Month: August 2020

Welcome to part two of the “Being a Woman in the Sports Broadcasting Industry,” the series. Today we are going to talk about how to deal with sexism from media outlets as a female sports caster. Not only do they receive sexism from fans, but they also receive sexism from media outlets which is very unfortunate.

It is frustrating to hear the even media outlets are sexist towards women sports casters because aren’t they supposed to act accordingly and be professional? It is also upsetting to see this going on and happen because they are dragging down women to make them feel better about themselves. I was always told if someone is picking on you or bringing you down, it is because there are things about themselves they do not like so they project their insecurities onto you. An example of sexism in the media outlet is one from the UK in 2011. Richard Keys and ex-professional footballer Andy Gray have been known to tweet out their misogynistic attitudes and opinions.

A way to solve this issue is to teach men to not me sexist or misogynistic. Keep your opinions to yourself! Women already deal with harsh criticism on a daily basis.

I hope these tips were helpful! If you have any more tips or advice, comment them below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

Welcome to part two of the “Being a Woman in the Sports Broadcasting Industry,” the series. Today we are going to talk about how to deal with sexism from fans as a female sports caster. Unfortunately, this happens more often than you think. Women deal with sexism with fans on social media, in person, and in blogs and articles.

More than 90% of anchors, commentators, and editors are men. It was not until 2017 until a woman announced a men’s March Madness or Monday Night Football game. This is frustrating to hear because I know there are many incredible women out there who are excellent anchors, commentators, and editors. Another frustrating thing to hear is that women who are sports anchors, commentators, and editors are being targeted on social media. Tina Cervasio, a sports reporter for Fox’s New York affiliate has said that she gets tweets that tell her she should go back to the kitchen. She also has said that they worry about her hair color and her appearance. If she was fat and bald like her male counterparts, she would not have the job. Kim Jones of the NFL Network also gets tweets saying that the only reason she has her job because of her looks.

The solution to this problem is to keep your sexist opinions to yourself. Yeah, I’m talking to the male sports fans that are out there. If it looks so easy to you, why don’t you try talking to a camera in a stadium in front of thousands of people. This has been an on-going issue for many decades and it needs to stop. It’s 2020 for crying out loud! As for the women who are receiving these sexist comments, just ignore them and do not let them get to you. Keep your head high and go out there and show that women CAN do this profession too.

I hope these tips were helpful! If you have any more tips or advice, comment them below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

Since I want to go into sports broadcasting, I thought I would switch it up. I am going to call this: Being a woman in the sports broadcasting industry the series. Being a woman is already hard enough but trying to make it in the sports broadcasting industry as a woman is even harder. The topics I am going to discuss are how to break into sports broadcasting as a woman, sexism from fans, and sexism in media outlets.

It is frustrating to break into sports broadcasting as a woman because women have a hard time taken seriously and because people have the stereotype in their mind that females do not know what they are talking about when it comes to sports. This frustrates me because just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I don’t know what I am talking about when it comes to sports. When I see a women’s sports anchor on TV such as Erin Andrews, I immediately take her seriously because she knows what she is talking about. If she did not know what she is talking about, then Fox Sports would not have hired her to be a sideline reporter. Women have to work twice as hard as men do to make it in this industry.

Here are ways how a woman can break into the sports broadcasting industry. One way is to learn what goes on off camera. As for me, I am lucky I got to experience this when I took COMM 360 this past fall and spring semester. Before I took the class, I knew nothing about what it takes to put on a live sports production. After taking the class for football and basketball, I now understand what all goes on. I had the opportunity to just about do everything while taking the class. Another way to break into the sports broadcasting industry is to practice, practice, practice. The best way to do this is use a hairbrush as your microphone and put your iPhone on a stand while you record yourself talking to it. After you are done you can look back at your recording to see how you talk, breathe and on-gesture on-camera so that it all looks natural. It is honestly not as easy as it looks. Trust me. I learned the hard way.

I hope these tips were helpful! If you have any more tips or advice, comment them below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

What is defamation? According to Dictionary.com, defamation is, “the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.” Defamation not only occurs in the daily news, blog posts, and articles, it also occurs in college athletics. A notable court case that involved defamation was McNair v. NCAA. Todd McNair was a former University of Southern California assistant football coach which the NCAA Committee on Infractions found was a crucial link in the Reggie Bush case. McNair received a one-year show-cause order that as a result got him fired and apparent black-balling from college football. Because of this, McNair sued the NCAA for alleging defamation.

Defamation is and can be frustrating. When you defame someone, you are bringing someone down and ruining their reputation, which is why it is extremely important if you are going into sports broadcasting or journalism that you watch what you say so you do not get caught up in a situation like this. You have to remember that the athlete, coach, or athletic staff member that you are writing or talking about is human and has feelings too. In general, it is not good to talk badly about someone anyway because it makes you look bad and it can ruin your reputation as well.

Which brings us to the solution to this problem. When you are talking about an athlete, coach, or athletic staff member, make sure to be bias about them. That way you do not defame them, hurt their feelings, or potentially ruining their reputation.

What do you guys think? Should there be more serious consequences when someone get defamed? Sound off in the comments below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

College athletes at the Division I and II level are awarded scholarships for their extraordinary athletic talents and ability. The scholarship they get covers tuition, room, board, and course-related books. Unfortunately though, this is not the case.

