ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!

Steroids, blood-doping, and other performance enhancing drugs are all used in the pursuit of becoming the best an athlete can be. Regardless of the costs. Yet some pills are considered acceptable, some require a doctor’s prescription, others are allowed but only to a certain limit, and for completely outrageous drugs an athlete could be stripped of everything they have ever worked for. These consequences seem even more unfair than the initial problem. Athletes may have to rely on certain pills from the relief of pain, stress, or anxiety that may not be sport related. Although it’s not that hard to get a prescription from a doctor for many pills (such as Adderall) these days that are considered to give an unfair advantage. So where can the line really be drawn for an “unfair advantage” and to whom is it unfair for?

As America knows, Lance Armstrong was absolutely the best cyclist in the history of cycling. Then in 2012, Armstrong was banned from cycling and was torn from all seven Tour de France medals. An athlete’s competitive drive is what people want to see, and for many it doesn't matter what they do to increase that drive. The people want to see boundaries broken, records shattered and legends made in sports.

For decades, athletes have been trying to give just that to the people. Even with the constant rules and regulations, make one thing illegal and a work-around drug is ready to be used the following year. In the 50’s it was Benzedrine, then in the 60’s Dexedrine was ready, not much later Ritalin was ready for use and to top off all the mental buzz Valium was introduced to take the mind to bed. Apparently, it doesn't matter if it’s amphetamine or caffeine, athletes will do anything if it helps them fulfill their potential and organizations are still fighting it.

There is no perfect line for performance enhancing substances for athletes and athletes will continue to push their boundaries regardless of what a man in a suit says behind a desk. So why fight it? 

Sports on Strikes: Lockout and Lockdown

Professional Sports. Where all the blood, sweat and tears finally pay off for hundreds of athletes. Well, most of the time anyway. All sports organizations, like people, go through their ups and downs during their time in the game and trials are bound to happen at one point or another. Over the years images of athletes, coaches, and entire organizations have been tarnished, many of times from a single individual. As team sports emphasize the importance of “team”, sport strikes have certainly used the words meaning to a whole new level.

Understandably, financial reasons are main factor of sports going on strikes. In 2011 trouble among the NBA managers and players was brewing, causing a shutdown for many NBA athletes. Around 65 players left the organization to go play overseas. Even though the majority of those players were definitely not the all-star NBA athletes everyone talks about, their financial influence is still recognized. These players in the NBA have a minimum of $500,000 salary while some deals go for the game winner salaries, like $6 million game winner salaries to be exact. It makes sense that the strike was successful months later and the continuation of the competitive free-agentmarket was back on track.

One of the few sport organizations that had the entireseason canceled was in 2004-2005. The NHL players went on strike and were waiting for all the ice in hell to melt if they had too.  The financial decrease the players were offered was simply offensive, from 57% to 43% to total NHL revenue.

Perhaps the most painful strike to date happened in the MLB back in 1994-1995. Nothing screams America more than the love of baseball to the fans. This was the first time in MLB history that, because of the strike, the World Series was shut down.  This created an all-time low for the sport of baseball and its fans.

It seems that over the years athletes have been taken for granted. Power hungry managers and owners can’t get enough money in this world, especially when it’s so easy to make money off of an athletes and decades of hard work. It’s good to know that the players are still willing to ma

ke a stand when the time comes.

It's All About The Rage

The best part about attending your teams sporting event is that you get to loud, a little obnoxious, and throw some criticism at the opposing team and it’s all considered good fun. At what point though do you start to worry about spectators and athletes becoming so infuriated that violence is the answer? What is called, “sports rage”, among athletes and spectators can be seen at all levels, from little league to the professionals.

Two peewee teams were pulled from the playoffs when everyone apparently lost their minds. In the heat of the moment ,7 and 8 year olds were being verbally abused, leading to adults threatening each other and ultimately, a massive brawl. As we grow older one would think that, as an individual contributing to society, we would learn how to control ourselves at any event. However this doesn't stop violence at sporting events as we constantly hear about over enthusiastic fans helping out their team by any means necessary or athletes losing their composure like this guy (video below).  One of the most shocking sports stories inducing a hell like fury on the field happened in Brazil when a referee was dismembered and decapitated.

When these aggressive stories are compared to the most common reasons of attending a sporting event (socializing, entertainment, promotions, team spirit, etc) it’s surprising to find such destructive actions at first since the reasoning of this was to build a positive environment. Like all things in life, too much of a good thing can become something bad fairly quickly. Adrenaline rushing through an athlete’s veins during an emotional game, spectators protecting their own identity as well as their favorite teams, or the regular accounts of aggression escalating in many sports can take the blame for “sports rage”. 

