Sports in a Diverse Society: October 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

References in APA Style

Example of reference from an academic journal article in APA style

Saturday, October 16, 2010

For the final research paper, students must ask and try to answer a sociological question related to race, ethnicity, gender, class and sport. The paper must be 5-7 pages. The paper must include 8 to 10 references. Five of the references must be from sociological journal articles. Each student is to submit a research proposal by Wednesday, October 20. The research proposal should be about one page and include the following:

1. A research question

2. A detailed outline

3. Eight academic references, including 5 sociological journal articles in APA format

Posted by Dr. Martin

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Allen Jones and Keith Gilyard

Gilyard and Jones have many crossing points in their lives. Both African American males, both smart in school, both live on the edges of poverty in NYC in the 50s and 60s, and both have parents who are physically abusive. Early on both set their eyes on their sports careers as an escape hatch from the difficult family, school and neighborhood situations they find themselves in. I am wondering if that is still true today, 50 years later. In poor neighborhoods with poor public schools and "tough streets," is sports still perceived by the youth as the best means of escape.

I have to get the exact statistic, but I think I remember reading that when you do the math of the number of highschool basketball players and the number of NBA players, the chances of making it to the NBA is like 1 in 5,000. (Don't quote me on that number.)

The number of American high school players making it to professional leagues is probably shrinking because the NBA, like MLB and NFL, recruits from all over the world now. I was reading in the NYTIMES on Sunday that most of MLB is pulling out of the Dominican Republic because of problems with phony ages and steroids. So certainly escape from poverty through sports is still leading to drastic behavior, now the world over.

But back to my main question. I wonder if in neighborhoods in NYC right now there are young athletes looking to sports as a panacea from poverty. There is a documentary about two highschool then college basketball players who certainly believe this. And there is the excellent book LAST SHOT, which chronicles five players from Coney Island who try to make it to the NBA. All seven players end careers without making it. But both of these sources seem to corroborate that many male high school athletes believe, like Gilyard and Jones, that their athletic prowess can save them and lead them to be millionaires.

However, these are old sources (1994 and 1996 respectively), and I wonder now whether males growing up in poverty still believe this. What a great research project this would make. And come to think of it, I wonder if females growing up in poverty are also now believing in the possibility of sports as a panacea to current poverty given the rise of the WNBA and the offering of more womens scholarships for athletics. Ah another good project. So many projects; so little time.