Conclusion

At first blogging to me looked boring and I really didn’t like to type or talk about things online. I didn’t think I would make it the whole semester in this class. When my teacher told me it was a blogging class, I was scared. I never blogged before in my life and I barely get on the computer. At first I thought we had to blog about a subject she picked for us, but I was glad that we could pick out own topic to talk about. I’ve learned a lot in this class about blogging and I’m glad I didn’t drop the class. Blogging about something that was important was good to give my opinion about the topic I was talking about. My favorite thing about this class was the decisions we had about different blogs and problems in the world. The group workshops helped me with my blogs. My blogs I post was good topic about the sport industry and I enjoyed blogging about it. Since I took this class, I would like to keep my blog page up and keep blogging because its fun and interesting seeing what people think about my topics.  This class was good for my creative writing and research skills.  Mrs. Quinn was so helpful and I thank her for everything. One of my favorite topics was Home Sweet Home, I did so much research with this topic and I like what I found about different athletes home prices.  Its ridiculous how much these mansions cost and how much these players are worth. The one thing I wish we had done in this class was blogging in the computer lab; that would have been fun too. This was a great experience with blogging and I would blog again soon. Thank you Mrs. Quinn.

Olympic Games

The Olympics is one of the biggest events in the world. Players all over the world play each other to see who's the best.  Olympic games come around every two years. The summer and winter Olympics are played in different cities, and this year the games are played in Loudon, England. The games that are played are golf, rugby, rowing, sailing, archery, judo, gymnastics, soccer, taekwondo, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, cycling, volleyball, ice hockey, tennis, table tennis, basketball, football, hockey, handball, skating, skiing, curling, bobsleigh, badminton, biathlon, track&field, shooting, swimming, diving and canoe/kayak. Thats a lot of sports playing. This year they dropped baseball and softball. Why?  The New York Times said" The International Olympic Committee voted Friday to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Summer Games in London, making those two sports the first cut from the Games in 69 years".  This hurts plenty of the countries because baseball and softball brings medals to most of the countries except USA. They also said "Baseball, which became a medal sport in 1992, has been vulnerable because players from Major League Baseball in the United States do not play. Softball, a women's medal sport since 1996, has been in danger because of a perceived lack of global appeal and participation. The United States has won all three gold medals handed out". Most of the countries thats suppose to be in the Olympics these year dropped out because of this decision. This year the Olympics will be a success because people wit still watch it. I know I will be watching it; it's exciting to watch. I just think they should just put every sport in the olympic and not exclude most of the sports.

Hostels club blog blogged "The relay of the golden Olympic torch starts at Land’s End, Cornwall on the 19th of May and will travel through 1,018 places around the UK as anticipation for the games builds. Sites where the torch will pass such as, the Northern Ireland landmark, the Giant’s Causeway on the 4th of June and Stonehenge on the 12th of July. On its final day it will travel down the River Thames to Olympic Park for the opening ceremony on the 27th of July 2012. The three sides of the golden aluminum Olympic Torch represent the 3 games hosted by London. It contains 8,000 holes with each perforation representing a torchbearer taking part in the relay". The torch is the most important thing in the Olympics. I can't wait until the it starts.


Work Cited:
http://www.olympic.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/08/sports/08iht-oly.html

Family Time.

Spending time with your family is the most important thing in life. For professional athletes, they barely get to spend time with their kids and spouses. Being on the road, getting traded to a different time, and doing endorsement deals; keeps them busy and way for months. Some athletes live in the city or state they're playing in and other they have to fly back and forth from one place to another. Athletes children doesn't get to see their father/mother all the time which is not good for the kids especially the spouse. The spouse has a lot to deal with because they don't know if they are cheating on them or if they are not hurt. Its hard for them not seeing their husbands/wives all the time. Elements Consulting and Life Coaching said "Being on the road, being traded, financial ups and downs, changes from majors to the minors, marriage, children, career-ending injuries, adjusting to new cities and social circles, on- and off-season transitions; not only must the professional athlete learn to cope with these, but they are all unique situations the spouse of a professional athlete must face, while being the family 'glue'". Moving from city to city, changing the kids school, and finding an job plays a major role for the families because they don't know when their husband/wife is getting traded.

