LeBron James did it. Allen Iverson did it. Gary Payton did it. They proved if you're an athletes, and have the skills, perserverance and dedication, it doesn't matter where you come from, you can succeed. If only that were true. Unfortunately, the American sports dream, to play at the highest level of professional sport is simply that. A dream. Of the 541,054 high school basketball players only 3.4 percent will go onto playing basketball in college, of those 1.2 percent of them will be in the pros. And once they make it there, there can only be one "LeBron James", per say.
Hoop Dreams follows the life of two inner city boys from Chicago, Arthur Agee and William Gates. Beginning at the ripe age of 14 the documentary follows their lives throughout high school as both boys attempt to reach their dream of laying in the NBA. At the age of 14 two things immediately become crystal clear. These boys share a true, genuine love for the sport of basketball, and not only that, but they see it as the only way to get their families out of the projects. The film stresses the differential treatment among colored and white athletes, not even just on the court, but also in the classroom. Both boys test poorly in classes, Arthur struggles to pay for school at St.Josephs and is forced to leave, while William is allowed to stay. This movie highlights the fact that, sports is the only way to open a door to certain opportunities for underprivileged African Americans. Without the aide of an athletic scholarship, college would not be possible for boys like William and Arthur.
As the movie progresses, we see William began to lose joy in playing basketball. It no longer was something he genuinely enjoyed, but it became more of a job. If William couldn't shoot well, he would be considered obsolete to the school and lose his tuition. Ultimately, the viewers and William know, that basketball is not just a way out of the ghetto, but it is a business.
Hoops Dreams demonstrates life for Black Americans in the projects, and the role of sport in US society as a whole. Watching the movie, it is unfortunate that we don't hear more about the sacrifices that athletes make to become to where they are. Furthermore, it is unfortunate that many children see sport as the only way for their families to escape the projects.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Sport Commercials and Gender Disorder
My following blog will be based off of the " You Can Play Campaign" which can be found by following the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iAmUE3VazY
I chose this commercial, because it shows the light side of sport that is often hidden, ignored and unrecognized by athletes, fans, players, and coaches. This commercial aired as part of the " You Can Play Campaign", a social activism campaign that is dedicated to eliminating homophobia in professional sports. It's slogan " If you can play, you can play, " is used to show support for LGBT athletes in all sports. This commercial specifically highlights the Bay Area's professional sports team, but the campaign spans across the nations and through all levels of professional, and collegiate athletics.
I picked this commercial, specifically because there are no consequences. While many sport commercials show the manliness or aggression of some sports, this commercial highlights, I believe this commercial brings light to a very important, and real issue. Since the " You Can Play Campaign" was started in light of Brendan Burke's untimely death in 2009. Burke was the openly gay son of Hockey icon Brian Burke. Brian's supported his son from the day he came out to the day he died, and started the campaign in his memory shortly after. Burke was the closest person to the NHL to ever come out publicly.
By having the " You Can Play Campaign" backed by some of the nation's top athletes and coaches it sheds light on the issue, as well as brings hope to the current status of openly gay or lesbian athletes in sport. This commercial specifically focuses on top players and coaches on nearly all of the Bay Area's professional sports teams. Sports is a big stage and has a huge audience, so it is refreshing to see individuals use the mass amounts of media attention to shed light on an issue that has been surrounding sport for centuries.
While the commercial can be criticized for not having any female athletes, the Bay Area is not home to a big professional female sporting base, and the campaign does feature females athletes in other commercials.
I chose this commercial, because it shows the light side of sport that is often hidden, ignored and unrecognized by athletes, fans, players, and coaches. This commercial aired as part of the " You Can Play Campaign", a social activism campaign that is dedicated to eliminating homophobia in professional sports. It's slogan " If you can play, you can play, " is used to show support for LGBT athletes in all sports. This commercial specifically highlights the Bay Area's professional sports team, but the campaign spans across the nations and through all levels of professional, and collegiate athletics.
