M4A1: Project 2: Sport and the Meaning of Violence GECC
M4A1: Project 2: Sport and the Meaning of Violence GECC
Project 2 addresses course outcomes 3 and 5. It is evident from your reading to this point in the course that the institution of sport is replete with narratives of competition, self-sacrifice, victory, and dominance. This is especially the case with sports that require direct physical confrontation between competitors such as football, rugby, hockey, and a host of combat sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts. Your job in this assignment will be to analyze the process by which violence in sport is regulated, and hypothesize about the role that violence plays in the popularity of many major sports
Before beginning this project, please be sure you have thoroughly read and reviewed all of the contents of these first four modules. Pay special attention to the concepts from your reading material that help you understand the way that sport is understood from a broad cultural viewpoint. Then, please write a 750 word essay (approximately 3 pages of double-spaced, 12-point font of text) addressing the following questions. A bibliography should make up an additional page.
Required Essay Questions for Project 2:
1) Describe at least two specific incidents in which an act of violence from a player in a notoriously violent sport (hockey, football, rugby, and so forth) prompted sports officials, and/or the general public, to re-evaluate the violence in that particular sport. For example, think about rule changes in the NFL in response to concerns about helmet-to-helmet contact, or the types of suspensions that NHL players may be given if they fight too intensively, or too often.
2) Next, imagine a scenario in which a sport that is largely founded upon violence decides to greatly reduce, or eliminate, this aspect of its competition. (For example, imagine that the NFL has switched to flag football, or two-hand touch only.) First, how might this affect the marketability and/or profitability of such a sport? Second, explain how the removal of violence from this sport would change the meaning of the sport. (For example, would a sport with greatly reduced violence have less honor, less of a “gladiator” quality?).
3) Conclude your paper with a reflection upon whether the violence that we see in sport is a direct reflection of our admiration for violence in the greater society. For example, does violence in sport function as a type of “steam valve” in which participants and fans alike may release violent tension? Or, is the violent content of sport a mirror image of an increasingly violent society? Explain in detail.
To successfully complete Project 2, you will need to organize your responses to these questions and then craft a formatted essay that includes each of the following:
• A title page;
• Well-developed introductory paragraph explaining the purpose of the essay and briefly referencing some of the main points/contentions offered in the essay;
• The body of the essay should consist of your effort to best answer the primary questions from the assignment prompt and should consist of the required length of words of text (approximately 3 pages of double-spaced and 12 point font of text). Though the method by which this is done is largely up to you, it is essential that the responses to the questions in the prompt be based upon scholarly readings and should remain at all times defensible (in an academic sense). You have a great deal of information to draw from in creating your essay, including the assigned readings and hyperlinked sources in the module notes. As is the case with every assignment in SOC 247, presenting any unsubstantiated, illogical, or indefensible position will have an adverse effect on the final grade. Please direct any questions regarding these expectations to the instructor;
• A concise concluding paragraph that briefly restates both the purpose of the essay as well as some of the primary argument offered by you, the essay’s author. Be sure the concluding paragraph does not introduce new information;
• A list of all sources consulted in the preparation of the essay. The essay should be formatted according to APA-style documentation. This includes the format of the list of references.
Here is more readings for this assignment: The Zimbalist (2010) reading for this module provides an excellent background with which to understand the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in professional sport. Performance-enhancing drug use has been around for many decades, but had previously been confined to Olympic strength sports and bodybuilding (Links to an external site.) [Video file, 2:41 minutes]. As Zimbalist argues, the problem with performance-enhancing drugs has spread to nearly all sports and is multidimensional, comprised of complex cultural, social, and economic factors. The author is unapologetic in his assessment of the impact of these types of substances. First, the use of these substances creates an unfair advantage for the person, or team, who uses them. Such an advantage, of course, increases the chance of victory, and the many economic rewards that winning provides. Second, the use of PEDs distorts the record books that are kept in amateur and professional sport. We may look to the examples of the so-called “steroid era” in major league baseball which saw three different sluggers (Sammy Sosa, Mark Maguire, and finally Barry Bonds– all of whom were steroid users (Links to an external site.)) break Roger Maris’ (Links to an external site.) home run record of 61 home runs in 1961, within a few years of each other. Such feats of batting prowess would certainly be impossible if it were not for PEDs, as evidenced by the near scarcity of any player with 50 home runs in a season since Major League Baseball (Links to an external site.) became serious about testing for PEDs. Third, the use of PEDs serves as an incentive for clean athletes to begin using these substances in order to even the playing field, or regain an athletic advantage. Finally, the use of PEDs has been substantiated as a major health risk (Links to an external site.), which is further exacerbated when youth athletes emulate the behavior of PED-using professional athletes. Steroid use had been spreading from traditional strength sports such as American football and weightlifting across the 1970s, but steroid use really took off in America’s baseball pastime in the 1980s. José Canseco personified this trend, and he alone helped convert several of the clubhouses where he played into pharmacological labs across the 1990s, after he had left the Oakland Athletics. In retirement, he wrote his infamous tract – Juiced (Links to an external site.) (2005) [Video file, xx:xx], and he remained for many years after an unapologetic steroid user and enthusiast. Canseco was famous for teaching the steroidal injection techniques and particular cocktails to teammates like Mark McGuire, the first player to break the 1961 home run record, and his particular steroidal brew was affectionately labeled “the José Canseco milkshake” by teammates. In Barry Bonds’ case, he is alleged to have only begun using steroids after McGuire and Sosa had overshadowed him in 1998. By the time Bonds’ competitive zeal led him to use steroids and set the record, “his head had gotten bigger, and his shoe size had increased from 10½ to 13” (Burns, 2010, Baseball, The Tenth Inning). In hitting 73 home runs in 2001, Bonds set an unreachable record, were it not for the rise of the “chemical era” in baseball.
