Blog Entry 3

This reading was very interesting to me as it really forces you to consider the varying levels of interest and participation in sports, and the ways in which these levels have changed over time. For example, it is clear that women have become more interested in ports than they used to, partially due to the introduction of legislation such as Title IX, but also due to the success and growth of women's sports, and therefore increased use of females in advertising. The author makes clear the difference between participation athletes and high-performance athletes. Some people are only meant to play to a certain level, and I can relate. My dad was a baseball player, and played for FSU while he attended college here. He coached me from a young age, and I have always loved baseball because of it. However, my athletic skills simply are not on par with Division I collegiate athletes. My devotion and passion is there, but the talent for this level is lacking. I realized this, and I had to overcome the thought of it. On the other hand, some simply don't have the desire to commit to the pressure and expectations of sports at an elite level. They only wish to play for recreation, and that is just the way it is.

A lot of the material in this passage could be used for our papers, as it covers a broad range of topics including general information about each. It appears that the line between elite athletes and participation athletes can be blurred by varying talent levels and devotion to the sport. This may be an issue worth noting in the paper. Also, mention of race, social class and gender in sports may be crucial to showing the ways in which sports have changed over time, or the ways in which each sport differ. Age is even a factor worth discussing, as there is certainly a movement away from intense, physical team sports and toward lower-stress, individual sports. There are so many factors influencing both the athletes and the spectators interest in sports that it will be easy to consider how our own experiences are unique and discuss them.