Hall of Fame Speech

Last week in class we discussed Michael Jordan's hall of fame speech. It was considered controversial and writers claimed that he put down others. The speech inspired me in a different way. Micahel was talking about people in his life that motivated him. He talked about getting cut from the basketball team in high school and wanting to prove to the coach that he made the wrong decision. Michael even talked about getting inspiration from being the only starter on North Carolina's basketball team not to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was a freshman. He said that he wanted to prove everyone wrong that said that he was only a scorer and never could win an NBA championship. Michael said that he just wanted to prove that he belonged with Bird and Magic. I think it is a great example for anyone about how to think. It is not just for basketball, but anything in life. Michael wanted to be the best and he used everything he could to motivate him to play at the highest level. I loved when he talked about how Bryon Russell trash talked to him when he was retired and how he got his revenge in 1998 in game 6 when the Bulls won the NBA title. I disagree with the media that he is bitter and was petty during his speech. He was just being honest about the way that he thought. In my opinion 95% of basketball is mental and I don't think that Jordan's will, determination, or competitiveness will ever be matched. When you combine that with his athleticism he is the greatest player of all time.

Femininity and Masculinity

Last week in class we talked about Barbie being a role model for girls and femininity. This week I read the WWE article and the Masculinity as Hegemonic article about male's and views on masculinity. In the article, "Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE," Souliliere says, "Real men are aggressive and violent, men settle things physically, a man confronts his adversaries and problems, and men are winners (p8). I have heard all of those things before and also have heard that men are suppose to be logical, independent, and dominant. In the "Masculinity as Hegemonic Oppression" article Anderson was saying that if men don't live up to the masculine traits or if they possess feminine traits then they are looked at as gay. I think it is unfair to label someone like that, because they don't follow the social norms.

The traits that I have heard in my life before about women are emotional, passive, illogical, dependent, and submissive. I also disagree with those traits. I wouldn't want to have a girlfriend that was dependent and weak. I would want her to be strong, ambitious, independent and maybe even competitive and like sports. I think there are a lot of women who have masculine traits and they are not considered lady like. People should just accept others for who they are instead of trying to categorize them.

Gender

We had an interesting discussion today in class about Caster Semenya. The issue was that people were saying that she was a male, but she says she is a female. Marcus said in class that people were singling her out and I agree with him. I think it's wrong to just give her a gender test and not give the rest of the track runners a test. Another topic in class we talked about was how to divide athletes. We divide them now by male and female, but with transgender and people being born with both private parts I think it's harder to divide them today.

I think that females should be able to compete with males, but males should not be able to compete with females. Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Candace Parker are all examples of females that I think could play at the men's level. The reason that I think males shouldn't be able to play at the women's level is because we have an unfair advantage. Genetically men and womens bodies are made up differently. Male's are usually taller, faster, stronger, and have twice as less fat as women. Plus women's bodies are specially made to carry babies.

The average NBA player is 6'7" and 218lbs. I don't know too many females that are 6'7" and have 30 inch verticals. There are only two women that have dunked in the WNBA ever, Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker. In the NBA everyone can dunk easily. Even I can dunk and I'm only 5'11"! So it would be unfair if an NBA player played in the WNBA. Basketball is just one example, but other sports are like that as well. The way some guys are built is crazy. Guys can lift 225lbs. 25 or 30 times in some sports like football. I don't really see too many females who are that strong. Don't get me wrong there are always exceptions. That's why I think the exceptions like Caster Semenaya should be able to compete in the Men's division if they choose, but Usain Bolt should not be able to race in the Women's division.

Michael Jordan

In class we talked about what we saw in the above picture politically, socially, and culturally. Students said they saw confidence, advertising, rising economy, etc. Michael Jordan was and still is a big influence. A girl in class made a good comment when she said that Michael Jordan brought some playground flashiness to the game. When Jordan came into the league he kind of changed the image of the NBA. He wore Air Jordan shoes, gold chains, and baggy shorts (compared to the other players back then). Michael Jordan would perform gravity defying dunks, and help sell out arenas. Jordan had such a great image. One thing that was great about Jordan was that he was humble and himself. Today a lot of players are arrogant like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Jordan would always smile and stick his tongue out and I loved his competitiveness.

Economically no one is close to Jordan. The Air Jordan is one of the most popular brands of shoes. Each pair costs at least 115$. Jordan was easily marketable. I think it is tough to be a great athlete and be well liked, but Jordan was. Jordan won six NBA titles, 10 scoring titles, and 5 MVP awards. The closest athlete today to Michael Jordan is Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods is head and shoulders above everyone in golf and he is the number one athlete today in advertising. Woods has a good image like Jordan. I don't think their will ever be anyone as popular as Mike in basketball again. Kobe is great, but the rape case really hurt him and Lebron is great, but his arrogance makes a lot of people not like him including me. What was different about Jordan was he knew he was the best, but let other people praise him instead of a lot of athletes today who are on themselves.

Below is a link to some of Michael Jordan's best dunks in the slam dunk contest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqPRdzrjWpU