Who you hang out with says a lot more about someone than where you are from. As an athlete, I generally surrounded myself with other athletes, this labeled me as a jock. Most people do not enjoy being labeled to a particular stereotype and I did not enjoy being categorized in this way. In movies, jocks are always portrayed as the cocky jerk who thinks everyone owes them something. In Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, the movie opens with a “jock” standing next to his Dodge Viper and his beautiful blonde girlfriend, treating a classmate like he is less of a person. Where did this stereotype come from? I do not drive a Dodge Viper, or even a remotely nice car and I would not trophy my girlfriend. Just because I enjoy playing a sport or enjoy competitive situations does not give a person the right to label me as a specific type of person. Everyone is part of some type of social group whether they believe it or not. Athletes hang out with athletes, art majors hang out with art majors and biology majors hang out with biology majors. Just because I do not agree or enjoy the same hobbies or topics as a person does not give me the right to think of them any different.
In King-White’s Playing their Part: Red Sox nation 2007 and the Public Performance of Whiteness, he states, “The main thrust of these inherently political porjects is to uncover the various (un)spoken levels of social privilege white people have” (Kincheloe et al., 1998). (King-White p. 4) This kind of “privilege I experienced while I was playing soccer at Towson. All of the parties I went to were full of athletes. At a division 1 school, this gives a person a sort of status who attends these parties. For whatever reasons, one might be considered more popular if they are associated with these athletes or is an athlete themselves. You always hear about parties at the lacrosse house or football house. You never hear of a party at Steve the Biology major’s house. Therefore, if you are an athlete at a school you could be privileged in a way you could become part of the “in crowd”. People are always going to judge and social status is always going to be based off the people you surround yourself with. In an article called Sport and Social Status for Adolescent Males and Females by Joe Thirer and Stephen D. Wright, they looked at the social status of adolescent athletes. In this study the author states, “The results indicated that the trend toward deemphasizing the importance of athletics as a status symbol for male adolescents, which appeared in Eitzen's research, was not supported.” They also proceed to say, “For females, being an athlete was ascribed fairly low social status when judged by both male and female adolescents.” (Sociology of Sport Journal p.170) Athletics for males will always have an important role on their social status, but for female athletes, the role takes on a different social status.

Do the People we hang out with say a lot about who we are as individuals or make people look at us differently. I strongly believe this is true the media and people “create our world”(Lecture VII, White) and I am a prime example of this being in a fraternity. When I tell people I am in a fraternity the people who don’t know about fraternity or aren’t in one change there views of me completely.

When they think of me being in a fraternity they think of the term “frat boy” or “Greek Ease: Laziness” (Lecture VI, white) and the only thing I care about is drinking, girls, partying and more drinking. Even saying you just buying your friends. They think the only thing I care for in life is my fraternity and myself. If you have ever hade a chance to talk to me that is not what I am and that not what a fraternity is in real life. I am getting tired of it and annoyed.

I care a lot about my school and the community that we our in. If I didn’t tell you I was in a fraternity you probably wouldn’t expect it, but I am honored to be in one. It is true a fraternity is “Cultural Dimensional; A group of people sharing common cultural practices, values and identities” (Lecture VIII, White) but we are more then that. We barley get respect from the school even though we do more thing then probably any other organization. We sponsor philanthropy events we show up to community clean up days and even are some of the biggest supporters for our school teams.

This is also big in the sporting community as Tiger Football community and they are “ Dialectically related to the class, gender, race and nation-based elements of the Massillon, H, community”(Lecture VIII, White). Even though this people live in a town dedicated to football where everyone thinks everyone breads football not everyone does and they don’t get to share their views. Even being a group of a different race make people look at you differently even Tiger Wood one the best athletes in world still cant play at every golf course because people annualize him different because of his background.

People need to stop annualizing people from the groups they are in because they get tired of it. People should take a chance to see the person as an individual and even look into the groups they are in and see that there not always that bad.

The article Playing’ their Part: Red Sox Nation 2007 and the Public Performance of Whiteness say “ The infiltration of Red Sox Nation into everyday (sporting) life has been so effective that it has reached a point where Shaughnessy claims the Red Sox Nation is ‘its own country and governing body’” (White, Chapter IV, pg. 1) shows red sox nation is placed in their own environment and this how I feel my group and I bet you had the same stares and looks that I had when I am in FRATERNITY. Everyone is there own person.

