Anatomy of Competition in Sports (eBook)

The Struggle for Success in Major US Professional Leagues

Christopher B. Doob (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2015
314 Seiten
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (Verlag)
978-1-4422-5061-1 (ISBN)

Infos

This book examines different professional sports leagues in the United States and the role of competition within that league—in the history of the league, for children learning and competing in the sport, for individuals competing to join a pro league, and the pros themselves meeting the various challenges of their career.

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Thousands of children across the United States dream of becoming professional athletes, yet less than one in a thousand high school seniors will go on to play in a major pro league. Of those select few, many will find that after a childhood of full-time commitment to their sport, their professional careers will likely be brief and injury-ridden. Within each of the top professional leagues in the U.S., the competition is fierce to not only get into the league, but to stay therethe average career in the National Basketball Association lasts less than five years, and in the National Football League only three and a half.The Anatomy of Competition in Sports: The Struggle for Success in Major U.S. Professional Leagues examines the role competition plays in each of the major sports leagues in the United States: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Soccer (MLS). In order to provide a comprehensive review of competition within each sport, Christopher B. Doob scrutinizes the challenges faced at the youth level, opposition encountered by individuals competing to join a pro league, the obstacles pros must overcome throughout their careers, and the history of each league. Furthermore, Doob dissects competition across the sports by looking at such common influences as family, school, colleges, the draft process, coaches, and the playing conditions within the professional leagues. An additional chapter examines so-called ';atypical pros'such as disabled athletes, gay and lesbian players, and two-sport proswho must face competitive challenges beyond the average athlete. A final chapter discusses life after the pros, including the legacy of debilitating injuries many former players face and the prospects of post-retirement jobs, such as coaching, managing, and broadcasting. Highlighting the struggles many athletes must face, The Anatomy of Competition in Sports features vignettes about current and past professionals, including Mariano Rivera, Earl Campbell, Candace Parker, and Sidney Crosby. Drawing on diverse sources such as histories of each league, research studies, newspaper accounts, and personal narratives, this book is simultaneously thought-provoking and accessible for all sports fans.

Autor

Christopher B. Doob is professor emeritus of sociology at Southern Connecticut State University. He is the author of a number of books, including Racism: An American Cauldron (1998), Sociology: An Introduction (1999), and Social Inequality and the Social Stratification in US Society (2013).

Inhalt

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction - Pro Athletes’ Uncommon CareersThe Advent of Pro Team Sports’ Affluent AgePlayers’ ChallengesPro Players’ Uncommon ExperiencesChapter 1 - MLB: Separation AnxietyFrom The BeginningThe Campaign for MLB DiversityThe Journey and Its ChallengesThe DraftJoining a Minor-League TeamMoving UpPitfallsShooting Down the CompetitionPlayers Caught in the Media CircusOutside the LagoonPlayers’ PerformanceHittingPitchingFieldingClosing the CareerChapter 2 - NFL: A Collision Cocktail Spiked With Size, Strength, Speed, And SkillThe Organization of a Highly Organized GameAfrican Americans’ Integration of the NFLFactors Contributing To Young Footballers’ DevelopmentZeroing In On Going ProPreparing For the Upcoming Campaign Experiencing Competition in the NFLThe Day of the GameRugged Realities of NFL GamesCasualties of a Collision SportDestructive Psychological Impacts of A Pressure-Ridden GamePositions and PersonalitiesLeaving the GameChapter 3 - NBA & WNBA: Trees In BlossomThe Development and Growth of a Pair of Modern LeaguesFrom All White to a Decisive Black MajorityThe Background for Making the NBACollege as One and Done or Close To ItThe Draft and Surrounding EventsToo Many Candidates for Too Few SlotsPlaying In the NBAKey Elements of the GameScoring and Its Contribution to the TeamThe Discreet Decline of ReboundingThe Impact of AssistsDefenses: Their Understated ValueThe WNBA and Its AchievementsThe Development of WNBA PlayersThe End of the LineChapter 4 - NHL: Intricacy on IceThe Birth of the National Hockey LeagueMobilizing Boys toward the NHLCollege or the Pros?On The NHL’s DoorstepImportant Challenges on Joining a NHL TeamEffectiveness in Training CampUnrelenting Performance DemandsTeam ExpectationsNeed To Satisfy Team TrustOn-Going Controversy about Fighting in the NHLDeploying the CombatantsThe Front LineThe DefenseA Final CommentChapter 5 - MLS: New Kid on the Global PitchThe Down-And-Slowly-Up History of American Pro SoccerThe Measured Development of Elite American Soccer PlayersA Look at MLS Academies’ Foreign CompetitionThe Combine and DraftMLS and Its Stringent AgendaThe MLS Preseason and Its ChallengesVarious Difficult Issues: Salaries, Foreign Players, InjuriesMLS and Ranging IncomesThe League’s ImportsPerformance Interrupters: Injury and Illicit DrugsThe Impact of ConcussionsAdditional Injuries and Responses To ThemPED Use in MLS: Making Too Much Out Of It?The Divided PitchForwards, Especially StrikersMen in the MiddleThe Deep DefendersThe Long Road AheadChapter 6 - Atypical Pros and Their Competitive RealityDisabled Athletes in Pro SportsModern White Players in the NBAGays and Lesbians in the ProsThe Lonely Life of NFL KickersTwo-Sport ProsA Final CommentaryChapter 7 - Life after Game Days: A Wrenching Experience? Wrapping UpThe Brutal AftermathWork after PlayFormer Point Guards and Catchers and Other Would-Be Coaches and ManagersSports Jocks on the Tube and ElsewhereNotesSelected BibliographyIndexAbout The Author

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 17.6.2015
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sport ► Ballsport ► Basketball
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Ski- / Wintersport
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Mikrosoziologie
• ISBN-10: 1-4422-5061-5 / 1442250615
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4422-5061-1 / 9781442250611