COMM412:

Lesson 2 Overview

 

Introduction

Welcome to the second lesson for COMM 412: Sports, Media, and Society. Last week, the aim was to help you consider the idea that sports are “more than a game.” They have strong cultural and political impact—directly and indirectly. They reflect and help shape our societal values. They are important beyond the fields, gyms, tracks, and stadia.

But now we need to address a much more elementary question: What is “sport”? How do we decide whether an activity is a sport?

This lesson is going to help lay the groundwork we need and help us continue to grapple primarily with our first big question for this course: What has been the function of spectator/mediated sport in American culture?

We’ll also start to think about the relationship between how we define sport and how we use sport to support our cultural values. The two activities are related, as you’ll discover.

Objectives

Here are the objectives for this lesson.

• Define sport.
• Describe what makes an activity a sport.
• Discuss why it is important to define sport. And, consider what is at stake in our decision about whether an activity is a sport.
• Identify the functions of those activities we deem sports. (We’ll start this line of discussion and then continue it next week.)

Lesson Readings & Activities

By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Lesson 2 Course Schedule.

What is Sport?

Do you watch a lot of ESPN? Do you read the newspaper sports pages or sports magazines? Do you monitor sports-related blogs?

If so, what activities do you expect to learn about? Basketball? Football? Soccer? What about bowling? Billiards? Poker?

After all, the behemoth sports network ESPN has certainly aired poker competitions. It’s also aired cheerleading competitions.

What are you willing to accept and understand as a sport? And why does it matter? How do we collectively understand and define sports?

That might be a topic that you’ve never thought critically about. You might have taken it for granted that certain activities are billed as sports—and others are not.

We need to consider the factors that go into the way we define sports. Some are easy to see (they’re physical activities). Others might not be so easily visible (the role of gender in some activities, for instance).

We also need to consider why it matters. What public space, resources, and social status do we give to individuals associated with activities called “sports”? What about the use of public tax dollars for sports-related activities?

We also need to consider the function we might expect from our sports. How do we expect them to fit into and reinforce our cultural, political, and economic values?

The readings and activities for this lesson are designed to help you think about these issues.

 

Terms and Questions

As you read and participate in the online activities and case study on cheerleading, do so with the following goals in mind:

Key Terms to Define

• Sport
• Institutionalization
• Functionalism

Key Questions to Consider

• What goes into our traditional understandings of “sport”?
• What factors—outside those used in a traditional definition—impact our understanding of what activities are deemed a sport?
• Why does it matter? In other words, what are the rewards and benefits for those who participate in activities we recognize as sports? What is the cost for those activities that are not recognized as such?
• How might our choices about what to label a sport reflect our cultural values? 

 

Parkour: Sport or Not, According to the Traditional Definition?

Below you will find a video featuring parkour. The term parkour came from parcours du combattant, an obstacle course used to train soldiers of the French military (What is parkour, n.d.). David Belle developed the practice of parkour out of lessons from his father's military experience combined with his grandfather's teachings of Georges Hébert's Natural Method (Parkour History, n.d.).

Video 2.1: David Belle SpeedAirMan.

 

So, is parkour a sport, according to the traditional definition? Remember Coakley's (2004) definition of sport is, "Sports are institutionalized competitive activities that involve vigorous physical exertion or the use of relatively complex physical skills by participants motivated by internal and external rewards." (p. 21)

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References

Coakley, J. (2004). What are sports? In Sports in society: Issues and controversies (pp. 21–29). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

What is parkour? (n.d.). In Parkourpedia. Retrieved September 5, 2013, from http://parkourpedia.com/about/what-is-parkour

Parkour History. (n.d.). Retrieved September 5, 2013, from http://www.parkourtrain.net/parkour-history

Is Videogaming a Sport?

Here is what Coakley (2004) has to say about whether videogaming is a sport: "Maybe people in the year 2100 will define activities played in virtual reality as sports and see what we defined as sports today as backward, overorganized, and funless activities geared to the physical abilities of the few rather than the interests and fantasies of everyone" ( p . 25). Consider the influence of digital media and technology, and our changing lifestyles and culture, on possibilities for defining sport. Case in point: Videogaming.

Watch the PBS video The Rise of Competitive Gaming and E-Sports below and read Video Gaming Slowly Becoming a Pro Sport on the growth of competitive gaming. Can you envision a future in which videogaming is widely understood as a sport? Please note that you do not need to state whether you think it is a sport, or should be a sport. Rather, discuss whether you can see a future where it is universally recognized as such.

Video 2.2: The Rise of Competitive Gaming & E-Sports.

Case Study: Cheerleading

Cheerleading (also called stunt and competitive cheer) in the United States has been the topic of discussion around its status as a sport (or not). Cheerleading has been discussed as an emerging sport by the NCAA; it has been deemed a sport by some university athletics programs; it has been the subject of court cases; and a major U.S. doctors’ association has even weighed in. (Much of this—but not all of it—has to do with Title IX. More on that later.)

In this case study, you will view a part of a cheerleading competition, read various articles and position papers, and report your conclusions to the class.

Let's start by viewing a recap of coverage of the 2013 International Cheer Union's World Cheerleading competition.

Video 2.3: Recap of the 2013 ICU World Cheerleading Championships.

 

Before you state your opinion on whether or not cheerleading is sport, let's read what some experts say.

• In the NCAA article NCAA Committee Looking Into New Sport, Michelle Brutlag Hosick examines how cheerleading has yet to reach emerging-sport status and reviews how organizations are attempting to make that leap.
• The second reading is an opinion paper by the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators ( AACCA ) titled Doctors to Vote on Whether Cheerleading is a Sport. The paper discusses the athleticism of cheerleading, defines sport, and in the end provides AACCA 's opinion on whether cheerleading meets the definition of sport.
• The final reading is a USA Today article, AMA Officially Designates Cheerleading as a Sport.

View, read, form your opinion, and get ready to debate with your classmates.

Lesson 2 Wrap Up

 

Summary

What is "sport"? How do we decide if an activity is a sport? In this lesson we began to lay a foundation for studying issues in sports and society. We examined the relationship between how we define sport and how we use sport to support our cultural values.

Check and Double Check

By the end of this lesson, be sure you have completed the readings and activities listed in the Lesson 2 course schedule.

Looking Ahead

Next lesson, we will consider the way sports might reinforce our values. Don't be surprised if you disagree with some, or many, of the ideas in the next lesson. This is an important part of learning and the goal is that you understand and consider these ideas, not necessarily agree with them. The next lesson will continue laying the foundation for the remainder of the course.