"He Trade Raped You. You have been Trade Raped!":The Religion and Rituals of Fantasy Sports

When it comes to fantasy sports every sports fan becomes a fanatic. There are leagues for many sports.   Each league is different.  Some are very intense and competitive while others are just for fun. Most leagues have a huge amount of smack talking.  People that participate in leagues take them very seriously.  Often blaming the players for not doing good for the reason why they lost their match up.  We see this in the show The League.  The character Ruxin yells at a Professional Football player for the reason he lost his matchup, when he sees him at a spa.  Yet, leagues are considered a religion and each league has a ritual. 

   The FX comedy The League, follows a group of friends that are involved in a fantasy football league.  This League's league is highly competitive.  The members hold a draft every year at someone's house.  They use a board and do the draft in person.  This is very old fashion, because now drafts are automated.  This is a ritual of this league.  Also, each member is playing for the SHIVA.  The SHIVA is the trophy of the League.  It is named after a girl form their High School.  This isn't uncommon many leagues have trophies or something that is given to the winner.  In my league the ritual is a NFL football form one of the Super Bowls and my Pap always gives it to the winner like he is announcing a wrestling match. Many people treat this trophy as a god and they worship it like a religion.  In The League the members have a song that goes along with this.  They also, worship it like a god; by taking it everywhere, having a shrine for it, or treating it like it has feelings. This would make the trophies a part of the religion of Fantasy sports.  

   Apart of leagues is smack talk.  This consist of telling your opponent how bad they are and how you will beat them.  In the show The League there is a lot of smack talking.  The one that does it the best and the most graphic would be Ruxin.   In Fantasy leagues this seems to be more potent. These are the extremely serious ones. I looked up some good smack talks well ones I thought would be funny. For instance, these one-liners made ESPN's top smack talkers.  The list consisted of:"Grab a Spoon and taste defeat.",  "Go make me a sandwich.", "What time is cheerleader tryouts?", and my favorite "Save your breath you'll need it to blow up your date." (Here's the rest of the best smack talks). Smack talking is what makes Fantasy sports fun.  It’s the competitiveness of this ritual that people love.
  Another ritual would be having the worst record in your league.  In The League the punishment for having the worst record was that you had to keep the Sacko: a disgusting looking trophy.  Some other ones that people had to do in other leagues were:  Make them wear a dress if you have your draft in a public place, have a humiliating that they have to keep on their mantel all year, or make them do the cinnamon challenge. Many leagues make players that get the worst spot do something extremely embarrassing. 

                Fantasy sports are a big part of being a fan.  Many Fantasy players treat the game as a religion bowing down to their trophies as a God, or by participating in the ritual of smack talking.  And if you get the “Sacko” you better reevaluate your game plan for next year, or hope your friends don’t make you do this because you’re so bad a Fantasy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-agpv48woE 

Freak Out Choke Out: Latrell Sprewell's Apology

 

       In December of 1997, Latrell Sprewell, guard for the Golden Gate Warriors choked his coach P.J. Carlesimo.  The incident occurred only three days after Sprewell was fined for missing a team flight and showing up late to a Salt Lake City game.  Tension had been boiling between the two, ever since Carlesimo yanked Sprewell during the Lakers game calling him a joke three weeks earlier.  Carlesimo has been known for his coaching style: yelling and screaming at players and being hard nosed and stubborn.   Latrell Sprewell lost his cool in practice after Carlesimo got on him about passing the ball.  In which, Sprewell responded with "I don't want to hear it today" (ESPN Classics). When Sprewell warned Carlesimo about approaching him, Carlesimo did it anyways and Sprewell jumped at the coach's throat for ten or fifteen seconds until other players broke it up.  About twenty minutes later Sprewell went back at Carlesimo throwing punches and planted one on across the coach's face.   The following is an analysis of Latrell Sprewell's apology. 

        Sprewell begins his apology by saying that he believes that people need to hear his side of the story.  He states, 

     

"I have to say that I never really got a chance to tell my side of the story. There were times where I reached out and tried to reach out to try to rectify the situation here at Golden State. I was willing to meet with the team and the league after being suspended and it just seemed like no one wanted to hear what I had to say". 

 Sprewell is evading the responsibility of his actions, in order to reduce the offensiveness on himself.   In the self-defense strategies this can be classified as Denial.  This is because he doesn't even say I'm sorry but, he automatically tries to put the blame somewhere else.  Yet, he goes on to apologize by saying that he will try to fix what he had done and stop it from happening next time by controlling his temper.