Aside from women's sports, the next topic I would like to discuss is sport and place. Sport and place has a strong effect on the way people behave as individuals as well as in groups. One problem that arises when discussing people and groups is that there is always some form of stereotyping that comes along with it. I strongly believe that stereotyping can be used as both a good thing and a bad thing. I also believe that no matter what we do as a society, there is always going to be stereotyping. One of the main reasons for this is because it is human nature to "size up" and group other people or things into certain categories. This type of behavior dates back to Neanderthal times when cave men used territorial tactics and had to be very conscious of their surroundings in order to survive. Stereotyping in a way was used to ensure safety and still is today.
From my past experiences I have learned that stereotyping can be used for a good purpose and is an excellent tool to use for safety. An example of a past experience occurred when I attended college at Temple University. Temple University is located in North Philadelphia, one of the most run-down and poverty stricken areas of any city in the United States. Being that I am a kid who grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey I guess I am very naive when it comes to the "ghetto" city life. One day I was walking back to my house from night class and I had to pass by a large crowd of African Americans, I have to say for some reason I felt very uncomfortable at that moment, but decided to pass by anyway. All of the sudden one of the individuals approached me with a large knife and said "give me all of your money or I'll fucking kill you." I did not hesitate at all and handed the intruder my wallet and ran as fast as I could away from the area.
This experience was a real eye opener for me because I had never been a person who stereotyped people. I had always been raised to to treat everyone with the utmost respect and to not discriminate against anyone. Now, when I walk by a large group of African Americans, especially in the city, I am very timid and scared and fell like they are going to rob me. I know I shouldn't stereotype and believe that every African American person is going to rob me, but I guess as a defense mechanism, in fear that I might get robbed at knife point again, I guess I do. This is one reason why stereotyping can be a good thing.
Although I believe that stereotyping can be a good thing in order to ensure someone's safety, I believe for the most part it is a bad thing. I believe that by stereotyping people you limit them to particular categories when really the person could be a whole group of categories. All throughout high school I was classified as a “jock” and a “baseball player”. Although you would probably not think that it offended me because It made me popular and I would hang out with cool crowd, it did. People just saw me for one thing a baseball player. They only saw one side of me and did not get to see the whole person that I really am. They had no idea that I was very intelligent, could play the piano well, was an excellent golfer, and loved to read. By people stereotyping me as just a baseball player, it really bothered me. This reached its peak during senior year of high school when all of the students began to apply for colleges.
One day I was walking through the cafeteria during lunch time and I over heard another student say “Tanner is only going to Temple because he is a good baseball player”. That really enraged me because it was by no means the truth. They had no idea that I had received academic scholarships from three other schools, but chose Temple because I received more money with a baseball scholarship and I wanted to play division 1 level baseball.
Now that I am no longer playing baseball it feels good to be just a student, and not be classified as an athlete. I am now proving to everyone that I am very intelligent and was not just a good baseball player. My real glory will come in December when I graduate in 3 ½ semesters, before everyone in my graduating high school class. This just shows that you cannot always judge a book by its cover and that there is always more on the inside than on the surface.
Now that I am almost done with college my dad recently paid for me to join Laurel Creek Country Club in Mount Laurel, New Jersey as an early graduation gift. I have always been a member of Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield, NJ but recently we discontinued our membership to join Laurel Creek. Laurel Creek Country Club can be associated as an upper class country club and is predominantly made up of all white males. I can now relate to what you wrote about in your disortation when you say “You don’t see a lot of race in Red Sox Nation” (King-White 2007, pg.1). Just like you do not see a lot of race in Red Sox nation, you also do not see a lot of race at Laurel Creek Country Club. I believe that the reason for this is because the “white powers” that be are racist towards minorities and would feel uncomfortable if a minority were to penetrate their community.
Another quote from your writing that pertains to both Laurel Creek Country Club and Red Sox Nation is “I feel this is particularly significant given that, as a whole, this is a predominantly a white male community that has been long charged with being degrading to “other” identities. This quote exactly embodies what Laurel Creek and Red Sox Nation represent. They represent a group of wealthy white males who are unaccepting to minority groups and do not want their “community” invaded by out siders. This is completely evident with Laurel Creek Country Club by the statistical fact that there is not one African American member at the country club.
A quote that supports the notion that country country are racists is taken from “Race Relations and the Sport of Golf: The African American Golf Legacy” states that “Sports are often depicted as being the most open arenas in race relations. However, sports have reflected the historical racial trends in the larger American Society, characterized by discrimination and efforts by minorities to overcome racism” (Dawkins 2003, pg.1). This quote is absolutely correct and supports the claim that Red Sox Nation and Laurel Creek Country Club practice racist values.

The idea of an individual being judged on the basis of what kind of groups they belong to or teams that they are affiliated with has been a staple in American society for centuries. These judgments are usually based off of stereotypes, which as we have learned is an ugly way to marginalize a person who appears a certain way. As a white, male in today’s society I have been judged based off of a number of my different affiliations. While I could take the stereotypical dumb, jock football player path for this blog, I am going to take a different route. This route deals with my current occupation, and the judgment I have been subject to for the place that I work at. For a little over a year now, I have worked at The Sunglass Hut, in the Towson Town Center Mall. Prior to being hired, I knew almost nothing about glasses, nor about the requirements, or about the types of people who had a reputation for working there. To get to the point, I am the only heterosexual male employee currently at my store. I had no idea prior to working at the store, that the business had a reputation for employing homosexual male men. So it was of a bit of surprise to me the first few weeks of my employment that I was asked numerous times if I was gay. At first the question freaked me out. Did I appear gay; was I giving off gay signals? Looking back on it now, this all appears comical to me. At the time I considered myself to be that stereotypical hyper-masculine male. So I somewhat took the question as an insult. Looking back now I can see my own flaw for not only taking the question as an insult, but furthermore for getting freaked out. But this story relates directly to the idea of being judged based off of an affiliation to a group. Solely because I worked at a locations that had developed a reputation for hiring homosexual men, I was judged for working there.

Stereotyping is enevitable in life today. Ideas about certain people are forced on us no matter if the are true or not. But stereotypes have to come from some truth. It would not be a stereotype if they were not based on some sort of truth. Just because they have partial truth does not mean that they apply to everyone from the particular group being stereotyped. Everyone is their own person and live their life the way they want to. These stereotypes are not only taught to us about how to think about another person but how to act ourselves. If we are brought up in a particular group it is expected that you will grow up following the same ideals and beliefs of the group. Most people do grow up following the morals and standards of their parents. That is just how the world works. "NASCAR and the Red Sox are two entities that should have been kept apart if both are interested in promoting a more welcoming atmosphere for a socially diverse community. A veritable match made in racial/sexual/class diversity hell, the Roush-Fenway collaboration and signage at Fenway Park signifies where Red Sox organization's real loyalty lies and, indeed, under the rules of American corporate capitalism, where their loyalty must lie (King-White 2009)." Civil rights have only been around for a little over 30 years. It takes time for minorities to advance into these fields. The Red Sox are in the business of making money first and foremost. They have to target the audience that will generate the most revenue. As for them teaming with NASCAR that again is to increase revenue. NASCAR just happens to be a white dominated sport. For the most part minorities have little interest in NASCAR. If their was an industry that is dominated by minorities and as profitable as NASCAR the Red Sox I don't think that the Red Sox would not partner with them because they were not white.
A community that I belong to that I catch a lot of grief for is being a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. Growing up in the Washington D.C. area it was assumed that I must be a Washington Redskins fan. I am often called a front runner and I am only a fan because the won super bowls in the early 90s. That simply is not true. I became a fan of the Cowboys before they started winning super bowls in the 90s. My next door neighbors were really close with each other and we treated them as family. One of their sons was a Cowboys fan and for whatever reason I picked them as my team and stuck with them from then on. If it were true about being a front runner I would have dropped them as my team during the late 90s and the 2000s when they have been stinking badly. People can not understand how I could like the Cowboys and I receive dirty looks and comments whenever it is mentioned that I am a fan of the Cowboys. I brush it of though because i am aware of the hatred of the Cowboys and how Redskins fans act (another stereotype).