Sports Relocation said "Generally speaking, we know that our clients are unable to take the time off in order to relocate their families. It is something that on such tight time schedules is hard for them to manage, and they need to know that the team handling their move is capable and reliable. This is particularly true in the cases of those we have seen who have had to deal with the mid-season trade, because it is already stressful- then to add moving a family, well, that is when things become very complicated. Our team makes these things simple, we create a perfect plan that works with you and your family to ensure that the entire move is as smooth as possible''.  Most families live with the athletes in the city they are in but most of the time they leave their family for months then go back after the season is over. Most families get to see them play at these games when they won't too. Like Drew Brees, from the Saints, he gives his wife, kids, mother, father, and grandmother tickets to all his games so they can see him play. I know its hard to joggle work and family especially being famous, but these athletes sometimes need to think about their kids and spouses more then playing a sport.

Work Cited:

http://www.elementsconsulting.biz/families.php

http://www.sportsrelocation.com/blog/2011/01/12/family-life-for-professional-athletes-sportsrelocation-com/

Home Sweet Home!!

Money can buy anything in the world. One thing that all pro athletes need to have is a big house which is called a mansion. Its ridiculous that athletes have to buy a house with 8 bathrooms and 10 bedrooms when theres only one person living there. Shaquel O'neal has his own basketball court, Chad Ochocinco has his own football field, and Serena Williams has her own tennis court; it too much for an house. Most houses has flat screen tvs everywhere in the house, a big kitchen, and all these expensive house furitures and appliances. We see way athletes are broke and don't have enough money after they retire or get injured.  Here are some prices  on professional athletes houses:

• NY Yankees Mark Teixeira's house cost $3.995M
• Pittsburgh Steelers Hines Ward's house cost  $7.5M
• Cleveland Indians Derek Lowe house cost $3.495M
• Michael Jordan's house cost $29M
• Tennis player Mats Wilander's house cost $6M
• Patriots Tom Brady's house cost $20M

Thats a lot of money for one house. I would never pay that much money for a house.

Michael Jordan's house is so nice and big. I love the outside of the mansion and the basketball court. Michael Jordan's house includes nine bedrooms, 15 baths and five fireplaces. There's also a three-bedroom guesthouse, pool area, outdoor tennis court and three climate-controlled multi-car garages. An indoor basketball complex features a full-size regulation court with specially cushioned hardwood flooring and competition-quality high intensity lighting. It has a sound system set up to provide perfect acoustics within the court space. It has 56,000 square feet of living space.Professional Athlete Homes said "Jordan’s new home is 28,000 sq-ft on 3 acres and includes 3 separate structures: guest house, pool house, and a 2-story guard house. The main house when complete will have a huge luxurious entryway, giant fireplace, an elevator, 11 bedrooms, a massive media center, basketball court and a lavish workout facility. Jordan bought the 2 lot property for $4.8M and is investing an additional $7.6M into the construction; once complete, he’ll have invested upwards of $20M in his new home". His house is beautiful and I wish I could live in there for an week.

All athletes has families that lives with them not only their spouse and their kids; they have friends, their mothers, and family members living there with them. Some athletes buy big house to show off their egos to women and groupies. Im not going to lie, if i had the money I would buy a big house too.

Faithful or Not Faithful

When it comes to cheating, professional athletes can't be faithful to there wives or husbands. Most of the cheating starts when they travel on the road for a game, after the game in there hotels, at clubs, at there other home they have, and in there own home. I think when they travel to all their games, most of they girls they cheat with are groupies. What gets them caught up, they get the girl pregnant or makes the girl they cheat with fall in love with them and go crazy. Some athletes keep having the affair with the girl or guy for years. The women they cheat with thinks that the athlete will leave their wives from them, and sometimes thats not the case. Morgan Whitaker said "Half of all marriages in the US will end in divorce, but for NFL players and other professional athletes, between 60 and 80 percent of marriages will ultimately fail. Infidelity is considered to be a contributing factor in these higher divorce rates". 

