Dr. Meek's Presentation

Dr. Geoff Meek's presentation was very interesting.  I have a fairly strong interest for European soccer and Dr. Meek's presentation touched on a couple of "behind the scenes" events such as hooliganism and racism that take place during these soccer matches.  Hooligans are those who join "firms" for a certain team and basically they decide to meet and fight to promote their firm and become the best. There are firms for every team which shows how much hooliganism is present.  Dr. Meek said how he had personal experiences with these firms of hooligans.  He also clarified he was not a direct part of the hooliganism, but he has seen it on various occasions. Dr. Meek talked about his thoughts on hooliganism and stated that it is getting better but it will probably never go away because it is such a big tradition for English soccer teams.  I have to agree with him.  I believe that hooliganism has become a part of English soccer culture.  It makes the English Premier League different from other leagues.  While there may be firm in other leagues they are not like the English Premier League.  As bad as hooliganism can be, I agree with Dr. Meek that hooliganism is still present and will be present for more time to come.
Dr. Meek's presentation also talked about racism. He touched on the video we watched in class that showed players such as Thierry Henry had bananas thrown at them inferring that they were monkeys.  The crowds also contributed to this racism by chanting monkey noises to go with it as well.  Dr. Meek explained how vulgar and uncalled for the racism was and I completely agree.  Racism should not be present in any place.  Dr. Meek felt very strong about how bad racism is.  I completely agree.  I also believe that there should be something done to stop it.  The video explained how racism is being dealt with and venues are taking a stand by forming police squads specifically for prevention of racists acts.  This is a very big step to the end of racism in English soccer venues.  I hope that racism will continue to diminish.

MLB in Cuba?

During class early on we talked about whether it would be a good idea to bring a Major League Baseball team to Cuba, or keep them strictly in the U.S. with the exception of Toronto.  I believe this is a bad idea.  Cuba is not a place that is exactly financially stable.  Cuba is run by Fidel Castro who is a dictator. What is to stop him from doing what he pleases with the MLB players.  For example, if they lose a big game he could have them killed because it's his country.  I know this is extreme and the U.S. would not allow it, but Fidel runs the country and knows it a lot better than we do.  He dictates what happens with it as well.  To continue, Cubans are not necessarily made of money.  They will not be able to afford season tickets and those from the U.S. who have money will not want to go through the trouble of traveling out of the country for every game.  It is different for Toronto because we have an understanding with Canada and you can buy a pass to drive across the border in an express-like manner.  For Cuba you either have to fly or go by boat.  This is a major hassle.  All in all Cuba is a bad idea for the MLB.  It will never happen because it is not logical by any means.  Keep bringing the Cuban players to the U.S. if they want to play in the Major Leagues. This has to do with our class because it is talking about baseball expanding to another country.  The MLB is trying to expand from the sounds of it, but they need to realize that it is America's first sport and there is no need to globalize it.  That is what the World Baseball Classic and the Olympics are for.

Introduction

My name is Max Marshall as most of you know and I am a junior at BG.  I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and I have lived in Dayton, Ohio for most of my life.  I played football for ten years as well as basketball and baseball in grade school.  My junior year of high school we lost in the state championship by a missed extra point.  I have a huge love for football especially the NFL.  I am a huge Tennessee Titans fan and am participating in three different fantasy football leagues currently.  I am a sports management major with aspirations of going to law school and becoming a sports agent.  If that doesn't work out I plan on going into event management.  I am interested in taking this class because sports are definitely growing on a global basis.  I believe that becoming a sports agent will deal with the global sports spectrum in many ways and I am excited to learn what those effects will be.