As a New Yorker, I was raised in a household that loved the Yankees. My father grew up around Yankee stadium and has been a fan all his life. He passed this tradition onto my sister and me and it has become part of me. I feel that being a Yankee fan has some baggage that does come along with it. I constantly where hats that display the Yankee symbol and right off the bat people label me as a typical “New Yorker”. One that is loud, arrogant, opinionated and rough around the edges. There have been many instances where a conversation and sometimes argument has been started by my hats and I have been labeled before even speaking. I also am associated with a fraternity which has labeled me as a stereotypical “frat boy” that loves to drink, party and be sexually mischievous. With words and groups come associations, which I have realized tend to be more negative than positive. Instead of someone looking at your interests and trying to see the good or positive side they automatically categorize you until you prove them wrong. It is giving in to these stereotypes that they are given more power. King-White (2009) states it perfectly in that, “each of these actions, and their subsequent positive reinforcement as ‘good humor', by members of the media serve to reinforce the notion of the stereotypical member” (p. 43). One last group that I “belong” too is the health community. I consider myself a very active individual and pride myself in eating right and working out. While many people see my progress and results in a negative light, this is not my goal at all. I have been given the nick name of a “meat head” because I am seen in the gym and have a body that most would covet. What they do not realize is that I have worked hard to achieve my goals and success in the weight room. I try to apply these techniques and discipline to the outside world as well and many people are surprised to see how gentle and caring I really am. It is always funny to see how many expressions and how people’s body language toward me change from the start of a conversation to the end. While it is only human to judge and be judged, it is these stereotypes that destroy relationships and people before they truly get a chance to explain themselves.

A social community I used to belong was the Hooters community. I worked at two locations, Ocean City and Tempe, Az, for two and a half years combined. At both locations throughout my time there I found this a community that someone from the outside may think of me and sterotype me a “Hooter” girl and not know me at all.This social community is a good one to analyze because of the people that are involved (restaurants visits and sponsors ) and the thoughts surrounding this community. When I mention being involved with the Hooters organization, the number one reaction I get is “Really?!?!?!?.” People are usually shocked and then ask well why. I never understood this? What do you men why? I am a young female, in college who needs money and know that “sex sells.” Hooters are usually paired with dumb, hot girls who serve wings. On occasion that can be true, but many are working, moms, and college students who are smart enough to take advantage of sexploitation. Just as “ a Red Sox fan doesn’t want to be associated with the uncomfortable social dynamic , psrt of the subtle barricade that separates black and white, a divide the defines a city as surely as the Longfellow Bride,”( King –White ,3), nor does the Hooters girl wants to be known as the dumb, cute ,wing girl.
These two communites have pasts that make these things true but doesn’t stand true for the whole community nor present day thinking. Hooters can be a place in which not only the member of a extended community can follow their team but a place where children can come and have fun. Sam goes for the Red Sox. Fenway park can be a place in which a history of racism took place but also a place where the social divide of ethnicities in Boston can come together. Outsiders may think down on being a Hooters girl but after working there and being heavilty involved in the company I take pride in saying that I was apart of that community. Outsiders will always follow the sterotypes of a community unless they allow themselves to take part in that community. Until you have an organic topophilla of a place or a community one can never truly speak on it with validation. Being apart of the Hooters community I was involved with a lot of charity work, I got to travel, participated in pageants and promotions all while meeting great friends. My sporting world and experience expanded and my love for sports was enhanced. Working at Hooters made me realize my love for sports and made me apart of a community I can be proud of. Sure this community could tell you something about myself but not the whole me. Certain groups are going to have labels with it, it’s whether are not you let those labels within that group define who you are as a person.

Aleka Ross

Stereotypes are preconceived, standardized, and generalized throughout all communities in the world. Some stereotypes will only get worse as the years go on, due to tradition that gets passed down. It is hard to change tradition or the past, the King-White, R. article states, “I aim to critically examine whether or not palpable a/effective progressive change has come from the organization through its fans by rewriting/ re-righting the past,” (2009, p.6). This article is determining if the Redsox could change their reputation of being racist through a book that was handed to Dr. Charles Steinberg, the Redsox Vice President of Public Affairs.
A community of people that is strongly influenced by stereotypes our cheerleaders. A stereotypical cheerleader is a dumb, ditsy, easy girl and all she cares about is her appearance and herself. This is the community that I have been a part of my entire life. Recently, my high school had a five year reunion and I was introduced to everyone’s significant other as “the cheerleader.” Every time someone said that I wondered what that person was thinking about me.
If you went to my high school and cheered for the Raiders, you were also a Raider that competed at many competitions, performed at halftime, and also cheered on other teams. We were a team that was considered a sport and were a lot better than many sports in our high school. People did say all the time that cheerleading was not a sport and there would be huge debated arguments following this statement. There were always comments about cheerleaders, but I did not look at our team with that stereotypical view.
Last year I tried-out for the Redskins Cheerleading team. While I was at the prep classes I saw why people could look at cheerleaders with that stereotypical view. The cheerleading head coach would talk to us after the classes about try-outs, “Make sure you go tanning, get your nails done, high-lights in your hair, and wear very revealing cloths.” This team was there for looks and not to show everyone the skills that they possess. These are the cheerleaders that society sees on television most often, which could contribute to the stereotypical “dumb/ditzy” cheerleader.

I have always being a part of an athletic community, but It wasn't till I played a sport in college that this social community became truly defined. Ryan King-White stated, “each of these actions, and their subsequent positive reinforcement as ‘good humor', by members of the media serve to reinforce the notion of the stereotypical member” (p. 43), and this stays true in a smaller sense throughout a University. The Universities newspaper and teachers reinforce many stereotypes of student athletes. There are so many negative stereotypes that go along with being a student athlete, majority are made by students. Most teachers understand the time and discipline that goes into being a student athlete. However, actual students hear things that may or may not be true for one sport and assume that this treatment it the norm across the board. There are even more stereotypes related to women student athletes that I have been identified with. Female college athletes for certain sports have always been deemed 'butchy' and more masculine then the normal female. This identification has lead to many people assuming female athletes have a larger tendency to be homosexual. There are a large amount of homosexual athletes but the number of heterosexual females is much higher. This is usually caused by the way we dress to class and around campus, most of the time we are fitting our classes around games, practices, and lift, and having to leave one to go to the other or vice versa. I was constantly dressed in my lacrosse sweats and t-shirts and shorts for majority of my classes. There were times when I had free time to actually get ready and look presentable for class, and when
I would do that, I always got asked why I was dressing up. It would get annoying to always explain myself just based on how I was dressed. Secondly, as a student athlete we get a certain amount of help and control over our classes and attendance. Teachers are more flexible with exam times and when things are due because of our busy and tight schedules. Students would view us as incapable of doing the normal work. They would assume that we are only athletes and we probably only got into this school because we were athletes on scholarships. Basically many normal students assumed we were stupid and got extra help because we could not do it on our own. Little do most people know that athletes have to keep a higher GPA then the universities standard, and we have to attend all of our classes because we are monitor by class checkers. If we do not go or check in we get in trouble or have to completely extra academic related hours of work. The last association that I came in contact with was ego. Students assume that we are dressing down all the time and coming late to class because of practice and normal students who are ignorant to the realities of a student athlete believe that student athletes think higher of themselves then normal students. This is completely untrue for most students. I will not lie, the football students at Rutgers did act most of the roles I am trying to explain are wrong, but these male athletes have been treated superior since they entered the Universities campus. How can you expect them to not think they are better than or do not have to follow the rules of normal students when they create a large percentage of revenue for the whole university. Positive associations of being a member of this social community will benefit me for the rest of my life. Whether I am looking for a job or talking to teachers, most admire the discipline and sacrifice needed to be a student athlete and they desire that in their employees or students. No one will actually understand what a student athletes have to go through until one does it themselves. You are in college and you feel like you have to follow rules that you obeyed in high school. Freedom and free time are limited, but the structure that all the rules create are such a larger benefit, that I can deal with any stereotype I am placed with.