For example Tiger Woods was caught with cheating. He cheated on his wife with a cocktail waitress name Rachel Uchitel. He ruined his marriage and family with her. Tiger thought that she would keep her mouth shut, but she didn't. She told her friends "I’m having an affair with Tiger Woods. We’re in love!" She even read me text messages Tiger sent her that said ‘I love you, babe. It’s always going to be just you and me. The showbiz spy also said that they were sextig and that he also said that he's didn't care about his wife. How could he say that about someone he loves and married for six year and has kids with. Tiger and his wife got a divorce because he got caught cheating.

If your going to cheat, don't get married. Thats all i have to say!!

Work Cited:

http://www.showbizspy.com/article/195549/tiger-woods-affair-claims.html

http://www.thegrio.com/news/the-culture-of-women-on-the-site-for-pro-athletes.php

Fame and Drugs

Fame and drugs is not only in the sport industry; it’s also in the music industry and film industry too.  When it comes to drugs in sports, the most common drug is steroids.  Steroids help build strength and muscles while working out and it can also make you crazy too. Plenty of football players use this drug to gain muscle to tackle and push players on the field. That’s why so many football and also wrestlers looks so big. Track stars, football players, baseball players, basketball players, tennis player, and wrestler uses steroids to make them faster and stronger to play. Now in the sports industry, they have a drug test system to test all professional athletes that’s on a team or is an individual athlete of drugs. If the test shows that they have some type of drug in them; they can’t play that season. That’s where fame comes to the picture. Every celebrity uses their fame to get whatever they want. Most athletes use their fame as their advantage when it comes to girls, the club life, and etc. I hate how ignorant some athletes are with their money. 
They just buy unnecessary things like: 10 cars, horses, big mansions with 8 rooms- when they are the only person in the house, and jewelry.  Fame can change athletes when they make a lot of money. Most of them change their lifestyle and how they do things. That’s why all these players use most of their money on drugs. In how stuff works and I quote “Professional cycling has been repeatedly rocked by revelations and allegations of drug use. Every two years as the Olympic Games begin, we hear about athletes using or at least being tested for performance-enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball is still trying to repair its image from the steroid era. And the list goes on. Some athletes get away with using drugs; others wind up suspended from their sport or even in jail, and still others die prematurely. It's a risky and complex game within a game that plays itself out on a public stage. In this article, we'll discuss why some athletes take drugs, what the major classes of drugs and their side effects are, and how people test for drug use”.

            I agree with that because not all athletes get caught or suspended for taking drugs. They coaches wants to win so much they don’t worry about the drug use.

The POWER of KNOWLEDGE

We all know that education is the most important thing in our lives. When it comes to professional athletes, some don’t really care about college education. They just worry about the fame and money; so they work hard in to gain the skills, but not the education they need to succeed in life. Questions go through my mind like: what will happen if they get injured so badly, they cant play anymore, or do they have a college degree? Most athletes don’t finish college; they just get drafted and never think about school again.  Jason Clary (Correspondent) said “The fact is this: these players are student-athletes. Student comes before athlete. These players go to college for an education, not a draft pick.  Although some of these players do end up playing at the next level, the smartest decision they can make is to ensure their future by finishing school”.  Now in the sport industry, they require that an athlete have at least two years of college education before entering a professional sport. It gives them a start on their major so they can have something to fall back on. Majority of pro athletes never even attend college, those that do typically have just a Bachelors. It is extremely rare that you will find a pro with a higher degree; mainly because they go pro after 4 years. However, some have been known to continue their schooling after their pro career is over.  Plenty of athletes have their own business, have a clothing line, and shoe line to make money for themselves and their families. On iseek careers they say “There are no formal education or training requirements for professional athletes. However, a high school diploma or GED is recommended. Excellent performance in the sport is usually the most significant requirement. You develop athletic ability through many years of practice. Some athletes, such as football and basketball players, attend college before turning professional. Participating in college sports is often a good way to increase and display your skills. However, you may choose to skip college and go directly to the professional leagues”.