Parents Ruining Youth Sports

The competitiveness in youth sports is growing to an insane level, and it’s rarely between the kids. The amount of screaming, verbal attacks, and offensive behavior from parents at youth sports events when I played is still burned into my memory.  My parent’s joke that what started off as CCG, a.k.a. Cal’s College Fund, slowly turned into Cal’s Counseling Fund from all the stress of youth sports and they still laugh about it today.

Naturally, every parent believes that their kid is the best on the field and they should be treated as so.  Looking back I can see how most of the parents read the statistics on how many kids go play D1 after high school and how much money parents pay to give their son or daughter a chance at the next level.

were trying to live their unfulfilled sports life through their kids. If they weren't living vicariously through the youth they were already certain that their precious child was going to be earning that big sports scholarship. Apparently these parents haven’t

They say championships are every athletes dream. However, I don’t find this applicable to the average nine year old running around on the soccer field. Children are there for the love of the game, and the game should return to the original purity that made each individual sport great to begin with. There are plenty of reason to not overrun children with sports from a young age.

As joked about earlier, the psychological effects on children from the drama and hype of sports at a young age is a real game changer.  Many kids end up being crushed from the pressure never to return, others feel like sports becomes a job except they don’t have the option of quitting. Negative physical effects are also a dangerous partof youth sports. It’s common for talented but young athletes have to leave the game due to injuries from overuse before high school. It’s even more common for kids that make it to college or professional arenas to have serious health problems only in their 20’s.

Instead of pressuring children to perform to our expectations, maybe it’s time we sit back and watch what we all originally loved about the game to begin with.  

Blood-Spattered Cash Machines

Sports are known for their lucrative money based operations. After all, they’re not in the business for “the love of the game” anymore. Superstar athletes are being paid millions and millions of dollars for what they do best. Floyd Mayweather made at least $32 million for a single fight in 2013. Football star Tom Brady will make upwards of $55 million for his upcoming seasons. Then of course we can’t forget out about the LA Angels, Albert Pujols, that will make $240 million over his 10 year contract! This is only taking into consideration the athletes, there are outstanding numbers behind the net worth of the NFL, NBA, and other professional sport leagues.

Although, no one seems to know how much UFC fighters are making or how well the UFC organization is doing in general. The answer is, the UFC is doing incredibly well, and they’re only getting better with age. UFC has strangely guarded their finance numbers compared to other professional sport leagues, but after a little digging there’s some surprising facts.

In 2001 the UFC was hardly worth $2 million when the Fertittas bought the organization. Fast forward a single decade later and you’re looking at one of the fasting growing poHERE. From a certain standpoint, it’s hard to place a price tag on someone that’s entering the “lion’s den” for a living. Certainly even harder when the possibility of a knee or elbow could leave you in a wheelchair, a coma, or even dead on the mats. Several studies have estimated that lower tier UFC athletes could only be making as little as $70,000 a year for their efforts.

werhouses in the entire sports industry, and a heads up, the brake line seems to be broken.  Today the UFC is valued well over the billion dollar mark and is estimated to make up of 90% of the total MMA industry. Superstars in the UFC are enjoying the growth as well. Fighter George St-Pierre makes an estimated $5-6 million every time he steps into the octagon. However, this does not mean that every UFC athlete feels like they’re being paid fairly as you can see

The UFC does business a little differently than other sport organizations. Unlike other professional organization that have laws that protect their athletes, the UFC has laws that support no such thing. Managers, trainers and the athletes have no say in what minimums or extremes in the MMA financial world. This bloody business doesn’t permanently bond itself to other companies to ensure financial security either. Most of their revenue is made from pay-per-view events drawing millions and millions of dollars to the company while other TV promoters like SPIKE and The Ultimate Fighter also engage in the pay-per-view events.

More UFC statistics can be found HERE and HERE. 

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Sports

The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Theory, also known as the Pygmalion Effect, has been recognized as one of the most performance boosting theories in all sports. If an individual believes they’re going to lose the game before the event, chances are, they are right. If that same individual believes that they’re going to succeed and can taste victory before the bell rings, then chances are we have a completely different story. Research has proven that the prophecies we hold to ourselves are more important than the actual practice of the event. More than enough research has shown the effects of this theory on education and children, college coaches and athletes, job opportunities or careers and many others that prove to be more than enough motivation to start applying to one’s everyday life.

