Female Boxers Hold Their Own On and Off the Ring

             A few weeks ago, I found this article titled “Gender has no weight in the ring,” by Jim Caple. This article was interesting because it gave me a glimpse of the issues female boxers faced on and off the ring. At the beginning of the article, the author recounted one of Claressa Shields’ boxing matches against a boy from the gym. He alluded to the boxer’s desire to be greater than her male counterpart.  Caple continued by highlighting another issue that these ladies faced.

            These boxers came from rough backgrounds. Tyrieshia Douglas stated, “We're not just [competing] for us, we're doing it for the world to hear our story.” These athletes want to be heard, yet many have been ignored by mainstream society. Today, female athletes continue to work to accomplish their journey toward equality.

            I feel that it is a shame for women to work twice as hard in order to receive equal or lesser rights than men. This article opened my eyes about the struggles female athletes face. Also, most of these problems are unnecessary. No matter what sex a person is they should be able to play any sport without being hassled.

Edwin Martin

Kin338i

Wed 4-6:45 PM

For the Love of the Game

This class has taught us a lot about the struggles that women have faced just to be able to play a sport they love. There are many struggles, perhaps too many to count. A struggle to prove that their ovaries were not going to fall out if they were active. A struggle to prove that they can stand the physical exhaustion that comes with a 800m run. A struggle to have the same rights as males in school settings.A struggle to be taken seriously as an athlete and not just another pretty face or body. A struggle to keep their personal lives off the court/field. I believe the latter was the one the most difficult to hear about. I was always aware of the stereotype of the "lesbian athlete" but I had no idea just how difficult it could be. The fact that coaches could/would make it virtually impossible for a player to participate in the sport that they worked so hard to play just because they do not agree with their lifestyle was horrible to learn. I would like to see advances in society that things like this was not an issue. Why so people care so much about who others love? Acceptance is what I long for. Acceptance to those that may be perceived as different but still work hard to fight for success. Women athletes are a force to be reckoned with. Struggle is just another word in the dictionary, and as far as I'm concerned go by this simple philosophy... Be who you are, do what you love, and play hard, for the love of the game.


Nicole A. Coleman

Coaches

With the recent stories that have broken out about assistant coaches taking advantage of young children as in the cases with former Penn state football defensive coordinate Jerry Sandusky and former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine. I have now reached a point, where I no longer will allow myself to watch college sports such as basketball and football. I have always never been a huge fan of college sports due to all of the stories about certain players receiving benefits O.J Mayo or taking money Reggie Bush or allowing them to get away with certain things like having someone else take your SAT test for you as in the case of Derrick Rose. This latest news of coaches taking advantage of young defenseless children is disgusting in my opinion because these young kids looked up to these people as figures of leadership and for them to use their power for such an inhumane way is evil. The reason that I will no longer follow college sports in general is due to the fact, that those university could have done something to put a stop it; in the case for Penn State where the school president was informed but instead of going to the authority, he chose to ban Sandusky from bringing children into the football building. In the case of Syracuse University, where the current men basketball head coach chose to make negative comments calling the two young boys liars and only bring this subject up now years later because they were interested in making money. Even though the head coach made an apology a day later for his comments, saying he spoke out of line without knowing all of the facts, which was true the damage was done. I have had enough of all of these college sports scandals to the point, where I will no longer follow any large schools such as the USC of football or the Kentucky of Basketball and will only focus on the smaller school that go about winning the right way.

Luis Carlos
Kin 338i
TuTh 930-1045

Is there any room left in L.A. for the Lakers?

I am a fan of Lakers for many NBA season but during the upcoming season it's seen like the Lakers have been pressure by the Clippers. For some reason, the Lakers have been trade off Lamar Odom, Shannon Brown and Chris Paul for this season. I really don’t know why they are making this trade because those players had helped Lakers wining a lot of game. During the upcoming season the Clippers are seeing to do a better job than Lakers. The Lakers are coming off as the losers comparing to the Clippers. I think the main reason for this is because of the bad trade between the players. For the upcoming season, the Lakers still have Kobe as the main player but still the Clippers have a bunch of new guys and Chris Paul, one of their best players. Kobe is getting older and I think the Clippers will take over all Kobe’s fans as time go on. As a Lakers fan, I really wish Lakers can win again the Clippers during the upcoming season but it’s going to be a tough season for the Lakers.

Ngan Bui
ID#009617320

Sexuality and Athleticism

After learning more about homophobia in sport and watching Training Rules, I stumbled upon an article, which I posted on twitter awhile back, that I wish Rene Portland and many other people out there could read. I know it's not about lesbians in sports, but I feel that it goes along the same idea of what Rene Portland and others wouldn't want on their team. The article is about a transgender Samoan soccer player named Jonny Saelua. In the Samoan culture, Jonny is a fa'afafine, which states in the article that "you have to be Samoan, born a man, feel you are a woman, be sexually attracted to males and, importantly, proud to be called and labeled fa'afafine." She became the first transgender player to compete on a World Cup stage and helped achieve American Samoa's first victory in international soccer. Everyone on her team accepts her and makes her feel part of the family. They don't treat her differently and really just focus on playing the sport they love.

I feel that the same thing applies to most teams out there, where the coaches and teammates are comfortable with gay, lesbian, bi or transgender players on the team but that unfortunately wasn't the case for former coach Rene Portland. In Training Rules, it didn't matter how great of an athlete a player was on her team. If Portland felt, thought, or knew a player was lesbian, she would do anything to not only remove that player from the team, but from not being able to play college basketball again anywhere. That was one of the issues that caught most of our attentions in class. No matter how great your athleticism, your sexuality will determine whether you can play or not. If only Rene was more accepting like many people out there along with the Samoan culture. She threw away and discouraged many amazing female athletes that could have taken the women's Penn State basketball team far, as well as their own personal careers in basketball. Definitely not the kind of coach I would want.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/sports/soccer/jonny-saelua-transgender-player-helps-american-samoa-to-first-international-soccer-win.html?_r=2&ref=soccer


Jan Redondo!
KIN 338i Section 1

What I Learned

In our final class meeting we did something that I wish more classes would do: we discussed what we learned, overall, in the class.

We answered our choice of two questions from a list of many. Being the super self-centered guy that I am, I shared one of my answers (because I love to hear myself talk, of course).

My other answer however, I never mentioned out loud. Not even when we were talking in our smaller groups.

"Why?", you ask?

The answer is very simple: in all honesty, I am ashamed.


I don't remember the question exactly, but it was something along the lines of: "What is something you are going to do differently because of this class?"...or something like that.

God, this is kind of hard to write, but I feel like its something that needs to be said...

I say the words "gay" and "faggot" a lot. Not with "homophobic" intentions, just when I'm messing around with my friends or I'm calling something "lame".


I am ashamed that I do that. Furthermore, it really was this class that made me feel that shame.


I used to live in the dorms and one of the first friends I made there was a lesbian couple. Almost every day I would let those words slip. I would call my buddy a "faggot" or call a TV show "gay" without even thinking twice.

The two of them were really cool about it, but I could tell it bugged them a little. So I stopped (The best could anyways).

But we drifted apart. You know, life just gets in the way sometimes...and without them there as a constant reminder, I feel into my old ways.

This class, with its close examinations of our society and the underlying prejuices we just accept, brought it to my attention once again.

I have tried to stop saying those words entirely. I don't always succeed (old habits die hard), but I feel like I am on the right track to eliminating those words from my vocabulary.

I know it isn't much, but I like to think that every bit helps in everyone's fight for equality.

Thanks a lot for reading :)

Gus Keller
Kin 338i
Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 - 10:45