Once the cheering stops: The life of a retired pro-athlete

Based on the documentary Broke, ESPN's "Life After NFL," and the New York Times' "Help for Pro Athletes When the Cheers Stop," it seemed like professional athletes deal with a whole mess of problems when they retire. The documentary presented many statistics that I was not previously aware of. For example, I never knew that the average career of a professional football player was 3.5 years, or that 65% of them end their careers with serious injuries that sometimes consume their money (ESPN, 2012). 30 for 30 also featured many former NBA and NFL players who faced hardships during and after their career, like getting taken advantage of by financial advisors, being pressured to assist with family expenses, and facing bankruptcy during retirement. Athletes often struggle to find something else they are good at after their time in the professional sports world has been exhausted. One reason why athletes have such a hard time transitioning from an exciting career to retirement is that many athletes have the "I'll make it happen" mentality, especially when it comes to post-career investment options (Wallis, 2012). Athletes may also suffer from having egos that "make them great athletes, but also is a downfall in areas they don't know" (ESPN, 2012).

30 for 30 mentioned that one of the reasons why professional athletes struggle with budgeting is that they often receive their large sums of money at a young age. One athlete interviewed claimed they he was a "21 year old college freshman making 2 million dollars a year with no accountability" (ESPN, 2012). Many athletes in the documentary claimed to have the urge to purchase expensive jewelry and unnecessary cars. The irony is that even though the athletes want to be in charge of where and what they spend their money on, but they are not willing to personally take responsibility for their own finances and don't bother to educate themselves to be financially literate, at least to the point where you know you don't need two cars and 50 cell phones. Although they make the decisions with the money regarding what to purchase, many of the athletes left the budget managing to their financial advisors, who were sometimes corrupt.

These struggles that athletes deal with (post-career repair surgeries, bankruptcy, unemployment) are aspects of the issue that media rarely portrays. Newspapers and magazines like Sports Illustrated report top athlete salaries, but rarely do we see a story regarding the post-career social downfall of athletes. In the US, we don't like hearing about the financial struggles of people who were once powerhouses in sports. Also, America values the outward expression of wealth. It is considered cool to have the most expensive "bling" and to make yourself seem rich even if you are not. People are not praised for investing well or having good savings. People are given attention when they drive nice cars and make big purchases.

While the articles and documentary kind of presented the athletes in a way that made me feel sorry for them, I am still skeptical. While I agree that the financial advisors who scammed their clients should be punished and that physical injuries are very serious, I feel like professional athletes should be held to the same standard of expectations that most people their age are held to (especially if they have received a college education). While I do understand that it may be difficult to budget and it is tempting to make big purchases when you have so much money to use, I believe that it is not too high of an expectation to expect people to be financially literate. I can sympathize with the athletes that felt pressured to cover all of their families' expenses and that I can see how it can be difficult to spread the money you make in a few years to last you a life time. However, I believe that there is an overcommitment to the sports ethic here. Some of the professional athletes didn't invest any part of themselves into anything else besides the sport they were best at, and that has consequences after retirement because employment options are limited.






30 for 30: Broke. Dir. Billy Corben. Perf. Homer Bush & others. ESPN, 2012. Film.

Chadiha, Jeff. (2012). Life after the NFL is a struggle for many former players. ESPN. p. 1-7.

Wallis, D. (2012). Help for Pro Athletes When the Cheering Stops. The New York Times. p. 1-5.

Sports, Politics, and the Olympics

The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City occurred around the time of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. In the Civil Rights Act of 1968, legislation was passed to give African Americans equal housing. African Americans in the United States were still fighting for equality, whether it was in regards to gaining legal rights or combating the discriminatory culture of America at the time. (There was also a student massacre in Mexico right before the Olympics, which resulted in the death of numerous students that were gathered to peacefully protest the violent decisions of the government. I’m going to focus on the issues that were occurring in the United States at the time). The most famous picture from this Olympics is when Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and Peter Norman (from Australia) win the 200m race. Smith and Carlos do the “black power salute” while the US national anthem plays, and Norman wears human rights badges in his jacket to show that he supports the movement (Osmond, 2010). Many other athletes engaged in different forms of protest that year, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did a silent protest by not even trying out for the 1968 Olympics (Abdul-Jabbar, 1983). The International Olympic Committee was not happy with the response of the African American athletes, and the committee claimed that it was a domestic political statement inappropriately made at an international affair (Osmond, 2010). Smith and Carlos were expelled from the Olympic Games that year, and when they returned to the United States they were criticized and threatened for their actions, with their families even receiving death threats. Peter Norman was also unwelcomed when he returned to Australia, where he was ostracized by social media for his decision to sympathize with the protest of his competitors.