 In the world of Martial Arts, Bruce Lee is known as the creator. Gathering the best techniques from a variety of systems and meshing it all together into one unstoppable force. Lee has changed the world of Martial Arts forever. The UFC is arguably only here because of what Lee has managed to do in his lifetime. The focus and application of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in this one individual is unmatched from any other athlete.

“You just wait. I’m going to be the biggest Chinese Star in the world.” – Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee isn’t the only athlete that believes in this mindset. Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, LeBron James, and Tiger Woods have all shared similar experiences of how they “imagine” themselves executing their sport perfectly before they perform. Other inspirational stories are based off the amount of faith an individual has in themselves, often times overcoming the impossible. One of the first great stories about the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Theory is the Heather Stepp Story which you can read more about it here.

The power of this theory alone I believe is capable of changing any athletes outcome. I believe the best way to sum up such a theory is best told by the master himself.

“As you think, so shall you become.” – Bruce Lee  

Rise of Violence with Fighting Sports

The Rise of Violence with Fighting Sports

In my last blog post I talked about sports fans and a small part of why they identify themselves so enthusiastically with certain UFC/MMA athletes. This was mainly about the social connection that’s shared among the people, but there are many more factors that should be recognized. Most fans go to professional sporting events to feel the rush as the last second shot goes up, to escape life for a few hours, or to appreciate the natural beauty of the game. However, in the world of fighting and its spectators, I feel there are more animalistic reasons of attendance involved as well.

Almost as far back as 300 BC gladiators would fight in to the death, renewing the meaning of “going all in” in modern sports terms. The bloodiest source of entertainment available would attract 50,000 spectators at a time, an impressive crowd regardless of what century you’re in. For years movies would portray violence as admirable and manly, but outside of boxing all other forms of real fighting was frowned on and labeled as barbaric. Only years ago was mixed martial arts considered something other than animalistic. Today the UFC is among the fastest growing sports in the world with an octagon full of splattered blood, broken bones and unconscious minds. And we want more!

What I see most addicting in the biggest stages of sports is the drama that’s involved. With so much on the line and athletes willing to sacrifice their bodies for the entertainment of something bigger than themselves, it’s easy to become addicted. The Excitation Transfer Theory notes the physiological arousal for violence dissolves over time, which then requires more violence to stay “entertained”. As we all know nothing gets your heart beating faster than a fight or flight moment. For many, that adrenaline rush is addicting, but the logical thought process saying that extreme amounts of pain is possible during future adrenaline rushes deters many more. Fortunately the process of watching someone else fight for their life inside a cage is equally as exciting and much safer. As this bloody sport continues to grow, so does the availability and attachment of violence for its spectators.

Other theories such as the Social Learning Theory and Script Theory also point out that in the last 20-40 years aggressiveness has been more and more welcomed to society. As the media scripts out that violence is what we are supposed to want in our lives, we accommodate.

History has a way of repeating itself, especially in the sports world.

CLICK to read more about the rise of UFC. 

MMA World Domination by Social Identity Theory

Dedicated as the fastest growing sport in North America, and contagiously growing worldwide, the MMA (UFC in America) has been demanding the recognition it deserves. It’s amazing how a community gains such strong support for its followers. Fans take immense pride in their favorite athletes, fighting styles, or perhaps the most unique, their country in the MMA world. Other sports such as the NFL or NBA have extreme fans as well, but most “fans” are subject to change based off trades, horrible records and other conditions. It’s rare to see a whole nation backing up a single athlete, besides in the Olympics, with such vigor and intensity.

I believe that a small portion of this enthusiast nature can be described by the Social Identity Theory. This theory claims that a person’s sense of who they are is built around their group association. As people, we often associate ourselves with others for a sense of belonging, for it bonds people together. What greater reason is there for the country of Brazil or Mexico to bond together in a fight against America? This theory isn’t limited to nations and culture, but it can spread out to finding commonalities in different martial art backgrounds, weight classes, life stories and more.

As this sport grows, the Social Identify Theory also increases the different views possible by the groups. Dividing other people into “them” and “us” based clusters, the status of a group can climb up the social ladder by basically using a form of extreme stereotyping. This only intensifies the fans belief in their group, culture, and athlete(s). With only this one theory, it’s already understandable how this can grow into such a superior, worldwide fan based compared to other sports that are mainly constricted to its own country such as basketball and Americanized football. 

To find more about this theory and links to UFC click here. 

Want to catch up on your MMA? visit here or here.

Have your own ideas you'd like to share? please comment below!