I picked this commercial, specifically because there are no consequences. While many sport commercials show the manliness or aggression of some sports, this commercial highlights, I believe this commercial brings light to a very important, and real issue. Since the " You Can Play Campaign" was started in light of Brendan Burke's untimely death in 2009. Burke was the openly gay son of Hockey icon Brian Burke. Brian's supported his son from the day he came out to the day he died, and started the campaign in his memory shortly after. Burke was the closest person to the NHL to ever come out publicly.
By having the " You Can Play Campaign" backed by some of the nation's top athletes and coaches it sheds light on the issue, as well as brings hope to the current status of openly gay or lesbian athletes in sport. This commercial specifically focuses on top players and coaches on nearly all of the Bay Area's professional sports teams. Sports is a big stage and has a huge audience, so it is refreshing to see individuals use the mass amounts of media attention to shed light on an issue that has been surrounding sport for centuries.
While the commercial can be criticized for not having any female athletes, the Bay Area is not home to a big professional female sporting base, and the campaign does feature females athletes in other commercials.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Interrogating inequalities in Sports Media: Examining gender/race representation on Sports Business Journal
This week, I chose to analyze Street & Smith's SportBusiness Journal. This weekly publication, has a network of over 80 writers, and provides breaking news, comprehensive reporting and analyzing on the world of sport business. From everything to media, marketing, athletes, facilities and finance, Sport Business Journal provides a weekly input on the fast paced sport world.
What I thought was most ironic about analyzing women in the Sport Business Journal, was that SBJ has numerous articles that talk about the underrepresentation and sexualization of women in sport. However, Sports Business Journal is guilty of the same crime. One article, " Despite progress, diversity hiring in sport media is still poor," in which Sport Business Journal criticizes sport media for the lack of diversity within its staff. This article found that 90 percent of sport columnist writers were male, 90 percent of sport editors were male and 88 percent of sport reporters were male. In spirit of doing my own research I decided to randomly click on articles published between January 1, 2014 and today's date February 26th, 2015 throughout the website, I clicked 25 random articles, and found no female authors. Frustrated with the lack of female representation on the board, I decided to look up a specific list of SBJ authors. On a list of 15 Featured Authors, there was one woman. Her job at Sport Business Journal is to cover horse racing and labor disputes.
On Sport Business Journal's home page, there are 15 main categories that readers are select articles from. These include categories such as Marketing and Sponsorship, Featured, Media, Leagues and Governing Bodies, Labor and Agents and Facilities. Each category shows the 5 most recent articles in that selection for a grand total of 75 articles available on the home page alone. Of those 75 articles there are 0 pictures provided of females by any standard. No reporters, fans or female athletes are visible on Sport Business Journal's homepage. In addition of those 75 articles, ONE article focuses on female sports -- the WNBAPA has a new attorney.
Wanting to cut Sport Business Journal some slack, I clicked a few articles that could have potentially had females involved, such as " Engineers to assist NFL with injury prevention." No luck for woman in that article. I focused my attention on an article titled " Levi's Stadium Number Don't Lie," in which no females were mentioned in the article, however a female did make it into a picture on the article. Naturally, she is a petite blonde young aged girl posing with her smart phone. At least we females kind of made it in there...
As a female who likes sports just as much as any body else, the lack of female representation in the sporting world is extremely disheartening. I chose Sport Business Journal not because it only looks at athletes or fans, but because it covers a wide range of all things sport industry related. By choosing to ignore the issue of gender inequality in sports media, Sport Business Journal is just adding to the problem they criticized.
