Published: August 2016

This paper analyzes how mainstream print media polices sexuality through framings of HIV-positive male athletes. We analyze the HIV-positive announcements of Magic Johnson, Greg Louganis, and Tommy Morrison. Specifically, we discuss differences between the framing of gay men (Louganis) and self-identified heterosexual men (Johnson and Morrison). First, there is an extensive search for the ways Magic Johnson and Tommy Morrison contracted HIV/AIDS. Media coverage emphasizes that “straights can get it too” through promiscuity and a “fast lane” lifestyle. Consistent with the historically automatic conflation of HIV/AIDS with gay identity, the media pose no inquiries into the cause of Louganis’ HIV transmission. We close our discussion by focusing on the meaning of extending the signifier of HIV/AIDS beyond gay bodies to include working class and black male bodies. Media surveillance of sexual identity and the body reinforces hegemonic masculinity in sport while feeding into the current sexual hierarchy in U.S. culture.
Rituals, First Impressions, and the Opening Day Home Advantage
Authors: Ward Russell E.
Published: August 2016

Durkheim’s discussion on ritual and Goffman’s theoretical work on first impressions are used to predict superior performance among home teams on opening day. Information on opening day game outcomes is compiled and compared with the results of regular season and championship play. The analysis reveals a greater home advantage for teams playing in opening day games than for home teams competing in regular season or championship games. When controlling for the effect of stadium attendance on the home advantage, the opening day home advantage exceeds that of championship competition. The results suggest that ritual activity and concerns for first impression management may be factors that condition home team performance, offering support for the assertion that performance is partly a social product. Further home advantage research can direct attention to cross-cultural differences in the opening day home advantage and focus on qualitative data collection to supplement the current abundance of archival data.
What’s Queer about Studying Up? A Response to Messner
Authors: Davidson Judy , Shogan Debra
Published: August 2016

We argue that Messner’s 1996 address makes it acceptable to write about queer theory as long as the discourse reproduces the stable knowledge bases and political aims of a new hegemonic “critical” sports studies. This is not queer “studying up”; it is “sociology of sport as usual.” A queer “studying up” traces and deconstructs the processes that produce heterosexuality as “the normal” in sport, and it requires the sport sociologist to be reflexive about the ways in which he or she is invested in “the normal.”
Building the Agenda and Adjusting the Frame: How the Dramatic Revelations of Lyle Alzado Impacted Mainstream Press Coverage of Anabolic Steroid Use
Authors: Denham Bryan E.
Published: August 2016

This study addresses the manner in which a dramatic news event can impact mainstream press coverage of a social issue. In late June 1991, football player Lyle Alzado, in haggard condition, appeared on First Person with Maria Shriver and on the cover of Sports Illustrated and attributed his rare form of brain lymphoma to years of anabolic steroid abuse. Though scientific evidence of a relationship did not exist, a series of mainstream press reports did not hesitate in assuming a connection. The study provides an empirical analysis of (a) how a dramatic report in specialized print and broadcast media can build the agenda for mainstream journalism, and (b) how the report can help trigger a change in the way journalists address and frame issues. Methodologically, the study uses log-linear modeling to examine the relationships between a series of categorical variables, thus providing scholars with a framework for future content analyses on the subject.
A Twitch in Time Saves Nine: Birdwatching, Sport, and Civilizing Processes
Authors: Sheard Kenneth
Published: August 2016

This study takes an activity, birdwatching, which would appear to fall into the category of leisure activity, and argues using Norbert Elias’s theory of civilizing processes that birdwatching incorporates many of the characteristics of “civilized” sport. The focus is not on birdwatching per se but upon specific types of birdwatching activity: birding and twitching. The suggestion that birding is symbolic hunting is examined, and it is argued that the link between a relatively benevolent and scientific interest in birds and the “real” sport of hunting is historically much closer than often recognized. It is further suggested that the post-war popularization of birdwatching in Britain led to its routinization and a decline in its excitement-generating properties. Competitive birding restored some of the activity’s sport-like excitement, but birding was itself routinized and supplemented by twitching, an even more sport-like activity.