Assignment task: Answer each question individually in separate essays following the number of the question. Do so in no more than five pages for the three questions combined, using default settings for double space, 12-point font, and margin space.
Q1. Discuss the history of women in the rodeo based on what you learned from reading Mary LouLeCompte's Cowgirls of the Rodeo. (Mary Lou LeCompte, Cowgirls of the Rodeo: Pioneer Professional Athletes (University of Illinois Press, 1999))
- What was the origin of rodeo and how did women's participation in it change over time, from the late 19th century to the late 20th century?
- What difference did regional (West and East) influences make in the rodeo related to women's participation?
- How did their opportunities in rodeo compare with those in other sports?
Q2. Discuss the following points in Murray Sperber's book. (Murray Sperber, Beer and Circus: How Bog-Time College Sports is Crippling Undergraduate Education (Owl Books, 2001))
- Briefly describe the two principal student-body subcultures he discusses, and elaborate on the one most closely connected with college sports.
- Discuss four myths associated with big-time college sports, including the recruitment of students, the contribution of athletic programs to the academic mission of the university, and the liquidity of athletic departments and their monetary contribution to the educational institution.
- What are problems Sperber identifies with the NCAA.
Q3. Discuss the principal themes in Darcy Frey's book The Last Shot. (Darcy Frey, The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Games (Mariner Books, 2004))
- Describe the false reality that, according to Frey, comes with inner-city basketball. Who is responsible for that false reality?
- Describe the pressures that Corey, Tchaka, and Russell face as high school basketball athletes in Coney Island. (Be sure to discuss as well, but not only, the "essential triangle" that Frey mentions.)
- What are the criticisms Frey has for the qualifying rules of the NCAA (similar to Sperber)? What is the contradiction he identifies in the Nike basketball camp?