Sage and Eitzen identify the 1968 Olympics as the “most dramatic” example of using sport as a vehicle of change in society (Eitzen, 2009). While the three athletes previously mentioned were met with ostracization and criticism, the demonstration at the medaling of the 200m race as well as the silent protests of numerous athletes who refused to participate in the Olympics that year raised awareness of human rights. The statement Peter Norman made by wearing human rights badges even though he was not an African American reflected the widespread reach of  the 1968 protests. Although Australia did not give Norman another chance to participate in the Olympics again, there were those who sympathized with African Americans and supported the human rights movement. The efforts of Abdul-Jabbar and other athletes who refused to participate in the Olympics reflected the magnitude and importance of this issue. The Olympics were such a great opportunity to represent one’s country, and they were also an opportunity for fame and fortune. The athletes’ willingness to give that up for this movement reflected just how important it was to them.

Society cannot help but have its values reflected in sports, and controversies in politics are often a result of people in power having different values (eg. Hitler valuing a “perfect race” over human lives). Eitzen and Sage give many examples of how sport is used positively or negatively to further a political viewpoint or how it is used as a vehicle for political advancement. Not only does sport unite people and somewhat “distract” them from their own economic woes, but it is also a propaganda vehicle (Eitzen, 2009). One of the reasons why it is such a good medium for spreading awareness or change is because it is so universal. In my opinion, sport is like a universal language that facilitates communication between many nations. In 1968, sport was used in a way similar to workers in a union striking for better rights. Because the Olympics and sports are something that we as humanity seem to value, it serves as a vehicle for politics to use. Also, because it is now intertwined so closely with economics, and so much of politics involves money, sports will always be influenced by politics.

Abdul-Jabbar. (1983). In Peter Knobler (Ed.), Giant steps Bantam Books.

Eitzen, D.S & Sage, G.H.  (2009).  Sociology of North American Sport.  Boulder, Paradigm Publishers: Chapter 9: 195-213.

Osmond, G. (2010). Photographs, Materiality and Sport History: Peter Norman and the 1968 Mexico City Black Power Salute. Journal Of Sport History, (1), 119.

China Factor: The Globalization of the NCAA

I thought the article about UCLA representing Pac-12 in its tour of China was especially interesting because of my most recent trip to China this summer. The sports culture of China is very interesting, and as Katz mentioned, it seemed like basketball really is the most popular sport in China (Katz, 2012). While I was visiting Hong Kong, the only free outside sports facilities were basketball courts and maybe one or two concrete soccer "fields." China seems like a good expansion site because not only is basketball the most popular sport, but American basketball specifically already has a wide fan base. During my stay in Hong Kong, I met many university students who knew a lot about the NBA. They had Miami Heat wristbands and Lakers jerseys. This phenomenon is something we don't really experience in America (we only occasionally see people with merchandise of athletes outside of the US, with maybe the World Cup athletes being an exception). The NCAA's interest to expand to China may be because China has one of the "largest and fastest growing markets in the world, with a large potential fan base" (Kaplan, 2012). 

The Bruins felt that the trip to China would benefit them because they had just come off a not-so-great season, and other big name universities had also made a trip to China and seemed to be inspired by it. It would be an opportunity to showcase American collegiate basketball, as well as publicity and promotion of Pac-12. The main purpose of the trip would be to "plant a flag" for the conference, making it an annual trip and therefore a standing relationship with the Chinese national team (Katz, 2012). While all of this sounds really great, I feel like there are other factors that UCLA isn't considering. While this trip to China may be great for bonding and cultural immersion, they expect it to "catapult" them into a successful season. This seems like they are going in with the assumption that it will be a confidence booster, when the truth is the Chinese national team also has a chance at destroying them and starting a bad season. 

A barrier the NCAA might face in China is getting a solid fan base. A survey of Chinese fans showed that while most sports fans in China are fans of American sports, they tend to follow individual athletes instead of teams. This might be because fans in China do not have ties to the location or city a team is from, because geographically China is far from America. For example, a Lakers fan in China would be a Lakers fan because he loves Kobe, but if Kobe ever moved, the fan might become a fan of Kobe's new team. If the basketball fans in China do not find one player who they feel attached to, this whole Pac-12 exchange event might not have as great of a following as expected. 

