2009 Issue

Articles

2009 Bowl Championship Series Telecasts: Expressions of = Big-Time=20 College-Sport's Commercial Institutional = Logics
Richard=20 M. Southall - The University of North Carolina at Chapel=20 Hill
Crystal Southall - The University of Northern=20 Colorado
Brendan Dwyer - Virginia Commonwealth=20 University
Pages 150-176

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The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is the preeminent National = Collegiate=20 Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) event. It=20 consistently generates high television ratings and attracts millions of = dollars=20 of advertising spending. Given the limited analysis of the = organizational=20 conditions that frame these broadcasts=E2=80=99 production, this study = examines the=20 impact of influential actors on the representation process. Using a = mixed-method=20 approach, this paper investigates the production of 2009 BCS broadcasts, = and=20 examines the extent to which these broadcasts are consistent with = college=20 sport=E2=80=99s espoused educational mission. Through a critical = examination of the=20 dominant institutional logic that underpins their reproduction, this = study=20 reveals how such broadcasts reflect both past choices and future = influences=20 related to television production structures and = practices.

Pacific-10 Compliance Officers=E2=80=99 Morality and = Moral=20 Reasoning
Lisa A. Kihl - University of=20 Minnesota
Pages 111-149

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Critics contend that intercollegiate athletic administrators, = including=20 compliance officers who work in highly formalized environments, = generally=20 exhibit restricted moral thinking that is defined by organizational = rules=20 (Lumpkin, Stoll, & Beller, 1999). Cognitive moral = development=E2=80=99s dominance on=20 moral reasoning research has assisted in supporting this argument = because=20 investigations are framed from one independent theory (e.g., justice) = and=20 measure moral reasoning (Walker, Pitts, Hennig, & Matsuba, 1995). As = a=20 result, the interdependent nature between individuals=E2=80=99 morality = and moral=20 reasoning in real-life work experiences is unclear. Using contextual = practical=20 reasoning as a framework, Pacific-10 compliance officers=E2=80=99 were = interviewed to=20 examine their morality and moral reasoning. The findings showed = compliance=20 officers engaged in practical reasoning in resolving day-to-day = work-related=20 moral problems. Furthermore, the findings highlighted the interdependent = relationship among participants=E2=80=99 conceptions of morality, their = moral=20 perceptions and sensitivities, and their practical = reasoning.

Do International Student-Athletes View the Purpose of = Sport=20 Differently than United States Student-Athletes at NCAA Division I=20 Universities?
Nels Popp - Illinois = State=20 University
Mary A. Hums - University of=20 Louisville
T. Christopher Greenwell - University of=20 Louisville
Pages 93-110

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Over 16,000 international student-athletes competed at National = Collegiate=20 Athletic Association schools during the 2006-07 school year (NCAA, = 2008). Many=20 of these students came to the United States with far different sporting=20 backgrounds than their United States-born counterparts, shaping their=20 perspectives of high-level university sport competition. The purpose of = this=20 study was to examine differences among domestic and international NCAA = Division=20 I student-athletes=E2=80=99 views of the purpose of collegiate sport. = Responses to a=20 Purpose of Sport Questionnaire for 174 international student-athletes = from 49=20 different countries were compared to those from 110 United States-born=20 student-athletes. A statistical test of MANOVA revealed international=20 student-athletes rated the competition aspect of the purpose of college = sports=20 significantly lower than domestic student-athletes. Utilizing a second = MANOVA,=20 comparisons were made between student-athletes from different = geographical=20 regions. Student-athletes from Western European nations rated good = citizenship=20 as a purpose of collegiate sport significantly lower than = student-athletes from=20 Eastern Europe, Central and South America, and the United=20 States.

Clashing Models of Commercial Sport in Higher Education: = Implications for Reform and Scholarly = Research
Allen=20 Sack - University of New Haven
Pages 76-92

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Big-time college sport has successfully weathered one wave of reform = after=20 another for over 100 years. Yet, passionate debates continue regarding = the=20 educational impact of highly commercialized sport in American = universities. The=20 major purpose of this study is to identify the issues and assumptions = that=20 divide reformers and reform groups. It also makes explicit the = conceptual=20 models=E2=80=94intellectual elitist, academic capitalist, and athletes = rights=E2=80=94they use=20 to interpret the reality of commercialized college sport. This study = does not=20 test the validity of each model. Rather it explores logical connections = between=20 these models and reform policies likely to be pursued by those who = embrace them.=20 These conceptual models can also serve as building blocks for theory and = future=20 scholarly research.

An =E2=80=9CAll Star=E2=80=9D Initiative: Maximizing = Consumer Interest at Premier=20 College Wrestling Events
Coyte Cooper - = University of North Carolina =E2=80=93 Chapel Hill
Pages 64-75

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During the past 25 years, men=E2=80=99s wrestling programs have = suffered more program=20 eliminations than any other nonrevenue sport team at the National = Collegiate=20 Athletic Association (NCAA) level (The NCAA News, 2006). While there = were 363=20 NCAA wrestling programs offered to potential student-athletes in 1981 = (The NCAA=20 News, 2006), the number of men=E2=80=99s wrestling programs provided by = the NCAA has=20 diminished to 220 in 2008 (Moyer, 2009). With the struggling economy and = the=20 implications of the =E2=80=9Carms=E2=80=9D race (Christy, Seifried, = & Pastore, 2008;=20 Kennedy, 2007), the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) and = advocates=20 of amateur wrestling must develop strategies to enhance the = sustainability of=20 college wrestling for future years. Thus, the research utilized the = motivational=20 preference literature as a guide to survey fans (N =3D 149) at the NWCA = All Star=20 Classic in an effort to improve promotional opportunities at future = college=20 wrestling events. Overall, the results illustrated that fans responded = most=20 favorably to the following motivational preferences: achievement, = individual=20 match-ups, and loyalty. Further, the research also utilized = participant=E2=80=99s=20 demographic information to identify the segmented motivational = preferences=20 exhibited by fans attending the event.

Punching a Ticket to the Big Dance: A Critical Analysis = of=20 At-Large Selection Into the NCAA Division I Men=E2=80=99s Basketball=20 Tournament
Stephen L. Shapiro - Old = Dominion=20 University
Joris Drayer - = University of=20 Memphis
Brendan Dwyer - Virginia Commonwealth=20 University
Alan L. Morse - Mississippi State=20 University
Pages 46-63

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2009 Issue