What I thought was most ironic about analyzing women in the Sport Business Journal, was that SBJ has numerous articles that talk about the underrepresentation and sexualization of women in sport. However, Sports Business Journal is guilty of the same crime. One article, " Despite progress, diversity hiring in sport media is still poor," in which Sport Business Journal criticizes sport media for the lack of diversity within its staff. This article found that 90 percent of sport columnist writers were male, 90 percent of sport editors were male and 88 percent of sport reporters were male. In spirit of doing my own research I decided to randomly click on articles published between January 1, 2014 and today's date February 26th, 2015 throughout the website, I clicked 25 random articles, and found no female authors. Frustrated with the lack of female representation on the board, I decided to look up a specific list of SBJ authors. On a list of 15 Featured Authors, there was one woman. Her job at Sport Business Journal is to cover horse racing and labor disputes.
On Sport Business Journal's home page, there are 15 main categories that readers are select articles from. These include categories such as Marketing and Sponsorship, Featured, Media, Leagues and Governing Bodies, Labor and Agents and Facilities. Each category shows the 5 most recent articles in that selection for a grand total of 75 articles available on the home page alone. Of those 75 articles there are 0 pictures provided of females by any standard. No reporters, fans or female athletes are visible on Sport Business Journal's homepage. In addition of those 75 articles, ONE article focuses on female sports -- the WNBAPA has a new attorney.
Wanting to cut Sport Business Journal some slack, I clicked a few articles that could have potentially had females involved, such as " Engineers to assist NFL with injury prevention." No luck for woman in that article. I focused my attention on an article titled " Levi's Stadium Number Don't Lie," in which no females were mentioned in the article, however a female did make it into a picture on the article. Naturally, she is a petite blonde young aged girl posing with her smart phone. At least we females kind of made it in there...
As a female who likes sports just as much as any body else, the lack of female representation in the sporting world is extremely disheartening. I chose Sport Business Journal not because it only looks at athletes or fans, but because it covers a wide range of all things sport industry related. By choosing to ignore the issue of gender inequality in sports media, Sport Business Journal is just adding to the problem they criticized.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
The Voice(s) of Sport
For my event, I watched the commentary for the San Jose Sharks vs Los Angeles Kings Stadium Series game. Having attended the event, I was curious to see what the stadium looked like on TV, as well as what the players and commentators were saying about the first outdoor hockey game in Northern California.
The Sharks broadcasting team is made up of San Jose Shark and National Hockey League Alumni. Lead by Jamie Baker, a nine year vet within the organization he is one of the main faces of Comcast SportsNet California. Baker's main role is the television color commander. Stanley Cup winner and 17 year NHL Vetran Bret Hedican joins the team as an analyst and former Shark Curtis Brown also makes up the Sharks Pregame and Postgame Live shows, serving alongside Hedican as an analyst.
Hockey is considered a men's sport, with an emphasis on fighting, speed and force. Being passed NHL players, they are able to offer insight into the game that regular fans may not have picked up on. In addition, their keys to the game are explained in a way that can be understood by any normal viewer, especially one who is not familiar with the Kings or the Sharks. Because of the type of event, there was not too much about gender/racialized sterotypes, other than the fact that nearly every face on television was a generally easy on the eyes mid-aged white male.
The Sharks broadcasting team is made up of San Jose Shark and National Hockey League Alumni. Lead by Jamie Baker, a nine year vet within the organization he is one of the main faces of Comcast SportsNet California. Baker's main role is the television color commander. Stanley Cup winner and 17 year NHL Vetran Bret Hedican joins the team as an analyst and former Shark Curtis Brown also makes up the Sharks Pregame and Postgame Live shows, serving alongside Hedican as an analyst.
Hockey is considered a men's sport, with an emphasis on fighting, speed and force. Being passed NHL players, they are able to offer insight into the game that regular fans may not have picked up on. In addition, their keys to the game are explained in a way that can be understood by any normal viewer, especially one who is not familiar with the Kings or the Sharks. Because of the type of event, there was not too much about gender/racialized sterotypes, other than the fact that nearly every face on television was a generally easy on the eyes mid-aged white male.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports
The NCAA's mission statements puts an equal emphasis on excelling in athletes and academics with a high level of integrity and sportsmanship. In a perfect world, the NCAA would provide a fair and safe playing field for amateur athletes across the United States to both play the sport they love and get an education while doing so. In reaching this goal the NCAA would provide coaches, trainers, facilities, and what not to make this vision possible. Unfortunately, as we have seen throughout the years, this is not always the case. Within collegiate sport, especially the NCAA the large amount of money have added extra pressure on both the organization and its amateur athletes. In doing so, they have strayed form their core values creating a very different reality.