katy Lawrence

The people and/or groups that we hang out with say a lot about us an individual’s – both good and bad. Almost all groups, communities, and states have distinct stereotypes that allow others to judge you before they even know you. I belong to a number of different groups and communities and each one tells something different about me. As I have stated before I grew up in a white neighborhood. In King-White’s article, Playing their Part: Red Sox Nation 2007 and the Public Performance of Whiteness, the first line is a quote by an acquaintance, Pete saying, “You don’t see a lot of race in Red Sox Nation”. Well I feel the same way about the town in which I grew up. Being part of this community of whites some may stereotype me or my neighbors as racist. When I came to Towson I was not in a culture shock like some may think, just because of all the different races of people here compared to my hometown. Just because I did not grow up playing with or hanging out with kids from different backgrounds, does not mean I had anything against them, or even thought they did not exist. If you look at the group of friends I have made over the past three years you will see that there is a blend of different people. I have friends from Philly, New Jersey, both north and south, the eastern shore of Maryland, Baltimore and of course Long Island. One of my best friends is black, and we never even talk about our different races, and I never thought it was an issue.
Then comes the big stereotype I get, “you’re from New York?” Well yes I am from Long Island, I go to the beach everyday during the summer, I am a fan of almost all our sports teams, and I have a strong attitude. I am also a cheerleader, which has numbers of stereotypes. After telling people these things they can already picture the type of person they think I am, but they do not always know that I work at T.G.I. Fridays as a server because I pay my own rent and have loans out for college; and during the summer I work at a camp for kids with autism. I am a Sport Management major and love sports, always have and always will. I like to exercise and be in shape and when I tore my ACL I worked so hard to get my knee strong again. I also love riding my bike, it seems like something a sixth grader would say, but ever since I was little my friends and I would ride our bikes around on nice days. I now ride my bike to Jones Beach, which is about ten miles there and back and also to work at the camp over the summer, both to save gas money and to keep in shape. After all the stereotypes of the groups and communities I belong to, when people see the real me they can see that where I am from only says so much about me.


Kristen S

In high school I played two sports, football and lacrosse. I was a starter and captain for both teams, and I loved hanging out with players from both teams outside of practice. During the fall, I socialized with the football team when not in school, and during the spring I was with the lacrosse team. The group dynamic was so different between the sports that I was the only one in my high school who played both. On the football end of things, most of the players were black and around the lower-middle class area. My lacrosse team was filled with mostly upper-class white players. Because of this, and my personal background of being, for the majority of my life, lower class and borderline poor, I became more comfortable with my football community. During my offseason I would continue to hang out with the football team, and only occasionally go to a lacrosse party. When I did, I would bring a few of my football friends. These friends would constantly tell me that the lacrosse team did not like them, and they didn’t fit in there. When I went to football parties, no one on my lacrosse team would ever ask to go. It was basically like a clash of social groups, and I was in the middle. During the lacrosse season my coach would have team dinners, and I would still bring my football friends. Some of the lacrosse players hated me for this, but I still did it because it was who I wanted to hang out with and could relate more to. I did no grow up the same way my lacrosse team members did, and although I tried to fit in, I honestly believe that they may have only liked me because I was a good player on the field.
If an outsider were to view my situation, with me telling them that I was a lacrosse player and had been for more than 14 years, they would immediately infer that I was of upper-middle class origins. I dress the part, act the part, and by all means could actually convince someone completely that I was upper class, but if I were to tell somebody that my main group of friends was black and played football, they would be absolutely confused. Ryan King-White explains, “To another observer I could easily be considered no different than a true citizen of Red Sox Nation.” (King-White, 13) This is similar in that the outside observer has nothing to base my class or social background on except the people I am with. If an outsider were to see me hanging out with my black football player friends, they would probably view me in the opposite way. They would wonder why I was dressed like a “lax” player and hanging out with black friends. They would think that I did not fit in. It is interesting that by hanging out with the people I am more comfortable with, I am somehow in the wrong and do not fit in, or should not fit in, according to others. In contrast, by hanging out with a lacrosse team, not a single person would second guess me. Would it be more proper for me to dress in baggy clothes when I hang out with my black friends, and wear a polo and khakis when I am with the lacrosse team? I suppose looks can be deceiving.

Groups really are a defining social construct. The groups people choose to place themselves into, normally results in a person choosing a stereotype they want to fit into. There are two separate groups that normally are not mixed, that I am apart of, and even I can see the stereotypes. The two communities are the rock climbing community and the Christian community. I am able to be more of a witness to the views that outsiders have on Christianity then that of rock climbing in one on one situations. If an outsider was to witness my friends and I hanging out in either community, there would be more witness to their views on rock climbing then on my Christian community.
The Christian community isn't exclusive and we aren't different then anyone else except for the fact that we believe in a man named Jesus. Looking at us, we look like anyone else, we hang out with people of different belief systems. We aren't sitting in a church all day, or praying every minute. If an outsider was to view me with a group of rock climbers, depending on how long we've been camping, they might view us as dirty. My room mate is not a climber and I asked her for her outside opinion on what she thought of rock climbers she told me she thought that before I moved in that there would be ropes everywhere, climbing stuff everywhere, and that we would be in shape, outdoorsy, adventurous, and a risk taker. Outsiders would also probably not be able to understand our conversations and probably think us weird for it.
In a one on one situation an outsider would more be able to see me as a part of a Christian community. I think I would be stereotyped as the religious girl, the good girl who does no wrong, and the one who should know all about the Bible. I know that because I am a part of the Christian community that people avoid telling me things that they have done wrong because they believe I will judge them. One on one, an outsider would not be able to tell that I was a rock climber, except for the fact that it's the one thing I can't stop talking about. Besides that, rock climbing does not have one individual type. The only way you would know who a famous rock climber was would be if you were a part of the climbing community. No one in this class would be able to tell if I am any good at climbing, or know that I go outside and climb rock and ice, and that I have been to 19,000 ft in Ecuador just by looking at me. Only if I was in a group of climbers would an outsider might tell that I climbed.
So there isn't really a community I belong too where I see much of an outsider having a huge opinion on when I am with my friends. If an outsider was to view these two communities as a whole, it would be a much bigger difference. Most people believe Christianity is a religion and judgmental and most people think rock climbers are hippies, dirt bags, and adventure/thrill seekers looking to hurt themselves. (Not even top 10 most dangerous sport!) Silly people, stereotypes are for dummies!

