Sociology and Understanding Human Behavior †Socl215

phra prove 8, 2011 Phase 4 Individual Project Sociology and Understanding Human Behavior SOCL215 The sports sociology exists because of the strong relationship amidst sports and gild. As a culture, we as Americans value sports for the entertainment, physical activity and many otherwise benefits it provides to us. I desire that is the reason so much enquiry has gone into discovering how and why it affects us as a society. Sports ar approveed all over the world, particularly soccer and purseball in many parts of the globe. I am a really big furthernow of and enjoy football. It is my favored sport.During the fall and winter months much of my life-time rotates around being able to watch professional football feistys and to cheer for my front-runner aggroup, the Carolina Panthers. Its my favorite sport because I enjoy the energy, the heartyization, competition and action. Because it is so widely revered in America, it is not very(prenominal) difficult to find another foo tball fan or sports bar. Football is widely represented in the media which withal helps to be a fan. ESPN (Entertainment Sports Programing Network) covers games if you may earn missed a game or play as well as offer news about teams and players.During the local news pass on a sports segment is always included. And in local as well as nationally make newspapers a sports section is included. I however am not a typical viewer/fan in the football demographic. Most fans are inwardness aged white men that make $55,000. all the same the number of women honoring football is on the incline. According to the New York Times the number of women watching sunlight Night Football has increased 23 percent over the last two years. (Baker, 2011) The fan base for football is expanding for minorities as well. I think this is because more minorities are playing the sport.To get a check understanding of how sports and society affect one another I went to a local steep develop football game. I have always gone to football games as a fan, never as an observer and I knew this experience would be different. I decided to attend this event because I enjoy football and I knew a few of the students from work that go the high school. It was as well as an opportunity to drive more about high school, I usually only watch NFL (National Football League) football games. The following(a) are my observations from the athletic champaignwork done during the football game.The setting for this game was a high school football game was Carolina Forest High School. The elements that would affect bearing included banners, posters and cheerleaders. This affected the home team in a positive way as they feel more support and motivation. It could negatively affect the away(p) team as they feel intimidated and home team as they could feel more pressure to win. The attendees/fans were students, parents, cheerleaders, ROTC members, teachers and other dance team members. Most of the fans were white high school students between the ages of 14 to 17.I would posit it was divided pretty evenly between males and females. They seemed upper middle class with a few that seemed to be upper class. The players were similar to the fans as they were high school students, 14 to 17 years old and middle class but there were a few more black players than white. The dress of the fans was typical of teenagers. Students for the most part wore jeans, T-Shirts and flip flops. Many were shirts that had the schools logo and mascot on it. on that point was a group of young men with pilus dyed black and wore similar skateboard type attire.The students seemed to stay in groups together as did the parents. There emphatically seemed to be groups that stayed to themselves and did not socialize with anyone outside of their group. This behavior applied to parents and students. The students in these groups were of the same social class and did dress similarly. The atmosphere was very positive and h appy at the football games. The home team won which helped with the atmosphere. There were a couple moments of tension when the home team had a penalty or was losing. I saw symbolism in the flags apply by the high schools NJROTC rehearse field team.Other symbolism I saw was used by the referees. They used hand gestures to leave the penalties being issued to either team. The other observation I noticed was the language used during the football game. Students used chants that were exclusive to their school to show their support. There was also verbiage used to describe which down and field position the game was being vie at. There was also commentary from the announcers tell the audience which players were preforming which plays and their positions. From my field work I learned that energy of the game is in direct correlation of fans.Because many high school students dont know the rules of football and go to games as a form of culture only the energy isnt as high. However there s eemed to be less tension and employment among the fans as a result of this. When emotions run high, there is a greater risk of conflict. This seems to happen a lot in football because of the loyalty fans feel for their team. I previously stated in calendar week ones assignment that functionalist perspective was most useful when looking at the sociology of football because it played a part in society has a purpose to fulfill as a whole.And I still believe holds true. It helps to bring slew together, gives a sense of competition and a role mildew for children. It also helps fund the education of promising athletes and promotes good physical wellbeing. American football culture has a positive impact on society. College students that show promise are able to get a higher(prenominal) education on a full paid scholarship. This allows more potentially more successful people in society. People throughout the world love sports. Mankind loves to get together for a popular interest and ce lebrate.Even in the face of war and other devastating losses, we as a society pass on feel hope and inspiration from the victory of our sports team. This is the reason why sociologists are so raise in researching sports. It is a strange and intriguing phenomenon. I think the reason the so many come in is the social status it gives you. Children look up to athletes as role models. There is also the factor of silver as well. Fans will dedicate a lot of money and loyalty to their favorite players. I also think they enjoy the feeling of having people rely on their abilities and come from very far away to watch them play.Many just have a passion for the sport they play. Fans play large roles in society. One way they do this is by providing economy to metropolitan areas that have professional or college sports teams. They are also the reason why sports media has grown to be what it is now. If it werent for fans there would be need to have things, like instant replay that has helped th e integrity of many sports. We wouldnt have tailgate parties so more members of society can come together for a common interest. The importance of sport varies with the individual. It plays little or no role in the lives of some people.For others, it is a light diversion from the cares of everyday life. But for many, it is a central feature of their existence. (Delaney, 2003) Sports will continue to play a part in society, people will gather from all across the world to watch sports like we do with the Olympics. There will also be controversy and conflict but I believe the benefits of enjoying sports still make being a sports fan worth the effort. References Baker, K. (2011, January 28). Gridiron Girls. Retrieved September 8, 2011, from nytimes. com http//www. nytimes. com/2011/01/30/magazine/30FOB-wwln-t. html? _r=1 Delaney, T. (2003). Sports and Deviant Behavior.Retrieved September 8, 2011, from philosophynow. org http//www. philosophynow. org/issue41/Sports_and_Deviant_Behavior Response to Peer Discussion Board Suggestions and Questions I think the number of women watching football is unsurprising because many women have men in their lives that love football and expose women to the sport. I grew up watching the New York Giants because my father and our family favored that team. I stopped watching football so often until I met my husband and now we watch every game that is played by his favorite team. If I didnt have these influences didnt exist in my life, I wouldnt watch sports at all.Ive always enjoyed independent research. I like to work with groups and on my own which is a tremendous benefit to going to Colorado Technical University. I like being able to physically research and see for myself the ideas and concepts that are in our textbook. It makes the subject of Sociology feel more real. An interesting point is that fan behavior is not only affected by the game it is also affected by the team or sponsor they play for. I think its very true that som e fans are definitely fair weather. Meaning a fan likes a team or supports a team because they win or are winners.I believe in supporting a team even if they retire or are not a very popular team. Another point I didnt mention was how fans affect the player moral in a game. I think that if fans are hearty for a team and have good energy that this can affect a team in good and baffling ways good because the team will try to perform better and bad because they may not perform as well because they feel they dont need to try as hard. There can also be the opposite effect of a team that is not doing well and is not being supports. They can either succumb to the negativity or work harder to get the best it.