While the NCAA has stayed true to the amateur aspect of their athletes, this is not always in the athletes best interest. Athletics provide schools, especially those in the Big Five conference, with insane sums of cash. While the athletes do benefit from the money in terms of training facilities, equipment and travel, many feel as if they are not seen as exceptional athletes by the NCAA, but more so as cheap labor. In " Schooled : The Price of College Sports" Martin and Finkel bring light to this issue, is it fair to paying the athletes who generate all the revenue for schools? While it is hard to determine a hard dollar amount for how much time and effort the athletes put in to better themselves, and ultimately their university team, athletes are missing out on the billions of dollars they bring into the NCAA on a yearly basis. And, this is not necessarily in the athletes best interests.
At UNC, Athletes were put into specialized majors, to guarantee all top athletes would be academically eligible to compete in the NCAA. Not only is the NCAA going against their mission statement to help their athletes excel academically, they are ultimately hurting them in the long run, by inhibiting their academic growth, and allowing themselves to cheat in order to succeed. In a different aspect, many NCAA athletes do not have enough money to buy themselves the amount of food it takes to nourish the body at that level of an intense workout. However, the NCAA commissioner is sitting on a multi-million dollar salary, made up of the money these hungry athletes have earned for him. The Frontline Documentary " Money in March Madness," further emphasizes this point. And frankly, it is a little embarrassing for the NCAA. While it makes sense for athletes at small school such as Pacific to not get paid, due to the non-existent athletic revenue we generate at an organization, big schools that make millions off of their athletes still manage to short them. Many athletes at these big schools not only do not have enough to eat, but their families are unable to watch them participate in the biggest collegiate basketball event of the year: March Madness. In an event that generates billions for the NCAA, you would think an organization dedicated to the well being of student athletes could pitch in a few thousands dollars to at least allow the players families to join in on the festivities.
While I do think the NCAA provides a lot of opportunity for athletes to grow and develop both in competition and in the classroom, there is clearly a lot of room for improvement. The NCAA makes a lot of claims -- they are a non profit organization, dedicated to bettering the lives of and allowing their student athletes to succeed, and it's about damn time they start acting like it.
References
"NCAA Core Values." NCAA Home Page. N.p., 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015
While the NCAA has stayed true to the amateur aspect of their athletes, this is not always in the athletes best interest. Athletics provide schools, especially those in the Big Five conference, with insane sums of cash. While the athletes do benefit from the money in terms of training facilities, equipment and travel, many feel as if they are not seen as exceptional athletes by the NCAA, but more so as cheap labor. In " Schooled : The Price of College Sports" Martin and Finkel bring light to this issue, is it fair to paying the athletes who generate all the revenue for schools? While it is hard to determine a hard dollar amount for how much time and effort the athletes put in to better themselves, and ultimately their university team, athletes are missing out on the billions of dollars they bring into the NCAA on a yearly basis. And, this is not necessarily in the athletes best interests.
