Prefontaine Questions

1. Throughout the movie Pre is mostly portrayed as a very confident and determined person. Pre believes in himself and is very independent when it comes down to being an athlete.
2. I think that Pre seems to be a likable character, but others may view him as conceited.
3. Whenever Pre's teammate throws, Pre walks out and draws everyone's attention on him.
4. Pre teaches a 9 year old boy that you can win if you believe in yourself, it is all mental.
5. The current controversy with college athletics that is introduced in this movie  is whether or not they should be getting payed.
6. One of Pre's goals in high school was to be the best distance runner.
7. The living conditions in the Olympic village are very poor. These are very similar to the poor and unsanitary conditions the Olympians faced in Russia this past winter.
8. The Jews and Israels were being killed by an Arab terrorist group.

Unionization Questions

      1)  I do not think that college athletes should be allowed to unionize. I don’t think that they’re that important that they deserve to have their own rights. They are students who play a sport for a school, giving them the right to unionize would exaggerate their importance. College athletes are not that important and I don’t think unionizing them and giving them their own rights would help anything.

  

2)  I do not think that student athletes should become employees of the college they attend and receive a salary. I do not think that they should because they’re going to that school to learn as well, they are still students. They are not working for anybody, they are players on a college level team. They shouldn’t get paid because it is not a professional sport, you are playing for a school that you are attending, in no way are you an employee.

3)  I do not think that they should be making money in the first place, but if they are, then I think they should still be allowed to earn a degree. They’re at a college so they are still in school so it wouldn’t be right for them to take away their opportunity to earn a degree just because they’re earning a salary. I do not think that they should be making money anyways, though. 

What is a Sport?

A sport is an activity that requires an athletic ability, competitiveness, and contains a lot of physical activity. I think that it should also require strength, endurance, strategy, competition and defense. A sport is much different than a hobby. A hobby is something you like to do just for fun but doesn’t really require much practice or skill, while a sport is more of a lifestyle and is very intense and competitive. I also think that a sport requires a lot of time and practice. Also, I don’t think something can be considered a sport if it doesn’t involve any strategy, because then you’re just playing to play which seems to me, as more of a hobby. I think if something requires defense then it is also considered a sport because it gives you some sort of challenge.

I personally do not think that cheerleading is a sport, unless it is more of the competitive type. Cheerleading that just consists of standing there and chanting is not a sport, but I think it can qualify as a sport if it contains a lot of acrobats and stunts. Many people think that golf is just a hobby, but in my opinion it is considered a sport. Golf requires you to have an athletic ability, strength, endurance, strategy, competition and defense. Though the defense may not be another team of person, it is a mental block where the player tries to not let their head get to them. I think that football is definitely a sport because you need to be very in shape, it requires a lot of physical activity, and you need to have certain skills. Not just anybody can play football. I do not think that yoga is a sport because there aren’t many skills that are required and anybody can just do it for fun and on their own time. It doesn’t require much physical activity, either. There is no strategy, competition, or athletic ability required to do yoga.  I also don’t think that ping pong or curling is a sport. Just because they are in the Olympics, they are more of hobbies because neither of them really require you to be in shape. Sure, they require strategy and practice and they can be competitive, but you don’t need much strength or athletic ability. If anyone wanted to, I think they could participate in either of these. Though baseball and softball don’t require much physical activity, I still think of them as being a sport because you need to be very skilled and it is very competitive and popular around the world.

A ball is not required for something to be considered a sport. I think that if it has a ball then it is definitely a sport, but it is not required. It may seem like games that involve a ball may be more competitive, intense, and popular, but that doesn’t disqualify every other sport where a ball isn’t a necessity. For instance, soccer, basketball, football, baseball, softball, and tennis all involve a ball and those are very popular and competitive around the world, but so isn’t dance and gymnastics. I think that a sport that involves a ball always seems more competitive because there are teams in which are preventing you from achieving your goal. Also, it seems like more people are interested in watching the sports that have a ball because they’re always so intense. Though dance and gymnastics don’t involve a ball whatsoever, I still think they can be considered a sport because you have to be very athletic, have a lot of strength and endurance, and they can be very competitive. You don’t see just anyone participating in dance and gymnastics, they require a lot of skill.