The people we associate with and communities we belong to go along was in shaping what people think about us both good and bad. As stated earlier, in my teenage years basketball was my passion and it influence the people I was friends with. Since in America basketball has become predominantly a “black sport”, the majority of my friends were black. Due to the stereotype that basketball and hip-hop music are linked with black males, the two have become heavily intertwined in American society. Suddenly because I played basketball and hung out with primarily black guys it was now assumed that I was a part of the “hip-hop” culture. This is similar to King-White’s concern that “to another observer I could easily be considered no different than a true citizen of Red Sox Nation”. He was worried about being judged based on the actions of those around him or simply the stereotypes associated with Red Sox fans. People were simply judging both of us based on the people we were associating with and their opinion of the group and nothing they knew about us personally. Many people have stereotypes of black males and because I was hanging out with primarily black males, I fell into some of these stereotypes. Suddenly because I played basketball and wore my clothes a little baggy I was classified by ignorant people as “acting” black and even occasionally being called a “wigger”. People assumed that I listened to hip-hop music and went as far as assuming I smoked marijuana. People were shocked when they found out I primarily listened to country music and a little surprised that I did not use marijuana. Unfortunately who you hang out with does tell people something about you. People will make snap judgments about you based on who you associate with.

I definitely have had instances where it seems like people are judging me without and basis besides the team I support or the apparel that I’m wearing at the time. My entire life I have been a Duke Basketball fan, and at the same time I’ve lived in Maryland my whole life. These two things obviously don’t go together, but nonetheless I support Duke and people just can’t seem to accept this. Every time I wear Duke clothing, it is quite clear that people are looking at me and passing judgment because they dislike the Duke Basketball program, and therefore they also dislike anyone who likes Duke, like me. It gets annoying really fast when people start acting rudely and disrespectful to me because of the team I support, based on nothing that I have done personally to affect them.

A second sporting community that I belong to and get judged would be basketball in general. Almost everywhere that I go, I find someone that feels the need to ask me if I play basketball. I understand where they are coming from because I am taller than most people, but it still amazes me that several times a day people ask me if I play basketball. It doesn’t really bother me that much, but I think that they are making judgments similar to those observed in the Red Sox nation dissertation. Outsiders are undeniably making unbiased judgments about me, without having a viable reason to judge me.
-DJ Walker

Growing up I have always been a huge baseball fan. I played all the way through high school, watch any game that is on TV, and I coach baseball over the summer. A true student of the game people always get tired of watching games with me and the way I dissect and analyze what is going on. Growing up just outside of New York City everyone was into baseball at some level since New York is a baseball town. However, in high school our baseball team didn’t get the same amount of respect or have as good a following as some of the other teams from other seasons. My senior year we were actually very good so we finally got the level of respect through our community we deserved. It was an honor to be wearing a Fox Lane Baseball shirt or jersey around town. This situation really doesn’t help me think about how being around my team made people look at me differently though.
The social group that I am most closely associated with right now is my fraternity. This association labels me as someone that I may not be. Fraternity boys are supposed to be preppy, snobby, alcoholics that care about nothing else except for themselves and their fraternity. None of what I just said describes me. I hate the people that are like that that really do ruin the image that is given to the rest of us “frat boys”. There is also a reputation that is built up by a fraternity on individual campuses. Unfortunately in years past my chapter was known to be extremely lazy, defiant of campus rules, troublemakers, and have on occasion been called “Towson’s Animal House.” Over the past year we have tried extremely hard to turn our reputation around. For a while I was embarrassed to wear my letters on campus. It took us a while to shed the problems we had and the image we had on campus. Only now are people realizing that we are a different group of people than we used to be. Only now are we getting the recognition of being a successful fraternity on campus through our nationals. So I have experienced being labeled and judged by the group of people I am associated with and it is frustrating.
-Josh McGrath

Playing on a high school basketball team alone puts yourself in a separate group then others. Team only consist of at most 15 players and chosen from hundreds. Right at the moment your chosen to be on the team you are put right away into a group and looked at a certain way by school mates. I remember a lot of times people would judge me based on me just being on the basketball team. Automatically I was described as a cocky, young good looking kid that only cares about the team. But the problem was a lot of people on my team didn’t even have basketball as their number one priority. We had brainiacs on our team that got straight A’s and we had people that were barely making it by to play. We had sensitive’s guys on our team that would even cry after a loss because they didn’t get enough minutes or just the overall fact we lost. Some kids at school would not even talk to me because I played on the team. I found out later it was because they felt I would not give them the time of day. But they didn’t know I am the most friendly guy and don’t judge anybody intill i meet them. It upset me that just because I played on a basketball team people were afraid to get to know me because they felt I thought I was better then them because I played on a high school team. They did not know I just loved playing basketball and just so happen to be good enough to play at a certain level but they did not look at it that way. It even happens know a days too. I live with a couple frat guys and people automatically assume I am one and that I love to drink and party and always asking me to do shots. Once they find out I don’t like to drink away my liver they completely change the way they feel about me and how they look at me. It is just something that will forever follow someone either with their job, friends, family, location, and even dog.

I would have to say that baseball would be the sporting community that i would relate to the most. Although i don't play it in college anymore, i still find ways to keep it in my life. Whether it be through umpiring and playing in summer baseball leagues or by following the Yankees religiously.Being from New York and Yankee fan i feel that there are definitely perceptions that people have, whether they are right or wrong is another story. For the most part, my friends here at Towson are from Maryland and are all Orioles fans. They perceive Yankee fans as arrogant, maybe we are but 26 World Series rings gives us the right doesn't it? In my own experiences i have felt that Oriole fans care about the Yankees way too much because in all honesty we don't care about the Orioles. The only team us Yankee fans do worry about are the Red Sox. So its Red Sox Nation vs The Evil Empire. I have to say that Red Sox fans are more hardcore than Yankee fans. For example King-White expressed in when he wrote about Red Sox Nation that they partake in an "act of self wounding, of probing beneath the scabs of national identity and national self image that cover up the unameable." This is due to their image as being racist, classist, sexist, and homophobic. This can bring out strong hatred from their fans when playing the Yankees, especially when dealing with Alex Rodriguez. I'd say the Yankees have a more diverse fan base. Since the stadium in The Bronx and then there are other communities such as fans from Long Island, New jersey and upstate. This bring about a well diverse fan base and proudly in no way, shape, or form resembling Red Sox fans.

