Conclusion of Sport and Globalization

Well it is a wrap and I have to admit that I did not keep up with this like I had hoped I could. However, all is not lost because I have learned a lot about globalization and sport. Over the past semester our class has had numerous topics that have provoked much debate and discussion. I actually felt like our class grew together. We had a number of great guest speakers too. This allowed my classmate and myself to get a first hand look at globalization in sport. For instance, Dr. Meek opened my eyes even more to the racism that is in soccer around that world. Furthermore, I view Dr. Cho as an ambassador for glocalization because he is a wonderful source of information about what the study f sport is like in other countries.

I especially liked our discussions about soccer and how it is viewed around the world. It was kind of disappointing that some people did not seem to care about soccer in the class, but I understand that is how it is going to be sometimes. With the help from Wiebe, we were able to talk about soccer overseas (along with Dr. Meek)0. He also gave us some insight on how Europeans view some American sports as well. For instance, it was sort of shocking that he had never heard of  Wayne Gretzky. Now this kind of makes sense because hockey is not a huge sport in America like football, but he is one of the most famous athletes in this country and of course Canada.

Overall this has been one of my favorite classes that I have taken here at BG and I hope that this will continually be a class that is taught to Sport Management students.

The Gender Trap

Gender has become a very touchy and sometimes controversial topic within the world of athletics. Females are put through many gender test  to compete in high athletic events such as the Olympics. It is hard for me to talk about these issues because I just wish it was easier for men and women to deal with these issues. I'm sure that most of them wish that they could be the person they feel they are without having to go through all of these strenuous counseling sessions, and hormonal therapy. Also, I feel bad for the athletes that have to go through hormone therapy because then they have to wait two years until they can compete on any level. This makes the decision to come out with these issues even more strenuous because if the person is planning on competing in the Olympics, they have to plan out when they complete the therapy so they have enough time to compete and train. If an athlete waits too long to publicly confront these issues they run the risk of being too old to compete, but they also have to be ready for  all of the issues and possible media attention. I feel bad for these athletes because they must go through such a hard time and some people are not open to these issues.

World Cup Issues

My girlfried went to South Africa a few years before the World Cup was held for a mission trip and she has told me a lot about the culture and how badly the effects of Apartheid still affect the culture to this day. With that being said, I feel that it was a good idea to host the World Cup in South Africa because it at least showed some sort of unity in a country that was so divided for so long. The atmosphere was great and I think that even made it more exciting!

I understand our discussion about whether or not it was smart to build such magnificent stadiums, but I do feel that while the stadium may not be used a lot, it will still be used. I am not sure how often South Africa would use the stadium, and for what, but I feel that because it is there, there is a greater chance that it will be used for other events.

The World Cup was an exciting one in 2010 and the team I wanted to win (obviously other than the U.S. won) I did cheer for the U.S. to win, but once we were knocked out, I was cheering for the Spanish team. I wanted them to win because many of the players on that team played for Barcelona. Since I am on the topic of the roster of the 2010 Spanish team roster, I would just like to state that the majority of the players on the team came from two team; one being Barcelona, as I have already stated, and Real Madrid, the other big team in the Spanish Premier League.

Overall I was very happy with the World Cup and the location. South Africa proved to be a great host and had wonderful fans. Also who could forget the best part about the World Cup in South Africa? The vuvuzela! While annoying, that instrument is very cool, and the U.S. did a good job in outlawing them at certain venues/ conferences in a quick fashion.

Dr. Cho in Class!!!!

Dr. Cho came to speak with our Sport and Globalization class today to talk about his experiences with globalizing sport. Dr. Cho is from South Korea and gave us a little background on himself and where he came from. I am impressed that he was so interested in American Football and liked to watch the NFL. This was surprising to me that he even was able to watch games, until he told us that he was able to watch it because of the military TV station. It shocked me even more to find out that Dr. Cho actually played on an American Football team that played in Korea!!!

Dr. Cho came to the U.S. to study Sport even further and at that time, the study of sport was a relative unknown. I would consider him a pioneer because he wanted to study a subject that was not really as big as it is today. I feel very privileged to have him in class and also to have him as a professor because he is a very good example of sport globalization.

Finally I would like to say that the crowds that were in downtown Korea during the World Cup were absolutely amazing. It makes me happy to see such patriotism, no matter what country it is.  

Answers to Lecture Questions from Week 3

In this post I will be answering the following questions that we were given in class:

1.In the Klein article, they talk about “growing the game.” What does that mean? How effectively has the WBC enabled baseball to “grow the game?” How would you assess the effectiveness of the WBC compared to FIFA’s growth of soccer?

2.At the end of the article, Klein outlines a way that you could have global competition in baseball. How well do you think that would work? What would be pros and cons of implementing international play?

3.Based upon other sports’ efforts at globalization, what suggestions would you make to help baseball grow in the global marketplace?

