LSU KIN 2501 EXAM 3 (History and Philosophy of Kinesiology) Lecture Notes RATED A Louisiana State University

LSU KIN 2501 EXAM 3 (History and Philosophy of Kinesiology) Lecture Notes RATED A Louisiana State University EXAM 3 – Lecture Notes SPORT IN THE EARLY 1900s Sport and Social Change During the Progressive Era - Progressive reformers wanted change to improve the lives of the growing urban population – often immigrant newcomers to America. - Progressives consisted of WASP’s who led the way as social reformers. o White Anglo -Saxon Protestant WASP o Campaigned against the manufacture and consumption of alcohol (prohibition); organized workers in labor unions o Often employed sport in a variety of programs to educate and assimilate immigrants and address the perceived social ills/issues - Progressive reformers devised a 3-tier procedure designed to assimilate the working class – and sports factored into this process. o 1st step: humanitarian concerns – child labor laws (met with resistance from parents) o 2nd step : passes mandatory education laws because unemployed children roamed the streets (joining gangs, crime) o 3rd step : physical education in the schools; supervised games and sport taught deference to authority. Golden Age of Sport - Sports become an everyday part of American culture - Sports media and fan - Sports are a means of entertainment - More people can attend sports because of automobiles - Automobile, radio, TV bring sport to America - Increased sports participation (youth, interscholastic, college, adult rec) - Athletes become American icons o ICON: AN IMAGE, REPRESENTATION, OR SYMBOL. A REPRESENTATION OF SOMETHING SACRED, OR HELD IN HIGH REGARD o Age of when sports stars are born o For the first time, athletes become national celebrities ICONIC BASEBALL FIGURES: Babe Ruth - American icon - “invented” the homerun - Nicknamed “Babe” when the Baltimore Aerials found him - Considered among the 3 most important athletes in US history because… o Baseball = national pastime (people paid most attention to this sport & was most established) o First & largest “media darling” becomes the face of his sport, & a symbol of America o Plays for one of the most significant sports dynasties o Changes the game ▪ Strategy made 60 total homeruns; statistics were really high ▪ Excitement ▪ Fan base o Timing ▪ Black Sox Scandal • MLB match fixing incident in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series • White Sox owner – Charles Comiskey o was not liked by his players & did not pay good • Tension in locker room (two different groups did not get along but one thing they had in common was they did not like the owner) • Game 1 and the signal o Rumors by gamblers that the series was fixed o Signal was the White Sox pitcher would throw a strike on the first pitch, & second pitch if he hit the batter, then the fix was on • Trial o Players found not guilty on all charges o Key evidence went missing even though players admitted guilt • Kennesaw Mountain Landis ▪ 1919 World Series ▪ Chicago White Sox “fix” series ▪ Tarnishes baseball’s image • Fans were like wow do I even want to watch baseball anymore… they fake ▪ Solution ? Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis (1920) • Appointed KML, first commissioner in any professional league • Federal judge • Wanted a figure so people would think the sport is not falling apart • He wanted more power than was given • Racist • First thing he did was banned the 8 players from baseball for life even though they were found not guilty in the court of law • Changed the way baseball was going to be played