  Latrell Sprewell uses some bolstering by talking about how he has spent so much time getting where he is today.  He states:

"I think if you look back, and I've looked back, over that span, those 10 years, and I just feel that those 10 years of hard work shouldn't be taken away for one mistake. My career didn't happen overnight, and I don't think it should have been taken away from me overnight."

He also blames some of the problem on the media for portraying him as a bad guy.  You can classify this as differentiation.  He knows he did something wrong but blames the media for not showing what really happen.  He ultimately blames them for the reason why his career is going downhill.  Sprewell states: 

"A lot has been in said in the media, on TV, in the paper, about what has happened and the events that have taken place. In my opinion, a lot of it has been one-sided, and I've really been looked upon as a negative person, as a person that can't handle problems, and isn't good in problem-solving situations, and that is totally not true. I've been vilified”.

   As you can see, Latrell Sprewell does not only take reasonability for his actions but he blames the media for portraying him as a villain.  And blaming his long suspension on the NBA for not hearing his side of the story.  

If you would like to see the rest of his apology:  http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1997/Transcript-of-Latrell-Sprewell-s-public-statement/id-64b3ccc28ba73589a617dc1d33cffdc6

Wow there's a girl playing for the Packers?!?! Wait no that's Aj Hawk!

 
In the world of sports, men are told to act a certain way; that you have to be tough and there is "no crying". They have to be masculine all the time and show their masculinity all the time. Whether it is showing their muscles or the way they dress. Some athletes, men and women, take on these ideals and challenge what the public says is the norm. Whether it is by showing that a women can be athletic and not be secretly a man (Caster Semenya).  Or having long hair on the playing field as a man, athletes are shaping the gender lines today.  This is what Green Bay Linebacker, Aj Hawk, does.

In today's standards, men can't be compassionate or they will be called gay or "unmanly", thus defining what masculinity really is.  Aj Hawk resists the rule of masculinity.  The Green Bay Packers Line Backer from Ohio State is a big guy.  He has the muscles and he plays LB the most masculine position on the field.  Yet, Aj Hawk has long flowing hair. People would say that Hawk is a girl or has feminine tendency because of his hair.  Yet Hawk is one of the top LB's in the NFL.  Hawks hair challenges the norm of what some would say a normal football player would look like. 
Also, not only does Hawks appearance go to show that he challenges the idea of what a true man is, but Aj Hawk does charity work. Masculinity has taken a show no mercy attitude.  That man can't have a soft side or they could be gay.  Aj Hawk also challenges this ideal. On the field he is an explosive LB.  He almost scary at times and some would say that he is a real mans man. Yet, last year in March Hawk sported a new haircut.  Hawk cut all of his golden locks off and donated them to charity. He stated why he did it on Twitter. "No child should have to feel ashamed of themselves due to a disease. We are hoping to raise enough money and hair donations to change many lives" (Twitter) Hawks compassion could be conveyed as gay and unmanly.  This is because men are not supposed to show emotion.  Men at a young age are told that if they do they are sissies or soft.  Aj hawk resist the particular norm of what a man should be or what a football player should be. 

   Aj Hawk is a big guy, but he challenges what masculinity really is.  His flowing hair and how he donated it to charity goes to show that he has feminine qualities. Hawk proves heterosexuality by how he performs on the field, but of the field he resist the idea of the cultural norm of masculinity.  And some might say he has gay tendencies, but who would want to tell him that.

A NOT so Happy Ending: US Softball's Road to Beijing

 
    The world has had its fair share of upsets.  The myth that tiny David could topple Goliath and come out as the unsung hero has been in sports for as long as sports have been around.  Stories like the USA Miracle hockey team, or Mazeroski's home run are examples that this can happen.  Now, these stories all had happy endings for one team and usually its the winning team that tells the story.  Yet I'm taking a different approach, telling the story of David Vs.Goliath, from Goliath's stand point.

