Sports Studies Commons^™

Ua19/16/2 Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, game statistics and photos related to the WKU basketball team July to December 2016.

The Development Of Women’S Professional Soccer Globally, Allison Aggarwal

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

No abstract provided.

Ua19/16/1 Wku 2016-17 Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

2016-17 men's basketball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

Ua19/16/2 Womens Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases and photographs related to WKU women's basketball for 2016.

Ua19/16/1 2016 Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Guide

WKU Administration Documents

Athletic media guide for volleyball team.

Ua19/16/1 2016-17 Wku Track & Field Cross Country Record Book, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

WKU track and field media guide for 2016-17 season.

Ua1c11/89 Jim Burton Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs and negatives taken by Jim Burton documenting life in western Kentucky primarily between the years 1975 and 1980. Venues include Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Owensboro, Madisonville, Cumberland County and Scott County.

Band Formations - Burton was hired by WKU band director to photograph half time performances. It was a freelance job paying $250 per winter semester which allowed him to pay his car insurance.

Bobby Sandige - Bobby was from Burton's hometown of Madisonville and was married in college. Besides being a full-time student, he worked full-time at an underground coal mine. Burton did a feature story on …

Women's Professional Sports: A Case Study On Practices That Could Increase Their Profitability, Danielle H. Mcardle

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Women’s professional sports leagues have often been considered a risky business endeavor. Critics cite low attendance, lack of sponsorships, lack of media rights deals, and numerous other reasons for why women’s professional sports leagues are not profitable. In analyzing the current landscape of women’s professional sport leagues, this paper uses a case study approach to develop a strategy that will highlight lessons learned from past women’s professional sports leagues, current professional sports leagues, sponsorship agreements, fans, social, digital, and mobile marketing strategies, and management practices to show how the business of women’s sports could be made into a more profitable …

Crime In The Nfl: Does An Arrest History Lead To Better Performance?, Austin D. Crist

CMC Senior Theses

Teams in the National Football League will do whatever it takes to win football games, even if that means having players with a criminal arrest history on their roster. However, does being arrested result in improved performance? Do NFL players with an arrest history perform better than those without one? I examine the effect a criminal arrest record has on player performance in the NFL from 2000-2014, using the top 30 ranked players within each position group. The position I chose to analyze were: Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Defensive Linemen, Linebackers, and Defensive Backs. My findings show that having …

An Intersectional Analysis Of Male Student-Athletes' Meaning-Making About Masculinity, Michelle Lisack

Masters Theses

Men's athletics is often viewed as an environment where hegemonic masculinity is perpetuated, though some believe this environment provides a safe space for men to break away from hegemonic masculinity. This study was designed to gain an understanding of how male student-athletes experience masculinity and how the context of athletics influences meaning-making about masculinity. Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher interviewed five male student-athletes and observed the practice sessions of two different teams. The participants were student-athletes of junior or senior status from the following sports: tennis, soccer, swimming, baseball, and basketball. Results showed that male student-athletes found it challenging …

No More Mind Games: Content Analysis Of In-Game Commentary Of The National Football League’S Concussion Problem, Jeffrey Parker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

American (gridiron) football played at the professional level in the National Football League (NFL) is an inherently physical spectator sport, in which players frequently engage in significant contact to the head and upper body. Until recently, the long-term health consequences associated with on the field head trauma were not fully disclosed to players or the public, potentially misrepresenting the dangers involved in gameplay. Crucial to the dissemination of this information to the public are in-game televised commentators of NFL games, regarded as the primary conduits for mediating in-game narratives to the viewing audience. Using a social constructionist theoretical lens, this …

Dislocation And Adjustment Of International Student-Athletes, Thiago Brito Lopes

Master's Theses

One reason that attracts international student-athletes to American universities could be the interest in earning high quality education with the possibility of playing high performance sports. However, when compared to other international students, differences are seen: Other foreign students who look for a degree in the US desire not only an international education, but also potentially staying in the country. The University of San Francisco, where a cosmopolitan city meets education, fits it best. At USF, 82 countries are represented, reaching a number of 1708 students. Approximately ¼ of the whole student population is international. The ratio with student-athletes is …

Assessing Ncaa Division Ii Student Athlete Perceptions Of Gender Bias And Cultural Competence In Health Care, Emily J. Houghton, Carrie Meyer, Missy Thompson

Human Performance Department Publications

No abstract provided.

The Muscular Female Athlete: Negotiating Conflicting Identities And Bodies, Kelsey J. Mischke

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Competing assumptions, expectations, and discourses surrounding the institution of sports, femininity, and the feminine body create a conflicting paradox for female athletes. Existing research was investigated to examine the ways in which female athletes negotiate their conflicting roles in society and how they feel about their muscular bodies. Feminist theory, gender-role conflict theory, and identity work are used. Results show athletes employ apologetic behaviors, defensive othering, and create fluid identities in response to experiencing gender-role conflict. In terms of their bodies, female athletes feel differing sentiments dependent on environment, reject conflicting messages about their body, and/or reject their musculature. Due …

My Nba All-Star Team Of Socially Conscience Players, Richard Lapchick

UCF Forum

I have been trying to use the sports platform and the power of sports to address serious social issues during my entire adult life.