At UNC, Athletes were put into specialized majors, to guarantee all top athletes would be academically eligible to compete in the NCAA. Not only is the NCAA going against their mission statement to help their athletes excel academically, they are ultimately hurting them in the long run, by inhibiting their academic growth, and allowing themselves to cheat in order to succeed. In a different aspect, many NCAA athletes do not have enough money to buy themselves the amount of food it takes to nourish the body at that level of an intense workout. However, the NCAA commissioner is sitting on a multi-million dollar salary, made up of the money these hungry athletes have earned for him. The Frontline Documentary " Money in March Madness," further emphasizes this point. And frankly, it is a little embarrassing for the NCAA. While it makes sense for athletes at small school such as Pacific to not get paid, due to the non-existent athletic revenue we generate at an organization, big schools that make millions off of their athletes still manage to short them. Many athletes at these big schools not only do not have enough to eat, but their families are unable to watch them participate in the biggest collegiate basketball event of the year: March Madness. In an event that generates billions for the NCAA, you would think an organization dedicated to the well being of student athletes could pitch in a few thousands dollars to at least allow the players families to join in on the festivities.
While I do think the NCAA provides a lot of opportunity for athletes to grow and develop both in competition and in the classroom, there is clearly a lot of room for improvement. The NCAA makes a lot of claims -- they are a non profit organization, dedicated to bettering the lives of and allowing their student athletes to succeed, and it's about damn time they start acting like it.
References
"NCAA Core Values." NCAA Home Page. N.p., 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015
Schooled: The Price of College Sports. Dir. Trevor Martin and Ross Finkel. Perf. Taylor Branch and Jay Bilas and Kevin Anderson. 2013
Frontline: Money in March Madness. Frontline. March 29, 2011.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Tending the growth of achievement sport: High School Sport & me
Ever since I was little, I loved being in the water. My Dad used to joke that I could swim before I could walk, and with my severe pigeon toed feet and stalky legs his joke was not far from the truth. When I was 9 I had three years of competitive swimming under my belt, and would go on to win my first Junior Olympic gold in the 100-yard butterfly. For my accomplishment I got a swim cap and a sweater. When Demetrius Walker was 9, he was dunking basketballs, signing autographs, and as an eighth grader big name shoe companies wanted Demetrius in their gear. I swam club for years and years, practicing and traveling. From a young age we were constantly ranked and evaluated based on our performance and potential as swimmers, but never to the extent as Demetrius. Whereas my swim club individualized us as athletes, I feel as if Demetrius was viewed as an asset and laborer. It was never about how can this kid improve, or what can he bring to the team, but more so how much money can he make me, and how many wins can we get with him on the team. Perhaps the biggest difference is Demetrius has 150 or so fans come to his games. I had my parents. While Demetrius was focused on basketball, I was able to explore other sports -- I played ice hockey for sometime, dabbled with water polo and even played a few seasons of volleyball and basketball.
In high school, I stopped competitive swimming and quit ice hockey and focused all of my attention on water polo. For me, my transition to a high school water polo player was incredible. I had an extremely strong bond with my coaches, who criticized, motivated, cared and improved both my play in the pool and my character outside of it. At the point of sounded extremely conceded, I was the best player in the pool (and have the stats to prove it), but was never compared to other athletes or had enormous amounts of pressure placed upon my shoulders like Demetrius had. With expectations to be the next Tyson Chandler, Demetrius struggled to live up to these expectations, especially as players started to grow as tall, if not taller than he was. While there is always pressure to perform well, even in high school, a lot of it has to do with how the coaches handle and distribute that pressure amongst the players. From a young age Demetrius was said to be great, and everything he did that was less than so was seen as a disappointment. While I lead the league with most number of goals scored in the season, I had the nickname " Dink" a Native American term for an unwanted baby buffalo. While there was pressure on me to perform, faults and mistakes were seen as just that. Demetrius faults and mistakes were demoralizing.
While many of favorite memories thus far involved high school sport, there are many cases like Demetrius' that are often over looked. While sports teaches you discipline, leadership, and perseverance, among a plethora of other positive characteristics and attributes, it can teach you to hate opponents for no legitimate reason, it can teach you to cheat, it can lower ones self esteem and normalizes deviant practices. Above all, the dark side in cases about Demetrius is that they do not know how to not be the star. With such high expectations set at such a young age, it is almost impossible for them to not fall short of these unrealistic expectations.