I think all athletes should finish college first before going pro. An athlete needs an education to fall back on, should their athletic career ends.

http://www.iseek.org/careers/careers/careerDetail?id=8&oc=100425

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/307746-college-vs-pros-should-athletes-be-allowed-to-leave-school-early

Injuries!

Injures in sports today are very common and always expected; especially in physical sports such as football, hockey, and boxing. In all sports player(s) will get banged up with a few bumps and scrapes, but again that part of the game.  Tennis players don’t have protection to keep them safe; the only protection to me that can save them from getting hit by the ball is the rack. Extreme sports play like skate boarding, BMX riding, and rollerblading will get hurt badly with the little protection they have. I was watching the X-games one day and this skate boarding was on this high ramp, and he had so much speed flying high in the sky. He was doing a 360 and he didn’t catch his board on time and he fell straight on the ramp ground. He was hurt so badly. That’s how dangerous extreme sports are. To me the most dangerous sport is NASCAR.  Going around a track with only a helmet while they are in their car is dangerous. Player(s) have died, got badly hurt, or burned while racing. Its seriously, our players or teams should be protected and safe. The most common injury in sports is tearing of the ACL. When the ACL is messed up sometimes you can’t play anymore. The new rules that were enforced its impossible for the game to be played with the enthusiasm of the players and the excitement from the fans. Now the rules are good; it keeps the players safe and protected. In the NFL, if a player is got hit while he is in the air catching the ball is a penalty now, but some of the rules like you can’t hit the quarterback at a certain time are ridiculous. My view is if you can’t hit them; they shouldn’t be playing. They have as much protection from their offensive of line, so it’s okay for them to get tackled. If every player is protected and the rules get better then their wouldn’t be so many injuries in sports.

Helping Others

In the pro athlete contract, they have to do charity work. One thing I don’t like about that is that they have to do it because it’s in their contract. I wish the owners of the teams or individual athletes give them the choice to do it and see who’s all about their money or like to help others that in need instead of themselves. Some sports they go out and read to the disability kids or have a charity event to meet famous players. NFL Play 60 is an event for kids to play with a NFL team or player. During game days they will have a kid come out the field and give the referee the game ball and give out prizes.

One athlete that makes a difference to me is Steve Nash. He has his own charity website to help kids. It’s called the Steve Nash Foundation. Nash has dedicated his time and his money to children in their health, personal development, and education. He is a great role model for kids everywhere in the world. He wants to help people for a reason; he wants to show he’s not all about money. Event though its in his contract, he continues to do it before, during, and after the season. Green to the earth is an event he does to keep the community and the earth clean. The three R’s recycling, reuse, and reduce. He wants you to recycle glass, cans, plastic and etc. I love that he does all these things for the community. He’s not the only player that does charity work; Chris Cooley goes to different schools and gives scholarship money.

Pro athletes help us learn it’s not all about the money and the fame; it’s about helping the community and others that’s in need.

Money, Money, Money!!!!

Pro athletes make great amount of money throughout the years. Some make millions and some makes hundreds and thousands. For example the highest paid athlete in football is the quarterback and the second highest paid in football is the left tackle. Every sport has different salaries for their players. Matthew Glimartin, a senior analyst, made a list of high paying athletes in the MLB, NBA, and the NFL:

        Alex Rodriguez, third baseman, New York Yankees: $28 million

·     Jason Giambi, first baseman, New York Yankees: $24.3 million

·     Kevin Garnett, forward, Boston Celtics: $23.8 million

·     Shaquille O'Neal, forward/center, Phoenix Suns: $21 million

·     Julius Peppers, defensive end, Carolina Panthers: $14.1 million

·     Carson Palmer, quarterback, Cincinnati Bengals: $13.5 million

·     Scott Gomez, forward, New York Rangers: $10 million

·     Daniel Briere, forward, Philadelphia Flyers: $10 million

 Most of the time it depends on how good the player is and how many years they play to gain a high paying salary. If a player misses a game, they don’t get paid for that game or if they do something outside or during a game they will lose money. Like football, getting a foul or a penalty, money will be taken out of their check. It’s ridiculous that pro athletes get paid that much money for a game. In May 2008, the average yearly wages for professional athletes were $79,460. Endorsements and investments plays a huge role for athletes because if they don’t make enough money during the season; Endorsement deals will make them rich.

