Conclusion

This class taught me a lot more than I originally anticipated. The main reason that I took this class was because i like to learn about sports and the different impacts they have on the world. We learned about a wide variety of sports and the nations and cultures that they developed in. The most interesting to me was when we learned about rugby. I already knew most of the information that we learned but the fact that I was able to help other people in the class understand and learn about rugby is really what I wanted to do. Our school has a great rugby team and we are always trying to get more fans and players and this was a good way to do that. 

The majority of the topics that we covered were very interesting. I think this is a really good class to be offered because it helps to open peoples minds to the different sports that are played around the world. Global sports are going to have a major impact on the world one day and having young students learn about those sports is a great thing. 

I had some troubles keeping up with my blogs but I do think that keeping a blog is a good way to stay on top of current events and to really get a deeper understanding of sports and the effect they have on the global market. 

Asian Athletes

More and more Asian athletes are coming to America to play professional sports. The most noticeable Asian athlete that was in America was Yao Ming. Yao came over in early 2000 and was drafted by the Houston Rockets in the first round. There are not many Asian basketball players in the NBA, but Yao made sure to give them a good name. He wasn't just all hyped up because he was Asian, but because he actually had skill. Some players didn't take him seriously like Shaq but nobody really cares what he thinks because he's not very good anyways.

There are more Asian athletes in the MLB than any other professional sport in America, besides golf. Most of the Asian athletes that come to play baseball like to go to the Seattle Mariners or the the New York Yankees. There isn't a definite reason that the players like to go there, but thats where the majority of them seem to go.

Asian athletes are making a name for themselves and are going to have more of an impact on the world than most people think. Not many Asians play in the NBA because as most people know, they aren't the biggest group of people in the world. But their determination and skill is going to show the rest of the world that just because their smaller, doesn't mean anything.

Olympics

Talking about the Paralympics in class was very interesting to me. It was amazing to hear about stories of people that have overcome so much adversity and still pursued their dream of being an olympic athlete. The one sport that I found most interesting was the women's sitting volleyball team. I had never heard of this before and it really sparked my interest. I didn't know that even if a woman could stand she is still able to play on the team.

Another Paralympics athlete that i found amazing is Scott Hollenbeck. Scott went to the University of Illinois and competed in the wheel chair games. The University of Illinois has a good disabled program and through that, Scott was able to compete for years in wheel chair games.

One thing that I never thought I would hear about is doping in the Paralympic games. In the 2000 Paralympic games, some athletes were charged with using steroids. However, this case is arguable because some of the athletes need the steroids because of their existing medical condition. I think that if an athlete is charged with doping but can prove that they are using the drugs for an existing medical condition, then nothing should come of it. But if the athlete can not prove that they are using the drugs for medical conditions, then they should be disqualified from the games.