A possible benefit of doing this would be to boost relations with China through sports, which seems to be a unifying power (eg. the Olympics). However, one consequence of this expansion is that the UCLA team may come to represent the entirety of the United States, especially if they are the only team scheduled to go to China annually to play with the national team. When playing in the Pac-12, the athletes represent their university, but when playing against the Chinese national team, it would be almost divisive, with the "American" team against the Chinese team, even though the team is from one university in one state in America. What was supposed to foster better relations might result in more division. Also, this puts more pressure on the athletes who do travel to China. Most athletes on the UCLA team are probably around 20 years old, but their behavior would be observed by China, including its government and people. The behavior of the athletes would come to reflect Americans in general, especially if they are the only team annually representing the Pac-12. 

References
Kaplan, S., & Langdon, S. (2012). Chinese fandom and potential marketing strategies for expanding the market for American professional sports into China. International Journal Of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, 14(1), 7-21.

Katz, Andy. (2012). Trip to China Will Jump-start UCLA's Season. ESPN. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/blog/_/name/katz_andy/id/7885804/pac-12-begins-asia-initiative-ucla-bruins-trip-china-college-basketball 

Sport, Society & Me

a) I did not get seriously involved with sports until high school, which seems to be pretty late compared to my other friends who love sports. It has definitely influenced me in many ways and shaped me into the person I am today. My favorite sport is volleyball, and I started playing my freshman year of high school. I transferred to a small private school after 8^th grade, and I honestly only began playing because it was the only extracurricular activity my high school offered. My parents had signed me up for elementary league volleyball when I was younger, so I decided to pursue it in high school. Since I was at a new school and I was extremely shy, volleyball provided the environment I needed to make my first close friends. Making conversation with strangers was so much less awkward when we could talk about the sport and cheer together when someone had a good hit or block. It also gave something to look forward to each day after class, and it provided motivation to study hard and enjoy school. My high school coach and teammates were integral to my socialization process, encouraging me to keep practicing even when I wasn’t the best player on the team.  A big part of my decision to continue pursuing success in the sport was the social aspect of being on a team. I liked being surrounded by people trying to achieve the same goal, and it was fun at the same time. After I began to invest more time into volleyball, my parents became concerned that I was playing too much and not spending enough time studying. This was especially true in regards to my father. He grew up in Hong Kong, where his family defined academics as the only acceptable and valuable avenue for success. I had to convince him that playing volleyball made me a well-rounded person and contributed to my maturity and growth as an individual with a good sense of self-worth and happiness. I also had to make sure I kept my grades up to live up to the expectations he had of me as a daughter. However, I think I got the best of both worlds in the end.  My desire to keep participating in sports provided better motivation for me to study hard than just getting good grades.

b) I think sports (like everything else in life) has both positive and negative effects and roles in US society. I think it is valuable to study sport because it reflects the values of US society and sheds light on issues and controversies that people might not be aware of. According to Eitzen, sport is a paradox because it can unite but divide people, contain heroics but involve violence, and can promote health but cause injury. Depending on where on this spectrum a sporting experience falls, it can be more negative or more positive. Depending on the culture one grows up in, sports can be very important or meaningless. If one grows up with different values (eg. Success rooted in academics or music or a different skill), sport may not play a part in one’s life at all. From personal experience however, I believe sport has a high value in American society. My friends are constantly spending large amounts of money to go to NBA and MLB games, and they do as much as they can to stay involved in the sports world, including watching ESPN and playing fantasy football.

We often determine the importance of something based on the amount of money and time that goes into it. If sports were evaluated the same way, I would say that sport is very important in US society. In Eitzen’s “Duality of Sport,” he mentions that more Americans watched the Superbowl that the number of Americans that voted in the 2004 presidential election. I have no doubt that people care more about the Superbowl than the election.

According to ESPN, professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has a salary of 73.5 million, whereas the president of the United States has a 400,000 dollar salary. I know that Americans don’t always directly choose where our money is allocated, but if money and time spent was an accurate reflection of our values, we definitely view sport as important, and we see athletes worthy of being paid this much to entertain us.

Reference:

Eitzen, D.S  (2006).  Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes of Sport (2^nd Ed.).  Oxford,      Rowman & Littlefield: Chapter 1