As frustrating as it sounds, a “full ride” scholarship does not cover everything for a student-athlete. There are two types of scholarships: full and partial. A full athletic scholarship is covers tuition, certain course-related fees, room and board, and course-related books. A partial athletic scholarship covers only a portion of  the expenses that are covered in a full athletic scholarship. An athletic scholarship does not cover other things that involve an athlete going to college such as parking, a single room in the dorm, or library fines and late fees. It also does not cover off-campus housing after the student-athlete’s freshman year is completed.

A solution to this problem is to think about this other housekeeping items when giving out scholarships. Not every student athlete can afford the other incentives that come along when going to college. Some of them come from poverty and broken families, unlike their other teammates who do not come from broken families and have more money than they do.

What do you guys think? Do you think more money should be included in scholarships to cover other college expenses? Sound off in the comments below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

Should college athletes get paid has been the biggest question in college athletics for quite some time now. Just by watching them on TV, you can tell they are hardworking, dedicated passionate, and truly love what they do. College sports are definitely more entertaining than pro sports in my opinion because it amazes me that they not only athletes being showcased every weekend, they are also a student just like me. Although they are being showcased on TV every weekend, they are not getting paid for it.

This is a frustrating topic because some people are for it and others are against it. Reasons why some people are against it is because they are too young of an age to be getting paid. I can kind of see their point because when I started working at my job my senior year of high school, I would spend my money on things I really did not need. Now that I am older, I know how to manage my money better. Another reason why people think athletes should not be paid is most athletes are on scholarships. They help pay for the sport they play so technically they are already getting paid. Reasons why people think that athletes should get paid is because their talents are being showcased every weekend on national TV, just like all of the pro players. College athletes, just like professional athletes, are just as hard working, dedicated, and passionate about the sport that they play.

In my opinion, I think athletes should get paid. They are showcased every weekend for their talents just like the pros are and they are receiving  nothing in return. Some athletes come from broken families and poverty and have a job while they are going to school and going to practice. The solution to this problem was finally solved when the NCAA announced that student-athletes will be paid for the use of their name, image, and likeness during the 2021-22 school year.

What do you guys think? Did the NCAA make the right decision? Sound off in the comments below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

Every time draft season comes along, (usually) the one that is a tearjerker for me is the NFL draft. I really enjoy learning about the players, such as what college they played football at, what position they played, and why they started playing football. It truly it is inspiring. What really touches me is their backstories. Some of these college players are not so lucky as others. Most of them come from a broken family or a hard childhood. They want to make it to the NFL so they can support their family.

This issue not only frustrates me, but other people as well. It really puts into perspective that not everyone has had a good childhood or comes from a good family. According to a study called, “The Price of Poverty in Big Time College Sport,” “room and board provisions in a full scholarship leave 85 percent of players living on campus and 86 percent of players living off campus living below the federal poverty line. These players not only have football practice every day and college classes, some of them have jobs too to support themselves since their families cannot provide them money. Unfortunately, coaches are unable to help out players and give them money because it is against NCCA rules. The only money they can give them is for their scholarship.

The solution to this problem is the NCAA should let coaches be able to help out players who need it. They put in so much hard work, are very passionate about the sport they play, and they love what the do. It very unfortunate that they come from these hard lives and broken families. Another solution to this problem is somewhat solved. They can enter the NFL draft in hopes of getting drafted by an NFL team. Then they could finally get paid for the sport they love and help out their families and themselves.

What do you guys think? Should coaches be able to help out college athletes that are in poverty? Sound off in the comments below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

Athletes and concussions have been a hot topic for quite a few years now. There are multiple court cases out there that involve the NCAA and concussions. According to the Associated Press, “the NCCA is dealing with more than 300 lawsuits from former college football players who claim their concussions were mistreated, leading to medical problems spanning from headaches to depression, and in some cases, early onset Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease.” After playing field hockey my freshman year, I have received a letter in the mail from the NCAA saying how they themselves were being sued for how they handled college athletes and the concussions they got from playing their sport. It honestly baffled me, and I thought it was ironic. NCAA athletes and concussions are still a rising and concerning issue in the sports world today.

This is a very frustrating and concerning issue because the human brain is a vital organ in the human body. The more it gets damaged, the more it does not work properly. If a concussion is not taken seriously, some complications can occur. These complications include post-traumatic headaches, post-traumatic vertigo, post-concussion syndrome, and second impact syndrome. If someone who has a concussion does not treat it right away, unpleasant long-term consequences. These consequences include headaches and fatigue that could sometimes go on for years. They are not as sharp as they used to be mentally, and they can’t focus. Not only this is not good on a normal person, it is especially not good if that person is an athlete. An excellent movie that highlights this is the movie, “Concussion.” If you have not watched it yet, I highly recommend it. Football players who have went from the NCAA to NFL that are now retired are suffering from long-term brain injuries. These athletes that are suing the NCCA are seeking compensation for their injuries.

The best solution to this problem is to educate coaches, players, and athletic trainers on concussions and their severity. When I played field hockey at IUP and also being a Sport Administration major, I had to watch many videos on concussions and go to meetings with athletic trainers about concussions. Maybe if coaches, players, and athletic trainers are more educated on concussions and their severity, there would be less court cases with the NCAA and former college athletes.

What do you guys think about educating players, coaches, and athletes more on concussions? Sound off in the comments below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

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