Total pro sports say Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA. He makes $25,150,000 million dollars every season he plays. The reason why he makes that much money is because Kobe earned 5 championship rings in a row. He’s not the only athlete that makes so much money, Manny Pacquiao makes $32 million for boxing. Stock car drivers may earn several hundred thousand dollars for a race. Boxers can earn millions of dollars for a fight. Baseball, football, and basketball players may earn millions a year if they are superstars. Tennis players and golfers usually get paid according to how well they play compared to other players. Only the most talented professional athletes earn the highest salaries.

Work cited.

First, Newest. "Do Pro Athletes Really Deserve Their Salaries? | Bleacher Report."Bleacher Report | Entertaining Sports News, Photos and Slideshows. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/37550-do-pro-athletes-really-deserve-their-salaries>.

"15 Highest Pro Athlete Salaries of 2011 | Total Pro Sports." Total Pro Sports | The Lighter Side Of Sports. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. <http://www.totalprosports.com/2011/10/04/15-highest-pro-athlete-salaries-of-2011/>.

Website

Preparing for the season

Preparing for the season is a lot of hard work for an athlete. Athletes have to be mentally and physically ready for the season to begin. They have to train with their team, go to the weight room to gain muscle and strength, and eat healthy to keep the body strong. Most of them have personal trainers to help them which cost thousands of dollars. For example: Football players work mostly on their upper body for the strength to tackle, basketball player and track stars work on the lower body which is the quads, calf’s, hamstring, and etc for the speed.  Team practices also have a lot to do with preparing for the season. Doing drills to running sprints up and down the court or field. There are plenty of things to do to help them succeed.

Education Atlas and I quote said “Professional athletes usually spend a considerable amount of time training and practicing. For example, basketball players work on their shot and dribbling skills. Ice skaters could skate for a large portion of the day. Playing organized sports while young can help athletes develop their skills”.  Athletes study films to look at competitors they play, have curfew and rules, and spend about 40 hours working on their shooting, throwing, running, handling and etc. After the train and practicing with the team, preseason starts. Preseason games help the coaches see who’s been working hard, how the plays are working, which athlete they should cut, and to ready for the season. Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, John Wall, they train all year round with their game to get better every day. That’s why they get paid more because how good they are. Michael Jordan is the best athlete in the world. He worked day and night on his game. He always picked up a ball and dribbled and shot every day and never gave up. He inspires me and others to never give up on what they love and just work harder and harder and you will thrive at the end.

Introduction to my sports blog.

Hello Fellow Bloggers!!!

My name is Courtney and I'm here to talk to you about sports. You name it I got it... I will start with a brief background about myself. I'm a 20 year college student who has a strong love for sports and all that it brings. I played basketball for the last ten years, powder puff football for two years, and soccer for 6 years. I always had this passion with basketball my whole life and I taught myself how to play. In my spare time I still engage in some one on one basketball outside of work and school. I also coach basketball clinics to little kids to help them with their skills. OK, enough about me let's talk about the athletes beyond the spotlight.

A wide range of athletes are drafted straight from high school without a college education. These athletes see the money and the fame instead of the education they need to succeed in life. Money often covers up flaws and marriages are constantly going downhill at the expense of the fast life. Infidelity, drugs, injuries, education, and making wrong investments all leads to being broke, out of a job, and ending up in divorce. We all make mistakes in life and some unfortunately don't learn from them. Professional athletes have a lot on their plate from preparing for the season or taking care of their family, but most of them are to worry about their money and fame. The one thing that makes a good professional athlete is how you act on and off the court. Being a good role model and having good sportsmanship will show kids and everyone that it’s not all about winning; it’s about the love that you have for the sport you play. If you have the love for the sport you play; you will succeed in any game or practice you play in.