-Mike Levy

The sporting and social community that I am associated with would be tennis since it is the main sport I have been playing the last few years. Interestingly, the outsiders’ perspective varies according to the place (and culture) I live in. When I was in high school, back at home, the fact that I played tennis made people think that I was part of the upper class which was not the case. I felt like people would automatically assume that I came from a wealthy family that belongs to an exclusive country club and so on. Therefore, particularly in my high school they would treat me differently and expect me to behave and even speak in a particular way. Unavoidably, I would actually hang out with upper class kids because of practice, tournaments and some traveling so I did frequent places common among wealthier people. This situation was rather uncomfortable for me because I felt that I had to behave differently depending on the social setting. The truth is that when you are an adolescent you just want to fit in a group in order to feel socially accepted and that is exactly what I did even though it did not feel right. Obviously I actually enjoyed myself with my closer friends from high school and I had to pretend to be somebody else when I was with my teammates. Thankfully, when I came to play tennis for Towson the story completely changed and now I do not have to deal with a double social standard situation. In fact, my team is really diverse, we have people from different races, religions and social classes and we all get along very well. I believe that, contrary to other sports such a basketball or football, my team as well as other individual middle class sports are expected to have more discipline and to be more school oriented. I am happy to say that for the most part, my current community has no similarity to the Red Sox Nation.

Evelyn Izaguirre

I don’t think I belong to just one sport or social community. I find myself with a different crowd of friends from day to day. I have some that I go to the gym with a few times a week, others that I play pick up soccer or tennis with, and then there’s the few rare friends that are getting me into golf. From the outside looking in, there could be many different assumptions made of my personality and character. Outside of sports, I have another set of friends that I find myself going out with now that I’m twenty one. It’s the same crowd and bar every week. If someone were to see me at the local driving range versus the bars on a Wednesday or Thursday night, these opinions would definitely differ from one another. As we read in Red Sox Nation, sport and/or social communities have a lot to do with who you are and how you are conveyed. For example, I certainly cannot say with any sort of confidence that I would be accepted as a New York Yankees fan while in Baltimore. This applies to what was discussed in this our reading according to Bryant (2004). “[A Red Sox fan] doesn’t want to be associated with the uncomfortable social dynamic, part of the subtle barricade that separates black and white, a divide that defines the city as surely as the Longfellow Bridge. We all want to be above those individuals and not always flattering ingredients that nourish sports in Boston, to somehow claim the passion and not the shadows. In short, some of us want to be a clean fuel, the energy that can drive a locomotive without creating air pollution. Whether that is possible? Who knows. (pg 3)” In my case, I don’t want to be associated with the negative aspects that the Yankees have hanging over their heads, from an excess in money (which is highly understated) to a recent discovery in steroids, it’s become hard to just enjoy a game without your character being up criticism.

The sporting and social community that I am associated with would be tennis since it is the main sport I have been playing the last few years. Interestingly, the outsiders’ perspective varies according to the place (and culture) I live in. When I was in high school, back at home, the fact that I played tennis made people think that I was part of the upper class which was not the case. I felt like people would automatically assume that I came from a wealthy family that belongs to an exclusive country club and so on. Therefore, particularly in my high school they would treat me differently and expect me to behave and even speak in a particular way. Unavoidably, I would actually hang out with upper class kids because of practice, tournaments and some traveling so I did frequent places common among wealthier people. This situation was rather uncomfortable for me because I felt that I had to behave differently depending on the social setting. The truth is that when you are an adolescent you just want to fit in a group in order to feel socially accepted and that is exactly what I did even though it did not feel right. Obviously I actually enjoyed myself with my closer friends from high school and I had to pretend to be somebody else when I was with my teammates. Thankfully, when I came to play tennis for Towson the story completely changed and now I do not have to deal with a double social standard situation. In fact, my team is really diverse, we have people from different races, religions and social classes and we all get along very well. I believe that, contrary to other sports such a basketball or football, my team as well as other individual middle class sports are expected to have more discipline and to be more school oriented. I am happy to say that for the most part, my current community has no similarity to the Red Sox Nation.

Evelyn Izaguirre

Never judge a book by its cover. Nearly everyone is quite hypocritical when it comes to this statement, myself included. As much as we say we don’t pass judgment on someone before we get to know them, we almost always do, whether we like it or not. My current living situation this semester has been a great example and has allowed me to be on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to people passing judgment before they get to know me. I was set to transfer into Towson this semester with an old friend of mine and we were going to look for a place to live together. Well he ended up not getting accepted so my roommate situation just got a whole lot shakier. I was stuck with either living by myself in a one bedroom apartment or sticking with the two bedroom apartment and running the risk of not finding a roommate, thus spiking my monthly rent. I decided against both and searched online for people who subletting their room for the semester. Luckily I found one near campus and this is where I currently live. It turns out that the room was in a six bedroom house, and it was a frat house. Now I have not had any trouble this semester and I get along great with all of my roommates. When I tell people that I am living in a frat house this semester, I can already imagine the assumptions they are making, assuming I fall into the stereotypical “frat guy” category. I’m sure right away they assume that I’m just some “frat guy”. Wrong. I am not in the frat, nor do I belong to any other frat. I don’t have any interest whatsoever of joining a frat anytime soon. I’m sure they also assume that I probably do not get very good grades, go out and drink every night, and throw raging keggers on the weekend where I’m blacked out by 5:00 pm and in my drunken stooper will attempt to hook up with any girl I meet. Likely making an ass of myself in the process, but it’s all good as long as it’ll make a good story for the brothers the next morning. I am none of those things. Sure I enjoy going out for some drinks from time to time but I would just much like to chill at home with my girlfriend or some friends, watch some sports on tv, and just relax. I also like to think of myself as a pretty good student too, who has never finished a school with a GPA below 3.0. During his time studying Red Sox Nation, King-White said he was easily able to pass as a citizen of Red Sox Nation because he identified as “heterosexual, white, college educated, and middle-class” (12). This a great example of the stereotype of some of the member s of Red Sox Nation, just like some of the things people assume about me when I tell them I am living in a frat house this semester. It is an unfortunate practice and it is one that will be very difficult to remedy, and that is the idea that you can tell everything about someone because of the group they hang out with.