Resources:
Dohrmann, G. (2010). The Education of Demetrius Walker. Sports Illustrated, 113(11), 62-75.
In high school, I stopped competitive swimming and quit ice hockey and focused all of my attention on water polo. For me, my transition to a high school water polo player was incredible. I had an extremely strong bond with my coaches, who criticized, motivated, cared and improved both my play in the pool and my character outside of it. At the point of sounded extremely conceded, I was the best player in the pool (and have the stats to prove it), but was never compared to other athletes or had enormous amounts of pressure placed upon my shoulders like Demetrius had. With expectations to be the next Tyson Chandler, Demetrius struggled to live up to these expectations, especially as players started to grow as tall, if not taller than he was. While there is always pressure to perform well, even in high school, a lot of it has to do with how the coaches handle and distribute that pressure amongst the players. From a young age Demetrius was said to be great, and everything he did that was less than so was seen as a disappointment. While I lead the league with most number of goals scored in the season, I had the nickname " Dink" a Native American term for an unwanted baby buffalo. While there was pressure on me to perform, faults and mistakes were seen as just that. Demetrius faults and mistakes were demoralizing.
While many of favorite memories thus far involved high school sport, there are many cases like Demetrius' that are often over looked. While sports teaches you discipline, leadership, and perseverance, among a plethora of other positive characteristics and attributes, it can teach you to hate opponents for no legitimate reason, it can teach you to cheat, it can lower ones self esteem and normalizes deviant practices. Above all, the dark side in cases about Demetrius is that they do not know how to not be the star. With such high expectations set at such a young age, it is almost impossible for them to not fall short of these unrealistic expectations.
Resources:
Dohrmann, G. (2010). The Education of Demetrius Walker. Sports Illustrated, 113(11), 62-75.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Once the cheering stops: The life of a retired pro-athlete
While the life of a professional athlete can be glamorous one -- attention, popularity and a pretty sweet pay check, the shelf life of a good professional athlete is often a short one. Athletes spend their whole lives identifying themselves with their sport. Being an athlete is who they are, and often they do not know how to be anything else, or who they are once they can no longer compete.
Most athletes who retired before the age 35, find it a hard transition once they hang up their jersey for the last time. However, the problem with adjusting to a normal lifestyle starts long before retirement. Many professional do not have a degree, some haven't sat in a classroom since their senior year of high school. Those athletes that do go to college have an immense amount of resources, a strong support network, fans, and set schedule. Once a player gets drafted, he/she is further pampered, living a lavish lifestyle of private planes, delicate dinners and a system of coaches and teammates that want to see him/her succeed.
The ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Broke, highlights problems professional athletes face upon retirement, and there are a bunch. The most prominent, and perhaps the most obvious problem acknowledged by the athletes is that many of them do not have any business experience. When twenty year olds are getting million and millions of dollars, money most kids their age couldn't even dream of, it is more often then not spent, leaving athletes broke or nearly bankrupt by the time their career ends. Their huge paychecks often go to lavish cars, expensive jewelry, houses, they are still kids at this point in their lives and have little to no sense of long term planning.
However, Broke dives into problems that are not necessarily obvious. Such as the gambling habits of many professional athletes, or the fact that they are subject to high tax rates on top of having to pay lawyers and agents. Many athletes who get traded have to start over in new cities, putting more financial toll on them and their families. Some athletes have the right idea, of investing their money into a business, but with no guidance or experience, many athletes invest their savings into dead end businesses, retired wide receiver Andre Rison recalls professional athletes investing in car washes.
More expensive than a failed car wash business, however would be family. Evander Holyfield, a retired boxer has eleven children by nine woman. Child support is another reassuring theme in Broke, many athletes reminisce on woman throwing themselves at them, specifically trying to get pregnant and rich in the profess. While eleven children is an extreme case, many professional athletes have a hard time adapting into a parenting position, especially when they are used to being on the road for long periods of times. Other athletes are sought out by family and friends for financial support, especially those who come from rougher neighborhoods.
