Final Words

This is my farewell speech. The last blog entry of 2009! I made it through the first half of my senior year! When I started out blogging, I was kind of nervous. After I blogged a few times, I began to like it a lot. I had so much fun blogging about class topics and discussions this year. I was able to say my thoughts and think about them before I said them, as opposed to talking out loud in class and not being able to think of what I want to say before I say it. I am a very opinionated person. There were subjects and discussions that I didn’t say a word in class because of my feelings, I didn’t want to offend anyone. I was able to go home, think about what everyone said, and think about it and add my personal feelings. Then people would give me feedback and I got a good idea of what other people liked and disliked about me. I really enjoyed that aspect of blogging! Kobe Bryant is the greatest basketball player ever! I will be back, as for now, so long and farewell world. God is love, Scott Ritchey.

Where Would Sports Be Without...

Where would sports be without their best and most famous athletes? In a poll taken by ESPN a few days ago, they asked the world who is the team and individual players of the decade. Imagine the NBA without Kobe Bryant or Lebron James. The NFL without Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. The WNBA without Lisa Lesley or Candice Parker. In the poll for the team of the decade, the Los Angeles Lakers were number one, followed by UConn women's basketball, then Boston Red Sox, Indianapolis Colts and the University of Texas football team. The top two were basketball teams, one men and one women's team. Both of those teams were lead by (arguably) the best of player of all time. Kobe Bryant in the NBA and Diana Taurasi in college basketball. Tiger Woods was the individual player of the decade, followed by Serena Williams, Kobe Bryant, Lance Armstrong, and Peyton Manning to round out the top five. Both of these polls caught my attention. The fact that men and women, both made the top five in each was a shock to me. I was glad to see that the world feels the same about men and women's sports. So I was thinking, if these sports didn't have their best players, would these sports still be where they are today?

Men and Women Media

It doesn't take a rocket scientists to know the differences between men and women. There are many differences, especially in the sports world. Men get the majority of the TV coverage, media coverage, and publicity. Women get the short end of the stick. I will start with the sports themselves. Women have almost as man sports as men do, but they do have less then the men do. Women get volleyball, WNBA, college basketball, and softball on national television, of those four, softball and volleyball are on only during their tournaments. Men get national television for all their major sports on a game by game basis. That is really messed up! I believe in fair media and television coverage! Why do women sports get less attention than men sports? I believe that they are not advertised as much as men sports do. Also, the market is not as big in women sports, as opposed to men sports. There should be a law passed, stating that women and men TV coverage should be equal on a yearly basis, of all sports combined. A way to get people attracted to women's sports would be to advertise, like the picture of Maria Sharapova to the left. That will get people's attention and get them to watch more women's sports. After all men advertise just like women do, like the picture to the right of Adrian Peterson. When it is all said and done, women and men sports should have equal everything, especially in the media.