The Globalization of the NBA

     The NBA'S plan to expand has been a long time coming. With pro football looking to possibly place a team(s) in London, and the NCAA  making moves towards China, it was only a matter of time before the NBA looked to expand its brand. Though this would seem logical due to the competition for TV time and competing with other global sports brands, many seem skeptical of an NBA presence in Europe. The opportunities that can come with expanding your brand are vast, but expanding too fast without properly analyzing the market could be catastrophic.
     The NBA is without a doubt the most elite basketball league in the world. Every four years, at the summer olympics, the United States men's basketball team seems to dominate the competition (with exception to 2004 when they placed third) with many of those players coming from the NBA. So much so, its as if other teams enter the tournament to compete for second place. We are starting to see more and more European players enter into the NBA every year, coming from European universities or European basketball leagues. There is obviously a great amount of basketball talent coming from Europe, and with the NBA having a presence in select European countries, it would give these players a better opportunity to be noticed and compete in the most elite basketball league in the world.
     I believe the main reason as to why the NBA is looking to expand is because they want to keep up with the current trend going on in American sports. For the past 6 years, the NFL has been playing pre-season and regular season games in London, in hopes that it can create some sort of European fan base and gain some support for their move. By the NFL playing a few games overseas, it also allows them to analyze the size of the market and calculate the potential for growth. In order for the NBA to be successful in their expansion efforts they must follow in the footsteps of the NFL, because I can guarantee that neither the NFL nor the NBA will dominate the European sports market like soccer does, so rushing into Europe could be very costly.
     Probably the biggest consequence that can come from an unsuccessful expansion overseas is all four European NBA teams fail to attract the audience necessary to keep supporting these teams, leading to not being able to afford good players, coaching staff, and trainers, and ultimately shutting down the European NBA system. If the NBA does not do a proper analysis of the market and place four teams in locations where basketball is not hugely popular, it can be very difficult for them to gain the support to expand. As I had previously stated, the NBA should look to the NFL when it comes to expanding to a foreign market. Slowly exposing the NBA to Europeans will spark the interest of European sports fans.

References

Gibson, O. (2015, January 15). NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants to launch four European franchises. Retrieved January 28, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/15/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-european-franchises

Barnwell, Bill. "London Calling." Grantland. N.p., 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

Sport in the Ancient World

Sports in Ancient Greece celebrated the beauty of the human form and the perfection of the athlete. Every four years, without a break for nearly twelve centuries, a sporting event in Olympia was held where athletes were able to display their abilities and their physique. The winners of these games were seen as individuals favored by the gods and used as objects of desire. At the time these games were first created, the only sport was sprinting. The atmosphere of the sprinting race was that of religious tension; those who won were seen as favored by the gods. Because form and physique played such big roles in Greek sports, it was important that that was put on display throughout the events, so all athletes performed naked. Before the event, each athlete was washed, doused in oil, and scented; Body odor was seen as a sign of divinity. After, the body was then sprinkled with dust, preferably yellow, because it added glisten to the athlete's body. After the competition, the body was then scraped of the oil and dirt, which was said to have a sort of healing power to heal wounds and inflammation. Even at that time, athletics was a serious, lucrative business. Starting in the 6th Century BC, detailed dietary and workout plans were given to athletes by trainers. As for the athlete themselves, those who could participate were free-born Greek men, with Zeus' daughter being the only woman who could attend the event.

As for the Ancient Romans, sport was based on brutality, death, and violence. The "athletes," or Gladiators, were either slaves, criminals, or POWs fighting to the death in order to gain their freedom. The training regimen for the gladiators was just as rigorous and intense as training for the Roman soldiers-all athletes must know how to use a sword, so all athletes trained with a Gladius, which is a standard, two-edged sword. When it came to costumes, a Gladiator's armor was his costume. Each Gladiator had their own special design on their armor to separate themselves from the others. No gladiator was ever fully protected because it was thought that everyone needed to have a weakness that their counterpart was able to identify. As previously stated, the actual event itself consisted of a fight to the death, with the winner eventually gaining his freedom.

When comparing sports today with sports of the ancient worlds, we can see that their are obvious similarities and differences. Athletes today are put in a very similar spotlight to the athletes of ancient Greece. Just as they did then, many athletes nowadays follow a specific workout and dietary plan for their respective sport so they can be in the best shape possible to compete. The fans today tend to put the athletes on a pedastal above most individuals because of their physical abilities. As for the game itself, Greek style of sport was more similar to sport today than Ancient Roman sport because Roman sport focused more on violence and the brutality. Roman sport was more about brute force than having athletic ability, which may be handy for some sports today, such as boxing, MMA, and other fighting sports, but not for most sports. 

Reference

"Ancient Olympia Part 1." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2015.

"Ancient Olympia Part 2." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2015.

"Gladiator Training." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2015.

