As I continue to do work for law class this week, I have been looking a lot into cases of negligence within the context of sporting events (mainly amateur). In general, sporting events used to come with an underline of "you are playing under the assumption of risk" and that injuries suffered in the contest cannot be used in a court of law against you. However, reviewing a case from 1975 it's interesting to see how that landscape changed with one simple soccer injury.
In 1975, a case called Nabozny V. Barnhill surfaced. Nabozny filed suit against Barnhill for negligence in a high school soccer game in which Nabozny was kicked in the head. Barnhill was chasing down the soccer ball and the goalie, Nabozny, went down on one knee to scoop up the ball. Barnhill kept running forward and ended up kicking Nabozny in the head, causing severe injuries. Originally, Barnhill won the verdict, but it went to re-trial and Nabozny won in the higher court.
To me, this is the appropriate ruling. Participants in a leisure activity shouldn't be subject to this sort of reckless behavior. The verdict came down on Barnhill because of an act of negligence; the court ruled that Barnhill owed a duty to the other participants of the game to act in a way which respects the rules. We have seen other examples of athletes acting out of line with reckless behavior with no severe consequences. It is important for me to realize there can be legal recourse for such actions that I find disgusting in amateur sports especially.
It is important to me to think about in the field of intramurals how legal action can take place for costly play. It is important to stress playing within the rules in a sporting event; not doing this can not only damage the other participants but can do severe damage to you! Play within the rules or pay the consequences.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Has procrastination reached an all time high?
With technology being what it is these days, it seems as if technology has gone to no ends and bounds to entertain us every second of our lives. Even when we sleep we can have our iPods playing our favorite music, movies or having us learn a new language. While I sit here typing out this blog and thinking of what I can do to make it long enough to suffice, I have paused to play a round of Temple Run on my iPhone (new high score!). Have procrastination levels reached an all time high, or does it seem to stick out more with our technology?
We have spoken in class about movements to get children to "go out and play" on a regular basis. It is evident that our technology is restricting not only children from going outside to play, but also from students getting their work done. Taking it from a personal experience, one of the biggest things I struggle with when trying to do work is staying focused on one task at a time. There are so many potential distractions just a click of the mouse or punching the remote of the TV away from throwing you off course for hours. I know that I love playing games on my cell phone and I find myself preferring to do that than staying focus at times to get work done.
While technology can be a distraction from homework, it also ultimately leads to procrastination in terms of getting work done. People will argue how much of a lifesaver technology is in terms of getting school work done, but I will argue that other facets of technology are just as costly to schoolwork being completed. The best thing to do when you have the urge to run from the evils in a temple is to put your phone as far away as possible and stay focused on the course. The solution is harder than it appears, as we cannot live without technology and at times, can't get work done efficiently with it.
We have spoken in class about movements to get children to "go out and play" on a regular basis. It is evident that our technology is restricting not only children from going outside to play, but also from students getting their work done. Taking it from a personal experience, one of the biggest things I struggle with when trying to do work is staying focused on one task at a time. There are so many potential distractions just a click of the mouse or punching the remote of the TV away from throwing you off course for hours. I know that I love playing games on my cell phone and I find myself preferring to do that than staying focus at times to get work done.
While technology can be a distraction from homework, it also ultimately leads to procrastination in terms of getting work done. People will argue how much of a lifesaver technology is in terms of getting school work done, but I will argue that other facets of technology are just as costly to schoolwork being completed. The best thing to do when you have the urge to run from the evils in a temple is to put your phone as far away as possible and stay focused on the course. The solution is harder than it appears, as we cannot live without technology and at times, can't get work done efficiently with it.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Ultimate Frisbee Goes Pro
I know what may be the first thought as I start this blog. People are getting paid to play frisbee?! Well, if you can get people to watch, why not? But anyways, this seems to be a logical progression to somewhat "random" sports becoming professional leagues. Ultimate is not just the same thing as flinging a frisbee around the backyard after school. The game has a structure, complete with rules, regulations, and field dimensions that should be consistent across all leagues.
The game features a combination of basketball and football, in some ways. The goal of the game is to move the frisbee down the field and score in the opponents end zone. However, there are strict rules to doing this. You must pass the disc after catching it, you cannot run with the disc (you get an allowed couple of steps like basketball). If the disc is thrown and not caught, it is a turnover to the other team. So it is imperative that offenses make good decisions on where to throw the frisbee so it does not hit the ground.