The sport or social community that I belong to could be described as basketball addicts. Since I started playing basketball when I was about 6 or 7 years old I have been completely immersed in the sport in every way possible. Throughout middle school I attended various basketball camps where they indulged our basketball obsession with games, drills, practices, basketball movies, comedy routines, and NBA guest speakers. These camps I attended were great fun and a good way to spend a couple weeks in the summer but were not really representative of real street basketball culture. In high school I played in a number of recreation leagues and for the varsity team. By the time I graduated I had played basketball games in about 80% of the high schools in Montgomery county Maryland. My social network of friends was usually connected to my basketball playing habits also. Being friends with most of my basketball teammates meant I had a diverse group of friends, usually of different races than myself. This past summer especially I played a lot of basketball in my neighborhood with mostly minorities. I usually would drive ten minutes up the street to play at a fenced in private basketball court where only local residents can play. The court is the best in the area with a nice glass backboard and a water fountain nearby. For years my friends and I have been playing here despite a locking gate on both sides. Most upscale residential basketball courts are usually gated and secured because most suburban rich communities do not want to have the street elements of the game right across from their house. What I mean by street elements is large groups of minorities, loud and obscene language, drug use and trafficking, alcohol use, possible fighting, and playing basketball until late hours of the night. I’m not stereotyping every street court as this, but wealthy suburban residential communities do not view street basketball culture in a very good light. Over my spring break I went back to this court to play on a really nice warm day and it was so packed with people it was unbelievable. I waited about an hour and 15 minutes to play with many familiar people from my high school and local neighborhood. Thinking about it now if that many people show up regularly to play basketball this summer, the local management might actually install new locks that work to keep us out (95% of the players at the court don’t live there and are not supposed to play there).

This neighborhood’s imposed white male dominance is similar to the Red Sox nation article’s critique of the team’s homogeneous white male fan base that is “an increasingly important community with which to view critically in order to understand how unspoken privilege and power operates in contemporary society” (King-White, 4).

My social community currently is still largely connected to my basketball friends. Sometimes local street ballers are seen in a negative light as criminals or hooligans but that’s a very unfair assumption considering most players I know are in some sort of college program, they have a steady job, and they stay out of trouble. Over the years society has developed stereotypes that often become imbedded in white upper class culture that creates cultural, racial, and class divides in our society.

Evan Johnson

For the past two-three years I have been apart of the basketball team. This social community for me is quite different do to the fact that I am a short (relative to ball) white from the suburbs. Because of this I have had some very interesting experiences being involved in this community. There have been many labels and prejudices that come with being associated with this social group.
The first thing that we have to consider is the culture of the group. Most of the players are tall, black men who come from lowersocio-economic backgrounds, like most basketball players. With that in mind acceptance and this image a being strong, tough, and afraid of nothing come with it. Therefore, a majority of these players portray themselves as being tough, “hard,” and aggressive. Many of these attributes are key characteristics of urban, lower socio-economic individuals. So in order to fit in with the guys and be accepted, you have to give off this image that you are tough and will go in the trenches with them. Needless to say that its all just talk and an image thing, action very rarely takes place. I fell into that trap because at the time I wanted to fit in and give the image of a ball player. Because the game of basketball has become just that, aggression, attitude, and toughness. However, that was not me. Also, education plays a role. Being an athlete and coming from a tough background, many of these guys barely got by and only did what is necessary to be eligible. They would brag and glamorize how they do not do any work, or have their girlfriends do work, or pass a test by cheating. This was kind of a weird predicament for me. Most people just assumed that I was like my teammates; not caring about school, getting bad grades, and only caring about athletics. They classified this to me, without knowing that I have a 3.95 GPA. The funny thing was that at the beginning of my career I would shy away from my grades because if you get good grades you are labeled as a nerd, which I am by the way. Another thing was the clothing that this social group wore. Again I wanted to give the image of being a ball player, so I would dress like one. I did actually like some of the clothes; however, a majority of them were rather ridiculous. So for my first couple of years at Towson, if you saw me with my friends you would think that I was a poor inner city person who did not care about grades, had an attitude, and tried to act tough. That is the image that is given to my teammates as well, yet most of my teammates do not act like this. These type of stereotypes can be described by King-White (2009), “each of these actions, and their subsequent positive reinforcement as ‘good humor’, by members of the media serve to reinforce the notion of the stereotypical member” (p. 43).
I was considered a stereotypical member because I was a member of this social group. Even though the type of person I am is not anywhere close to this stereotype. With that in mind, these past couple of years I reexamined myself. I started to realize the social considerations that came with associating myself with this social group. My attire was extremely unprofessional. Also, my vocabulary and pronunciations gave the impression that I never took an English class. Many people thought I was just another dumb basketball player. With that in mind, I gradually reestablished who I really was and portrayed myself as such.
Ryan Kannegieter

The social community that I find myself most associated with is that of the football sporting community. I have been around the game of football in some way my whole life. I have family that played; my father coaches, I played; and I even hope to one day coach. I feel like I am deeply entrenched in that community. Even though I have taken a break in playing the last few years, I am still associated with football. I still love watching football at any level and it continues to be my favorite sport. I still get asked to play again and why I am not playing. People look at me and automatically ask if I played football because of my size. Sometimes I feel people will stereotype me and wrongly assume that because I played football I am overly aggressive or hyper. I also hate the very inaccurate stereotype that football players are just big, stupid jocks. I have never believed that my community displayed this stereotype or was related to that in anyway. I am far from that stereotype and was brought up to believe that the dumb jock stereotype is only used by ignorant people. I think being part of the football community does give you a confidence about yourself that others may not have, but I believe all athletes have confidence from playing their sports. It is just natural to feel good about yourself when you know you have put a lot of hard work into something.

Travis Macklin

All of the sports I played or currently play are pretty typical of a white middle class kid from Maryland. As I said before, I play/played soccer, football, lacrosse baseball and Golf. I guess it can be surmised that the sports I played reflect my social community and a middle class white male. To be honest, I have not really had to deal with people making too many assumptions about me based on those facts that I can recall. A lot of my friends played the same sports as me so whenever I would meet new people; it tended to be through them. I guess the assumptions they would make about me were probably heavily related to my friend. As far as the teams I follow, I am a home town guy. Growing up it was always Ravens, Orioles and Terps. So, once again, most of the people I met were fans of the same teams. Obviously, I have met fans of other teams, but that usually took place somewhere that I had a lot of common support. The only other time I can think of would be when my family went to some Away Ravens games. Pretty much everyone we met said that overall, Ravens fans were very friendly. I am not sure if this is a widely generalized idea about Ravens fans or just some isolated peoples experiences with them, but I hope it is a wide one.

