Camera,
lights, action! Have you ever notice that more and more sports athletes are
becoming Hollywood? They are consistently trending as time progresses. We have seen how popular it is to be a sports
athlete and how well it pays to be in the lime-light. Sports athletes such as T.O, Chad Johnson, and Lamar Odom, have
stepped off the field/court, and into Hollywood. Athletes no longer have to the
work as a team, but as an individual. It seems like anything athletes do these
days is no longer in the sports realm, but in the entertainment realm. Guest
speaker Jeff Barker stated that sports reporting is no longer about covering
the game, but reporting on athlete’s quirks and personality. He states that “covering sports is like
covering celebrities”. He illustrated in his example of a game he covered in
Puerto Rico where a Maryland Terrapins player was caught sporting a Mohawk in
which he took a picture and tweeted it. His tweet received more attention that
the game itself. It seem as though these days anything a specific athlete does
makes the news in some form, whether it’s on blogs, the internet, or on ESPN,
they are consistently being talked about and filmed.
Manifesting
this point, a journalist once reported that many athletes are getting
mani-pedis. Why is it so important
for sporting fans to know this? Specifically, the article stated that New
Yorker Tim Tebow, amongst others, was spotted by TMZ at a West Hollywood salon
receiving this service. Dwayne Wade
another superstar athlete was more
open about his "sports pedicures." "You need to take care of your feet," he told The Wall Street Journal.
"My feet aren't going to look any prettier from a pedi, but they feel
better from the massaging." For a more clear description follow link
http://news.yahoo.com/trend-alert-pedicures-male-athletes-121000371.html.
Furthermore,
athletes are becoming so trendy that they are the stars of their own TV Reality
show, such as, Dancing with the Star, and Celebrity Apprentice for more
athletes on display visit http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2012/02/athletes-on-reality-tv/#3450-26
More black athletes are searching for love and what better way to do it,
than on TV, for millions to see, as Terrell Owens, and Chad Ochocinco have done
in reality shows as “The Ultimate Catch” and “The T.O Show”. Athletes are
trending and will continue to trend, it’s no longer about sports, but about
entertainment as a celebrity.
Often
sportscasters and fans criticize athletes for allowing themselves to become
celebrities. Such voices believe
that the game they play is a job and that it should treat it as such. However,
those critics often fail to examine why these athletes crave that attention. The answer lies in the fact that we as
fans give them irrational adoration.
Last night's draft had a preshow that looked similar to the Grammys
preshow, complete with cameras, limos, and a red carpet. It’s the fans that are
so passionate about their team that the mere potential of success can launch an
athlete into stardom. RG3 has yet
to throw one professional pass, and the DC area has already dubbed him the
savior of the Redskins. When you take a second to think about it, it’s
ridiculous, especially since hardly anyone had heard of him until late this season. He’s walking into an organization with
the entire weight of it on his shoulders, and the fans and the media are to
blame. It’s great to give confidence to young players, but it begs the question
if ‘celebratizing’ a player like RG3 puts an unrealistic amount of pressure on
him? If so, could this excessive
pressure negatively affect his play?
Having so
much attention may cause athletes to lose their focus on what they’re being
paid to do. Often athletes become the symbol of their state/city, which is a
lot of responsibility for one to handle. Giving young players so much money and
saying their name everyday on national television seems to be ideal
circumstances for the development of trouble. When one becomes a celebrity
athlete it gives them a false sense of entitlement, he or she may (consciously
or not) feel above the average person. They think they can get away with breaking
the law and being reckless simply because of whom they are. Unfortunately, because we as a
society ‘pedistalize’ celebrity athletes, they do get away with things that an
average person may not. This
problematic pattern is compounded by the consequences of favored treatment,
which can involve criminal activity, abusing drugs, drinking and driving and
other reckless behavior. While there are negatives to turning athletes into
celebrities, they are also potential positives. When a popular athlete is the face and symbol of a city, it
gives him or her the unique opportunity to make differences in that area. Everyone knows Suh of the Lions for his
aggressive style of play. However in a low-income school’s football gear was
stolen, Suh took it upon himself to have Nike provide the high school with all
new football equipment at his expense. The things Peyton Manning did for the
Colts organization may never be matched again. He basically built that
stadium.
It would
benefit these players if perhaps their coverage on ESPN/ Sports Center could
find a happy medium between reporting on them and sensationalizing them. But
again, that is what us diehard fans want to see, we never get tired of watching
our star players face across the television.
David Beckham serves as another example of this pattern. Beckham’s rise to popularity through his
on-field success, and subsequent off-field endorsement deals afforded him
celebrity status. His athletic
presence and off-field image invariably contributed to this notoriety. Beckham’s marriage and parenthood shared
with Posh Spice made him an ideal candidate for superstardom. One case study investigates what is
termed “the Beckham brand,” in which it is posited that his appeal and dealings
in the sports and entertainment worlds are heavily motivated by his marketability. The full article can be read by
clicking the following link:
The
introduction of this nexus between sports and entertainment warrants further
investigation. One must question
what implications this nexus has upon the integrity of sport. Individuals gaze upon others as a form
of entertainment, thus the rise in athlete celebrity may lengthen one’s gaze
and intensify one’s interest. Such
notoriety may heighten intimacy between the athlete and the fan, wherein
media’s consistent provision of information regarding an athlete offers
unparalleled access to the star’s life.
Furthermore,
the frequent use of celebrities as endorsers of products has encouraged, if not
facilitated this pattern. Given
the importance of sports in our society, it is no wonder that athletes are
propelled to celebrity status; our consumer world provides an ideal platform
upon which one can promote him or herself off of the court. The athlete thus becomes representative
of popular culture and their influence and popularity as celebrity must be
considered in a broader social context.
Overall,
this transition points to the increasing commercialization of sport and of
sporting association’s athletes.
The merging of the athletic and entertainment spheres thus solidifies
the primacy of sports; through offering incomparable exposure within personal
and professional contexts, and monetary compensation for said coverage,
athletes are catapulted to superstardom transcendent of the court or
field.
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