With an average NFL career lasting between three and four years, and leave permanent damage on your body, it is unfortunate that these young athletes are unable to see the bigger picture. Then again, no one can blame a 21 year old for not thinking " am I really going to need this money in 20 years?" I know I don't think like that. Unfortunately stupidity is not always the case for bankruptcy among professional athletes. Some have the right intentions, making investments and supporting their family, but do not have the proper education or experience to truly be successful.
I believe that athletes and sport organizations often forget or overlook the fact that the shelf life of an athlete, while glamorous is extremely short. Athletes are bombarded with celebrity status, fans, and loaded paychecks it's easy to see how their money disappears long before they even hang up their jerseys for the last time. I believe that leagues could easily do a better job preparing their athletes for a future outside of professional sports, through various retirement and mentoring programs. Athletes are individuals with a phenomenal work ethic and discipline. They are able to accomplish things that only a small portion of the population can do, but it's a shame that society only sees them for what they are work for 3 to 4 years out of their life.
Most athletes who retired before the age 35, find it a hard transition once they hang up their jersey for the last time. However, the problem with adjusting to a normal lifestyle starts long before retirement. Many professional do not have a degree, some haven't sat in a classroom since their senior year of high school. Those athletes that do go to college have an immense amount of resources, a strong support network, fans, and set schedule. Once a player gets drafted, he/she is further pampered, living a lavish lifestyle of private planes, delicate dinners and a system of coaches and teammates that want to see him/her succeed.
The ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Broke, highlights problems professional athletes face upon retirement, and there are a bunch. The most prominent, and perhaps the most obvious problem acknowledged by the athletes is that many of them do not have any business experience. When twenty year olds are getting million and millions of dollars, money most kids their age couldn't even dream of, it is more often then not spent, leaving athletes broke or nearly bankrupt by the time their career ends. Their huge paychecks often go to lavish cars, expensive jewelry, houses, they are still kids at this point in their lives and have little to no sense of long term planning.
However, Broke dives into problems that are not necessarily obvious. Such as the gambling habits of many professional athletes, or the fact that they are subject to high tax rates on top of having to pay lawyers and agents. Many athletes who get traded have to start over in new cities, putting more financial toll on them and their families. Some athletes have the right idea, of investing their money into a business, but with no guidance or experience, many athletes invest their savings into dead end businesses, retired wide receiver Andre Rison recalls professional athletes investing in car washes.
More expensive than a failed car wash business, however would be family. Evander Holyfield, a retired boxer has eleven children by nine woman. Child support is another reassuring theme in Broke, many athletes reminisce on woman throwing themselves at them, specifically trying to get pregnant and rich in the profess. While eleven children is an extreme case, many professional athletes have a hard time adapting into a parenting position, especially when they are used to being on the road for long periods of times. Other athletes are sought out by family and friends for financial support, especially those who come from rougher neighborhoods.
With an average NFL career lasting between three and four years, and leave permanent damage on your body, it is unfortunate that these young athletes are unable to see the bigger picture. Then again, no one can blame a 21 year old for not thinking " am I really going to need this money in 20 years?" I know I don't think like that. Unfortunately stupidity is not always the case for bankruptcy among professional athletes. Some have the right intentions, making investments and supporting their family, but do not have the proper education or experience to truly be successful.
I believe that athletes and sport organizations often forget or overlook the fact that the shelf life of an athlete, while glamorous is extremely short. Athletes are bombarded with celebrity status, fans, and loaded paychecks it's easy to see how their money disappears long before they even hang up their jerseys for the last time. I believe that leagues could easily do a better job preparing their athletes for a future outside of professional sports, through various retirement and mentoring programs. Athletes are individuals with a phenomenal work ethic and discipline. They are able to accomplish things that only a small portion of the population can do, but it's a shame that society only sees them for what they are work for 3 to 4 years out of their life.
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