There Is No I In Team: A Look At Gender Equality In Collegiate Athletic Attendance, Emmie Trull

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

As a former student-athlete, every part of my collegiate career was perfect. As a softball player, I dealt with stereotypes my entire life from not being taken seriously on the field or not considered a real athlete because I was female. As I was growing up, women were becoming more well-known and accepted in athletics which made things easier, but still difficult. One aspect that was always lacking at games I competed in was the atmosphere. Our parents always supported us by attending, but very few students or other fans attended. It was extremely evident that people would rather attend …

Psychosocial Motivators For Obstacle Course Racing: A Qualitative Case Study, Aracely Rodriguez

Master's Theses

This study explored the psychological and sociological motivations of adult female and male obstacle course racers. A qualitative case study approach was used to explore the views, experiences, and motivations of obstacle course racing (OCR) participants. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulation was used to interpret responses to the 297 online questionnaires. A content analysis approach was used to analyze the qualitative data gathered from three focus groups with a total of 20 obstacle course racers. Three theories formed the basis of the study: Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Achievement Goal Theory (AGT), and Social Leaning Theory (SLT). Overall, findings supported previous research …

Influence Of Sex And Sport Skill Type On Imagery Use Among Division Iii Athletes 2015, Daniel Jones

Master's Theses

There is limited research revealing the underlying trends and influences of imagery use in sports. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of imagery use among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III collegiate athletes. Additionally, the influence of athlete sex and sport skill type was examined. A sample of 337 athletes from 15 different sports participated in the study. The Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ; Hall, Mack, Paivio, & Hausenblaus, 1998) was administered to assess the frequency of imagery use between males and females as well as between open-skill sport (e.g., basketball, hockey, etc) and closed-skill sport …

National Collegiate Athletic Association Head Coaches' Satisfaction With Athletic Training Services 2015, Whitney Larson

Master's Theses

Athletic trainers and coaches have a significant amount of interaction regarding the care of an athlete. This communication and cooperation is necessary to providing effective care. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of satisfaction that head coaches have with those providing athletic training services across all three NCAA Divisions. Overall satisfaction and four satisfaction categories (professionalism, communication, knowledge/ability, and accessibility) were examined. A total of 40 head coaches from NCAA Division I, II, and III schools participated in the study. The instrument used was originally developed by Beer (2004) and was modified to fit the current …

"Cause I'M Young And I'M Black And My Hat's Real Low": Race, Hip-Hop, And Transformations In The Nba During The Late 1990s And Early 2000s, Christine Debord

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Race and racial tensions have long been pressing concerns in professional athletics in the United States. Issues of race have been of particular importance to the National Basketball Association (NBA) since African Americans compromise 77 percent of the league's players. As such, this work examines the ways in which the media and the NBA responded to and managed the new generation of black players during the late 1990s and early 2000s while marketing to primarily white audiences. This time period is important in that it was unapologetically coined the 'thug era' by sports media and basketball fans alike, and the …

Examining Factors Influencing Ncaa Division-I Conference Realignment, Ginikachi O. Nwosu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The landscape of intercollegiate athletics continues to evolve and become

more dynamic. One of the most visible aspects of these changes is athletic conference realignment. During the period from 2010 to 2014 alone, over 30 institutions across the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) changed or announced imminent plans to change athletic conference affiliation (Mandel, 2012). Conference realignment is described as institutional changes in athletic conference affiliation (Covell & Barr, 2010; Groza, 2010; Sweitzer, 2009). Various literature has identified variables which influence NCAA Division-I institutions’ decisions in regard to conference realignment, yet no comprehensive study has examined …

"Luck Of The Draw:" Enhancing Safety In Equine University Sport, Angela Barbour

Honors Projects

Equestrian sports have the highest rates of injury across all sports with traumatic brain injury rates twice as high as those in football. The goal of this project is to make our university Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) athletes safer by creating an easy-to-use tool that athletes can apply to evaluate new horses they ride at competitions. The tool guides team members through evaluation techniques by providing important safety dimensions and scoring guidelines. An undergraduate majoring in biology with an interest in Veterinarian specialization developed the diagnostic tool. The tool allows evaluation of movement/quality of gaits, jumping ability, equine personality, …

Does Major League Baseball Look Like America?, Richard Lapchick

UCF Forum

The 2015 Major League Baseball Racial and Gender Report Card recently released by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport shows the league had an A on the issue of racial hiring practices, a C/C+ for gender hiring practices, and an overall grade of B.

Running Through Gender: Exploring The Effects Of Hegemonic Masculinity And Femininity On Gettysburg Cross Country Athletes, Olivia D. Powell

Student Publications

The general consensus regarding athletic participation is that it is beneficial to a person’s overall well being. The Women’s Sports Foundation states that girls and women who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem, lower levels of depression, a more positive body image, and experience higher states of psychological well-being than girls and women who do not play sports. In fact, girls who play sports are more likely to get better grades in school, and are more likely to graduate than girls who do not play sports.1 These statements are circulated as being universal truths. Despite many studies …

Game, Set, And Match: Do Women And Men Perform Differently In Competitive Situations?, Michael Jetter, Jay K. Walker

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper analyzes potential gender differences in competitive environments using a sample of over 100,000 professional tennis matches. We focus on two phenomena of the labor and sports economics literature: the hot-hand and clutch-player effects. First, we find strong evidence for the hot-hand (cold-hand) effect. Every additional win in the most recent ten Tour matches raises the likelihood of prevailing in the current encounter by 3.1 (males) to 3.3 percentage points (females). Second, top male and female players are excelling in Grand Slam tournaments, arguably the most important events in tennis. For men, we also find evidence for top players …

Ua19/16/1 Lady Toppers Volleyball Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Athletic media guide for volleyball team.

Ua19/16/1/1 Hilltopper Baseball 2015 Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

2015 baseball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

Ua19/16/2 Track & Field Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases related to WKU track and field teams in 2015.

Ua19/16/1 Wku Hilltoppers 2015-16, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

2015-16 men's basketball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

Ua19/16/1 2015-16 Wku Track & Field Cross Country Record Book, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

WKU track and field media guide for 2015-16 season.