While frisbee seems like a sport limited to children and teenagers, players in the professional league feel that people will come to watch what they think is a growing sport. The inaugural league has 8 teams, playing at local high schools, colleges, or where ever there is room to host the sport. While the word "frisbee" is trademarked, the league has the name "American Ultimate Disc League" (AUDL). According to an ABC news article, the goal of the league is to gain popularity and fans, sell tickets, and sell merchandise, just like any other professional league.
Tickets for the games are priced between $8 and $20. The president of the AUDL believes that the league will gain in popularity because the sport has been increasing in popularity over the past decade. Can this sport actually succeed and make money, or will it just be another WNBA, which annually loses money? The biggest challenge will be to try and draw the college population, which is where the sport is probably the most popular. For those like myself who are fully entrenched in the sports I already love and are already mainstream, I believe this will be a hard draw. Hopefully for their sake, this sport is an exception.
Sources:
Goldmann, Russell (2012). Ultimate frisbee goes pro. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/ultimate-frisbee-pro/story?id=16135771
Link to AUDL website: http://theaudl.com/
The game features a combination of basketball and football, in some ways. The goal of the game is to move the frisbee down the field and score in the opponents end zone. However, there are strict rules to doing this. You must pass the disc after catching it, you cannot run with the disc (you get an allowed couple of steps like basketball). If the disc is thrown and not caught, it is a turnover to the other team. So it is imperative that offenses make good decisions on where to throw the frisbee so it does not hit the ground.
While frisbee seems like a sport limited to children and teenagers, players in the professional league feel that people will come to watch what they think is a growing sport. The inaugural league has 8 teams, playing at local high schools, colleges, or where ever there is room to host the sport. While the word "frisbee" is trademarked, the league has the name "American Ultimate Disc League" (AUDL). According to an ABC news article, the goal of the league is to gain popularity and fans, sell tickets, and sell merchandise, just like any other professional league.
Tickets for the games are priced between $8 and $20. The president of the AUDL believes that the league will gain in popularity because the sport has been increasing in popularity over the past decade. Can this sport actually succeed and make money, or will it just be another WNBA, which annually loses money? The biggest challenge will be to try and draw the college population, which is where the sport is probably the most popular. For those like myself who are fully entrenched in the sports I already love and are already mainstream, I believe this will be a hard draw. Hopefully for their sake, this sport is an exception.
Sources:
Goldmann, Russell (2012). Ultimate frisbee goes pro. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/ultimate-frisbee-pro/story?id=16135771
Link to AUDL website: http://theaudl.com/
Female Participation in Intramural Sports
Participation in intramural sports is always much higher among men than women. Recent studies have shown that participation in intramural sports could have numerous benefits, such as stress reduction, enhanced GPA's, and overall student development (Stoll, 2010). It has shown that participation in intramural sports can be beneficial in many ways, and one of the goals of intramural programs focuses on increasing participation among women.
Some of the common themes of why women do not participate in intramurals are time, characteristics of playing, social aspects, information, image, and offerings (Stoll, 2010). I believe that women think they do not have the time to participate in an intramural sports due to other obligations. In addition, as the study also points out, women are more into the social aspect of playing sports and wouldn't want the games to hurt their social relationships (Stoll, 2010). Women care more about maintaining either their social status or their relationships with friends over trying to be as competitive as possible in an intramural event.
One other things worth pointing out is the amount of participation for women in co-rec leagues, which incorporate both men and women playing together in games with modified rules. Women participating in these leagues mostly said that they were afraid men would "dominate" and that it wouldn't be as much fun to participate (Stoll, 2010). It is interesting to see how the women view intramural sports, and what practitioners can do to help increase female participation.
References:
Stoll, A (2010). A qualitative study over low female college student participation in intramural sports. Proquest Dissertations and Theses.
Some of the common themes of why women do not participate in intramurals are time, characteristics of playing, social aspects, information, image, and offerings (Stoll, 2010). I believe that women think they do not have the time to participate in an intramural sports due to other obligations. In addition, as the study also points out, women are more into the social aspect of playing sports and wouldn't want the games to hurt their social relationships (Stoll, 2010). Women care more about maintaining either their social status or their relationships with friends over trying to be as competitive as possible in an intramural event.
One other things worth pointing out is the amount of participation for women in co-rec leagues, which incorporate both men and women playing together in games with modified rules. Women participating in these leagues mostly said that they were afraid men would "dominate" and that it wouldn't be as much fun to participate (Stoll, 2010). It is interesting to see how the women view intramural sports, and what practitioners can do to help increase female participation.
References:
Stoll, A (2010). A qualitative study over low female college student participation in intramural sports. Proquest Dissertations and Theses.
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