USA Olympic Team after winning Silver in the 2008 Beijing Olympics

    The USA softball team had been dominating on the global stage since the 1996 Olympics, going 8-1, their only loss coming from Australia in Round Robin play.  The US Team beat China 3-1 to win the Gold Medal.  In the 2000 Olympics the team had their 112 win streak snapped by Japan in a 2-1
11 inning lost, the team bounced back with five consecutive wins and beating Japan to win the Gold Medal.  In 2004 the team was referred to as the "Real Dream Team".  The performance of the US Olympic team will go down in history as one of the most dominate ever, this team out scored opponents 51-1.  Also, they set 11 different Olympic records during the 2004 Olympics.
   Going into the 2008 Olympics in Beijing the Softball community knew that this would be the last year.  Earlier in 2005 the IOC decided to pull Softball from the Olympics after 2008. Team USA knew this was the last time they could prove that they deserve to be in the Olympics.
     In Beijing the US team was a shoe in to win the Gold.  Going into the Gold Medal game Team USA was on an 8-0 win streak.  Their opponent was Japan who they were facing for the third time in six days.  Team USA was Goliath ready to pound on David (Japan).  Yet, they lost to Japan 3-1 and for the first time lost a Gold Medal game since 1996. For five players of the US Team this would be the last time they stepped onto the field (Lura Berg, Bustos, Kelly Kretschman, Tairia Flowers, Lovieanna Jung).  Though the tears stopped and teams got together for a picture (below).  All three teams, Gold Medal Japan, Silver Medal USA, and Bronze Medal Australia, chanted the words "BACK SOFTBALL",  This was their way to send a message to the IOC.
   So the real David Vs. Goliath myth would be softball players of the world against the IOC, and the true heroes would be the women on the field. This is one story that won't be answered today, tomorrow, or soon, but one day, one day Goliath will hear those chants and finally fall.  On that day softball will come back to the Global stage, where it belongs. Team US just proves that not all myths have to have a happy ending.  It shows that even if it doesn't have a happy ending for those involved, but that it could serve a bigger purpose.

WE ARE....STILL PENN STATE: How Fandom never changes, even in the worst of times.

  On January 22 students and fans of Penn State football visited the grave of their late head coach Joe Paterno.

     It’s been over a year since former head coach of Penn State Joe Paterno died after retiring because of the Penn State Sex Scandal.   To make a long story short, former coach Jerry Sandusky's dirty laundry went out to dry in early November 2011.  Sandusky was charged with 40 criminal accounts including sexually abusing minors, and head coach of Penn State Football, Joe Paterno, was fired from the head coach position for not doing anything about it.  Later in January, Paterno would die of lung cancer.  Later that year, Sandusky is charged with 40 of 45 felonies.  Most people would think that sex scandal at major football program would create an uproar on campus and around the US.  And this scandal was no different, but instead of the students and fans of Penn State just turning their backs and walking away from the program, the fans rallied behind it. The fans made sure that Joe Pa's name wouldn't be in vain.  The fans of Penn State loved Joe  Paterno so much that they stood by him until the day he died. 

       "I definitely think that everything that has happened isn't at all indicative of the kind of man that he was," said Bridget Beromedi, 32.

   The fans of Penn State have a behavioral motivation of family. On the day Joe Pa died thousands of Penn Staters showed up on Old Main lawn at Penn State to attended a candlelight vigil to mourn Joe Pa's death. This goes to  show how much Penn Staters  loved their coach.
     The Penn State fan base is a family and will always be.  If the above statement isn't enough, the fans and students of Penn State attended a vigil for the former Penn State head coach. There were 150 fans that attented the vigil, lighting luminaries with someone’s name, a message for Joe Paterno, or a quote to Joe.   The vigil was heldon the corner of Heister Street and College Avenue, the location where the "Inspiration" Mural is painted on the outside of the book store and of course Joe is apart of it.  

      “To people around here, Penn State is not just a school or team they root for, it’s a part of their identity,” Wright said. “It’s the greatest loss this community has ever known, and there is a state still in mourning.”

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2013/01/23/3474551/vigil-held-for-paterno.html#storylink=cpy

      I'm not alum or a current student at Penn State, but I love it because of the family aspect.  My entire family loves Penn State and grew up watching Joe Pa  and the team win titles.  I might not be involved with the program in any way shape or form, but there is a companionship with my family that is very strong because of a sports team.  This is also how the fans felt when Joe Paterno died.  The fans joined together and helped each other through it.  Joe Paterno was the face of Penn State for many years and in the fans minds he still his.

      The fans of Penn State understand the wrongs that had happened to Joe Paterno  and accept them.  They don't hold those wrongs against them, but will stand behind their beloved coach no matter what.

 WE ARE..........STILL PENN STATE!