Conclusion by Anthony Alford

By Anthony Alford

Going into this class, I did not have much excitement about the class because I thought I wasn’t interested in gender differences in sport. But what made this class great were our discussions and readings about topics that get little to no attention in sports. For example, I have never even heard of the Indian Wells Tournament until it was discussed in class. This is surprising because the incident surrounding that 2001 tournament involved the two biggest stars in tennis.

What I found most useful was the discussions and blogs. The discussions was perhaps my favorite aspect of any of my college courses because we all had different ideas on certain situations and we all had reasons to back it up. I loved how during the first week of classes, Dr. Spencer made the class feel comfortable talking to each other about deep issues in sport and gender. The blogs have given me an opportunity to express my thoughts on issues that should be covered more by the media. I also love the responses to the blogs because everyone won’t agree with you and they will give you reasons to not agree with you. Until I took this class, I had trouble with people disagreeing with my points, but I grew up mentally thanks to these assignments.



The topic that stood out to me is gays in professional sport. Ironically, two major events in relation to this topic took place during this semester; Manti Te’o’s made-up girlfriend after the BCS National Championship game and Brittney Griner coming out as gay publicly after the WNBA Draft. There comes a point in society when it just becomes time to take the next step in societal progress. We have made small steps in gay acceptance in sport, but for every step forward with UCLA’s “You can play” campaign, there is a step back with the Chris Culliver comments.



This was why my group decided to perform a skit in class featuring a made-up player (Trinidad James) who just “came out” after the college football season, risking his opportunity of gaining a top draft pick. Personally, it was tough to play the homophobic General Manager during the presentation. However, I used to be one of the homophobic people who couldn’t stand gay people until I came to college and gained true knowledge about how gays are just like the rest of us. American sports (especially football) need a notable gay player to “come out” because only then will the sports culture and society learn that gays are truly equal, even in sports.

Finally, there are a few things I will take from this class. First, the amount of sports discussion that we had in this class has made this class one of my favorites here in college. Secondly, the blogs have help me in my other activities including the Maxwell Project, SMA, and other future activities such as resuming my online radio show in May.



The final thing I will take from this class is the most important because it might have changed my life. Dr. Spencer made a speech in class about helping out with getting Billie Jean King here in BGSU. The speech was about taking a chance on an opportunity even when the odds are against you. It hit me that I needed to do something that would make me stand out from the pack even if I’m somewhat out of my element. I strongly encourage everyone to get involved with this project because every idea, resource, and dollar matters. The more people we have, the better. We have the golden opportunity to enhance our university to higher status and make our Sport Management Program the top program in the country and it will be us who made it happen. Think about it! I have enjoyed taking this class with Dr. Spencer and Kara and I will remember the great times we had in this class for a long time.