More readings for this assignment: Illustrated by the Dimeo (2014) reading, an effective way to understand the social science viewpoint for performance-enhancing drugs is to focus upon sport in particular eras. Emphasizing professional cycling before and during the rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs in other sports, Dimeo offers a thoughtful analysis of the broader culture in the period when PEDs became widespread (Links to an external site.). As Dimeo points out, when Lance Armstrong rose to prominence as one of the most dominant cyclists in the sport’s history, doping was considered commonplace, and cyclists abided by an omerta (Links to an external site.), or a code of silence. This code of silence, in sociological terms, constituted an important part of the subculture of professional cycling. From an economic viewpoint, there was a lot to be gained through this code of silence, as cyclists routinely broke records, gathered corporate sponsors, and had the potential to generate tremendous income. As a multiple Tour de France (Links to an external site.) champion, Lance Armstrong benefited economically to the tune of an eight-figure annual salary, but his teammates also benefited greatly. Dimeo argues that the regulation of doping in professional cycling was very fragmented, and most of the anti-doping oversight concerned the Olympic Games, rather than other areas of professional sport. Further, anti-doping agencies could not keep up with the technology of performance-enhancing drugs that ravished cycling in the early 1990s. For example, drugs like erythropoietin (Links to an external site.) (EPO), were, at that time, undetectable in the urine or blood. The author also points out that no cyclists during this era who were using performance-enhancing drugs ever intended to stay clean if they were caught, and always saw themselves as at odds with the anti-doping agencies. This was a strong professional argument for professional cyclists that failing to use performance-enhancing drugs would mean a short-lived, unsuccessful career. Further, the incredible and unprecedented success of a seven-time Tour de France winner like Armstrong brought an incredible amount of media attention toward professional cycling and all of the monetary and societal rewards which follow. Verduci (2012), Solberg and Ringer (2011) focus on the steroid crisis in Major League Baseball, and offer an important cultural analysis of the phenomenon. As the authors note, it will be debated forever which of the records achieved in baseball during the past two decades were earned fairly versus those that were a result of performance-enhancing drug use. Given the rampant use of steroids in baseball, and that the use of these drugs violate commonly held social values about ethics and fair play, the authors ask an important question: “why did players do it?” (Solberg and Ringer, 2011, p. 91). The authors examine the social science concept of culture, which is composed of two important elements: first, values that define what is important and morally correct for society, and second, behavioral norms that determine the correct way to act in a given situation. Research in amateur and professional sport suggests that the values and norms in the culture of competitive sport often are at odds with the commonly held ideas about competitiveness and fair play. Comprising a type of subculture within the more dominant society, those involved in highly competitive sport may be more inclined to adopt a “win at all costs” set of values.
This divergence from conventional society is influenced by a variety of factors. The divergence between the culture of sport and that of the larger society reveals an ego-oriented approach, in which self-interest and trumps broader societal values about sportsmanship and fair play. This divergence does not just happen on the court or in the clubhouse, but also at the highest organizational levels. By the beginning of the 1990s, Major League Baseball had begun to link the popularity of the sport to this new explosion in home runs, which was fueled by increasing use of performance-enhancing drugs. José Canseco’s account in Juiced (Links to an external site.) (2005) merely removed the implausibly thin veil about purity in the game. Solberg and Ringer (2011) offer an important analysis that explains how the values and norms in professional baseball were reinforced over a multiyear period of time. The focus on popularity and attendance, salaries that rewarded good hitting, and the failure to severely sanction players who were caught using steroids, contributed greatly to this culture. In a paper delivered at the National Communication Association convention (Links to an external site.), Meyer (2007), addresses steroid use within the context of public relations. Particularly important to this analysis is the landscape of apologies, or apologia, that are given by athletes and from professional sports organizations. The author argues that there has been little social science research on the way that sports organizations or entire sports leagues offer apologies for the behavior of their owners, coaches, managers, and players. With respect to individual athletes, apologia tend to be short and vague, often neglecting specific details of the wrong committed. The 2016 example of tennis superstar Maria Sharapova, who was suspended for the use of a banned substance (Links to an external site.) is a very good case in point. Sharapova’s public response to the failed drug test and subsequent suspension, offered very little by way of contrition, and indeed, revealed little about the incident, relying instead upon lawyers and public relations firms to provide the bulk of the statements. In contrast, Marion Jones, the track superstar gave a heartfelt apology, while others like baseball’s Rafael Palmeiro simply lied vehemently before Congress: “I have never used steroids. Period.”
This types of behavior highlight important questions. What is the nature of an apology, and more specifically, what are the ideal characteristics of an apology from a superstar athlete? In response to this question, we see the image problems associated with misdeeds from professional athletes, who have been expected to adhere to impeccable ethical standards. When an athlete falls from grace, how much information is the public entitled to? For example, was it necessary for Lance Armstrong to publicly admit to performance-enhancing drug use on the Oprah Winfrey Show (Links to an external site.), and if so, to what extent did this apology repair (or make worse) his image problem? Apologies that are too explicit may be more damaging to self image than those which are vague. The public expectation of apology is an important ritual that is designed to re-establish the integrity of an individual or social institution. It is important, therefore, to ask about the extent to which public knowledge about PED use and other forms of cheating in sport (in addition to the knowledge of the way that sport has become hyper-commercialized) engenders a type of cynicism that no good apology can alleviate. This is perhaps true because we are all guilty of enjoying some who pursue victory at any cost.