Sport, Society & Me

A) The author identifies four paradoxes, the first being that sport is a fantasy, a diversion from the realities of work, relationships, and survival. Sport elaborates in its rituals what it means to be human: the risks, the trials, the collective impulse of the game, and...the certainty that nothing is certain and things can change and be changed. The second is that sports shares with larger societies the basic elements and expressions of bureaucratization, commercialization, racism, sexism, etc. American sport mirrors american values. Third, sport is compelling because it combines spectacle with drama, excellence and clarity. Lastly, there is a human desire to identify with something greater than oneself. For athletes, it's a part of being a team, making sacrifices and working together to reach a common goal, and for the fans, it's about identifying with a team or sports hero bonds them with others who share their allegiance. In terms of comparing and contrasting my definition of sport with Eitzen's paradoxes of sport, our view point as to what sport offers is very similar, but I believe his first and fourth paradoxes to be perfect depictions of what sport is. Sport provides outlets for those who need to get away from the stresses of life, and helps fill voids in the lives of those who have no one to look up to.

B) I've never really realized, until writing this, at how much sport has become such a major part of my life. As ridiculous as it may sound, sport could be one of the best things that I have ever known. Not because it's fun to watch or it's fun to play, but because it offers so much more than just scoring goals or hitting home runs. Sport can pull the best and worst out of people, and for those who play sports, it can push them to physical, mental, and emotional limits you didn't think could be reached. I feel that I developed a connection for sport at a young age. Growing up, I played baseball and basketball, and was constantly surrounded by everything sports. Sport was always easily accessible for me because everyone in my family played sports; even my stepdad coaches high school basketball. But I didn't really start to appreciate sport for what it was until I was about 20 years old when my sister Jocelyn, who played basketball for the University of Nevada Reno, passed away from a brain tumor. She literally played until she couldn't anymore, and during that time while she was still playing and watching her go through what she was going through, I realized that basketball had provided her with an outlet she could turn to when things were going bad and she just didn't want to talk about her illness anymore. It was as if she used basketball as therapy to ease the pain she was feeling. It's because of her that I have such a great appreciation for sport, because it provided her with the comfort that no one or nothing else could provide.

References
Eitzen, D.S (2006). Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes of Sport (2nd Ed.). Oxford, Rowman & Littlefield: Chapter 1

Sports in the US

A) Sport in the United States is much more than just scoring the most points and winning the match or game. For some people, sport helps fill voids in their lives; sport gives people something to cheer for and athletes and teams to look up to. You follow a sports team throughout an entire season hoping that they will be the last team standing when it's all said and done, but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way, and it can be gut-wrenching. Baseball, for example, is one of the most popular sports in America. The players play 162 games a year, and that's not even counting playoff games. Now, imagine following a team for all 162 games and they don't even make it to the playoffs. For some, they let it go and look towards next season, but for others, it's a struggle to get past the fact that their team wasn't the best. It can be exhausting for players and fans alike. Sports in America is unlike sports anywhere else. We tend to put athletes and the sport itself on a pedestal; they become heroes to fans across America.
The three most popular sports in the United States, in my opinion, are baseball, basketball, and football. The common goal of each of these three games is to have the most points by the end of the game or match. Each team for each sport has a set of players, a set of coaches, and offensive and defensive sets that help them maneuver around their opponents, and create opportunities for them to score. Typically, the team will assign a "team captain" who displays the best leadership qualities and skills to make sure that everyone is on the same page while they are on the court or field.  For baseball, it could be anyone that is team captain. But for football, it's typically the quarterback, and for basketball, it's typically the point guard, because they are the ones who call out and run the plays.
Success in these sports are measured by a number of different factors. Typically, for a single season, the ultimate goal is to score the most points by the end of the game, have the most wins by the end of the season, and win the championship. Success can also be measured by looking at the team's history; How many championships have that team already one? Who were some big time players back when that team was really good? Personally, I measure success by how the players play together and bond as a team. Baseball, basketball, and football are TEAM sports, not individual sports, and sometimes players lose sight of the fact that you can't win unless all players are on the same page. For example, the BEST team I have ever seen in sports was the 2002 Sacramento Kings. Though they didn't win a championship, you knew that when Mike Bibby, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic, and Doug Christie stepped onto the floor, you were in for a great show. The togetherness they played with, understanding for each others game and tendencies, and the amount of respect they had for one another was displayed in almost every game they played with each other.

B) Sports ethic "...emphasizes sacrifice for the game, seeking distinction, taking risks, and challenging limits," (Hughes, Coakley). The four dimensions of this concept include:
1) Being an athlete involves making sacrifices for the game
2) Being an athlete involves striving for distinction
3) Being an athlete involves accepting risks and playing through pain
4) Being an athlete involves refusing to accept limits in the pursuit of possibilities

Athletes tend to conform to these set of beliefs because it is what they need to do in order to become the best athlete that they can be. Making sacrifices means that maybe you won't be able to go to that party on a Saturday night because you need to work on your game, or you choose not to pursue something because your sport is more important. Accepting risks and playing through pain means you realize there is a possibility that you can get hurt while playing, and if that time comes when you do get injured, you work through the pain to get back to 100%.
Personally, growing up playing basketball, I have experienced all four of these dimensions. For example, there cam e a point in my life when baseball and basketball were competing for my time, and I had to make the ultimate decision on which sport I wanted to pursue. Knowing that I was better at basketball than baseball, but still loved playing baseball, I decided to drop baseball and continue with basketball. Though it was a tough decision, it was just one of the sacrifices I had to make in order to pursue what I believed I had a better chance at succeeding.

Works Cited

1. Hughes, Robert, and Jay Coakley. (1991). Positive Deviance Among Athletes: The Implications of Overconformity to the Sport Ethic. Sociology of Sport Journal, 8, 307-12.