1.  To me, growing the game entails making more people aware of the game itself which then leads to other factors. For instance, once more people know about the certain sport, chances are, there will be a greater interest in also playing the sport. With the interest sparked, there should be an increase in participants which in turn helps the game to grow. As sports gain in popularity, there is a chance to make certain brands that people will also become interested in. This is yet another way that the game grows. I feel as though no global sporting event is greater than the World Cup (and the Olympics if we are talking about a multiple sporting event) because of the fact that worldwide, soccer is the most popular game. Baseball is new at this type of thing and I feel like they can become successful but it is going to take some time. I still believe that they will not become more popular than the World Cup.

2. I would like it to work even though I am not a baseball fan because I think our world needs some competition in sports other than just the Olympics ad the World Cup. If a committee sat down and came up with a plan similar to the World Cup tournament, I think they could become very successful. 

Pros to have international play: Stronger sense of American/ worldwide pride no matter what country a person may be from, an actual reason to have a "World Series" and call the winner the "Champions of the World"

            Cons to have international play: There always seems to be some sort of controversy between teams of other countries, possible ethical problems such a cheating, home countires not being able to see a game.

3. I would market it as much as I can and find out if people in other countries would also like to see international play in baseball. Then I would gather a team of people from around the work and come up with a tournament bracket, and rules and such. Then we would have a draw n where to play it, and use the WBC as a way to start to find out which teams would get into the big tournament. It would be like friendly matches and group play like the World Cup uses.

"World Champions"....are they realy?????

Last week in class we read and article by Alan Klein that dealt with the World Baseball classic and it really got me to think about the term "World Champions". The term "World Champions" is thrown around in American sports every year when one team will win the championship of that respective sport- (i.e. Super Bowl, NBA Championship, World Series, etc.) Now that I am typing out the examples, I believe that baseball is the worst offender. I say this because their championship IS called the World Series when teams only from America (and one from Canada) compete in it. In other sports their respective championship is also referred to as a world championship when in reality, the only other country competing within American sports is usually Canadian teams. Furthermore, that only is in baseball and hockey since the Vancouver Grizzlies have been gone from Canada since before I was in Jr. High.

A new title name/ "nickname" should be given to these championships because the rest of the world does not compete with us in these sports. College football and soccer seem to have the right take on this; in college sports, the highest achievement is the National Championship, and it is never referred to a the world title, or world champions. Professional soccer has different championships depending on what are they play in. For instance, teams in Europe compete in the UEFA Cup, which is the European championship. The same thing goes for North and South America- they too have their own respective championship. Then every four years they have the World Cup which really is the World Championship. It is just irritating because it seems as though we as Americans believe that since we have the superior athletes in certain sports we are entitled to call the biggest championships in America, the "World Championship", especially since many other countries do not even follow it.

While I am not a big baseball fan, baseball does have the right idea with many countries competing for one coveted championship that can be classified as a "World Championship".

Introduction

Hi my name is Joe Nelson and I am a senior at Bowling Green State University. I have blogged on other time for a previous Marketing class I took that dealt with Social Media. I was not interested in the topics were we instructed to blob about and because of that I felt as if my blog was the not the best work I could produce. With that being said, I am much happier that this time around I am able to blog about issues/ topics in the world of athletics.

Now let me introduce myself  little bit more. My favorite sports are soccer, football, and basketball. I played soccer my whole life and while in elementary school through high school I also ran track. I am a big Barcelona soccer fan and would love to someday watch a game at The Nou Camp- their home stadium that holds 90,000+ fans. Te atmosphere is fantastic and I want to witness it for myself at least once in my lifetime. While I am a huge soccer fan I do admit that football- college football especially- is what I focus on the most. I was raised in a divided household between diehard Ohio State and Notre Dame fans. I have never been able to pick a side and my apartment proves it because there is both OSU and ND stuff in my place. Obviously I am a Bowing Green fan as well. I have gotten even closer to our sports because I have worked within the Athletic Department for or the past year now. I also have realized over the past few days that MMA is a global sport as well. Mixed Martial Arts is also one of my favorite sports. I would love to attend a UFC fight to watch the worlds best fighters engage in elite matches. The sport of mixed martial arts is growing so fast, I can only think of it in popularity and compare it to the boxing era with Ali; but on a much greater scale.

As I have just stated I would love to attend a UFC fight anywhere in the world. However, the biggest global sporting event I would like to attend would be none other than the World Cup. I have been involved in soccer my whole life, and the World Cup is such a great global spectacle, because I am a big fan of rowdy atmospheres and pride in the country in which you reside. I am not the biggest Olympics fan because many of the sports do not always interest me. I will still watch some of the events and always root for the US but I cannot follow it like some people.


This is my intro and I cannot wait to keep this going and see what others have to say about my posts.