A sport that I have been playing since I was five and still currently play when I have some spare time is basketball. Growing up, all I wanted to do was play basketball every second of every day because I was good at it and I enjoyed the competition so much. Today, my best friend is African American and doesn’t live in the best of neighborhoods so when we go play around his house, I am usually the only Caucasian person playing. Now when it comes to what people think of me when I am there, I am getting to different opinions. All the African American people think that I am from the same neighborhood as my friend and that I must be poor to be hanging around him and playing on these street hoops. I actually heard one black kid say “That white boy over there must not have any rich friends that he can go play with since he down here with us.” At first I was mad because I had never seen this kid before and we was trying to act like he knew me, but then I realized that I had nothing to be upset about because I was having to much fun with my friends playing basketball to even care what he said. It also helped out that he thought he was the best player there and my team demolished his team when we were both on the court. Now from the perspective of a Caucasian, they might think the same thing that I do not have a lot of money, but they will also think that I am some sort of thug because I am hanging out with all the African Americans and no other white people. As you talked about in Red Sox Nation how people were just following the Red Sox just because they were winning and wanted to be socially accepted, I think my situation is completely different because I am not playing basketball any where to fit in but only to have fun and play the sport I love. If I were a true Red Sox fan, I wouldn’t want all of these people following the my team because they may like the team now but they were not there for the bad times when the Red Sox hadn’t won a world series in almost 100 years because they did not have passion for the team like a true Red Sox fan.
Corey Cline

The social/sporting community that I find myself to be part of is heavily influenced by hockey. Whether I am playing or watching, it seems as though at any given time I am surrounded by the game. Just like anything else there is a "stereotypical" hockey fan and participator. People from the outside believe all hockey fans are loud, long-haired (also known as flow), aggressive, and like to drink. While these ideas may be true for some individuals they are definitely not the case for the majority and more specifically, my friends. Yes, we do all enjoy a good time and have a drink every now and then; some of us might even have the "flow" I referred to earlier. However, we are not overtly violent and overly aggressive. We tend to enjoy each other's company and manage to stay out of trouble (for the most part). Hockey, in fact has taught me the exact opposite of many of these stereotypes. Dedication, commitment, teamwork, and loyalty are some of the characteristics I would associate myself with when it comes to what have been taught after playing on numerous teams for the last 20 years of my life. A good example of the stereotypical hockey fan can been seen on a popular television commercial. This specific ad from the National Hockey League takes place in the maternity ward of a hospital. While parents and friends gather around the window to see their new-born baby, a man begins to scream and bang on the glass. He exclaims while pointing, "Loser! Loser! Loser! Best baby ever!" This type of behavior is not acceptable in these circumstances obviously. While the commercial is meant to be humorous, it further portrays the hockey fan as an obnoxious individual. My social community is not like this whatsoever.

The social community that I find myself attached to the most during the semester would be my gymnastic team. Mainly because we have team parties and other group gatherings. I guess if I was looking in, I would think that we are very confident (which sometimes can be mistaken for arrogant) team. I feel that others would like to join us, but choose not to. As an individual people find me very funny and love hanging out with me, but when my team is involved the other female athlets are not so excited to be around us, but in terms of the male athletes they like to hang out with any team. Since there is only one other African American person on my team. I feel like people sterotype me by saying that I don't really hang out with other back people. This is totally false because Iove hanging out with all people. So, since the majority of the time I am in a white community my voice isn't heard as when I would hang out in a well mixed community. So, I agree with King-White when he said "...unspoken privelege and power operates in contemporary socity." So, the person looking in would probably not observe all things such as racial slurs and the anger, but when it comes to power I do see a similarity with Red Sox Nation in 2007.
Alise McDonald

The east coast is friendly to San Diego fans. Which I think is funny. Its like the sports on the other side of the country don't matter because their arent and endless number of fans to argue with about who is better. You tell someone you are a fan of Pbiladelphia, DC, or New Jersey teams it is almost always followed by a grunt or sigh. For me its always responded with an indifferent look, unless of course a raider, chief, or broncos fan happens to be on the east coast as well. I dont know whether they don't think the sports out there are as good, or because the media doesn't cover them here, but I know if I were any of the east coast teams fans I would be concerned when scheduelled against the chargers. Any how, if your looking to label charger fans its very difficult. I think we are the anti-diehards, in other words, what you would generalize an eagles fan to be (Loud, Angry) we are the opposite in majority. Some chargers fans were hesitant to go to the playoff game last year because it was raining out.....to me that's embarrassing, but to current SD residents they are used to it always being sunny, so can I really blame them?....also we haven't won any championships that I can remember so in the sports world we get little to know respect, thankfully the chargers have been at the top of the game for the last couple seasons...and we all know...THIS IS OUR YEAR. go chargers.

I have been told all of my life that "I am guilty by association." Seems like all of the responsible adults that I knew growing up all told me the exact same thing. I knew for a fact that I would eventually understand what that meant as some point in life, but back then I couldn't understand what that meant. I always felt like people would see that my individuality and that I wouldn't be grouped just off of first impressions or perceptions. I was completely wrong about that. All of my life I have grown up around athletes. My friends and family never played sports as a way to advance it life, even though that wouldn't be frowned upon either, but they played just to pass the time away. Basketball started out being the game of choice but then that soon changed to football. As a child I used to go down to the park that was near my house, even though it wasn't the safest of cleanest, and watch my friends play basketball for hours on end while the rest of us just enjoyed the weather and all of the females that were around. That soon turned into an everyday thing and eventually turned into a tournament that was held every summer. That just seemed to be the thing to do and in that aspect that helped me to get into sports. I was never the most gifted but I would play to be the best of my ability and that was fine with me. As I got older football soon to over and I soon realized that football would be my game. I used to play all football video games and evne play with my friends as often as we possibly could. I even thought about playing football when I was in high school but after damaging my knee and listening to the concerns from my mother I decided not to instead. So just to keep around the sport I just befriended as many football players as I could and started to really take pride in studying the game. But even doing that I still felt left out. I never looked the part. So my senior year in high school I made a vow to myself that I would hit the weight room and train as hard as I could to get in the best possible shape that I could and to also get bigger. Now seven years later I am even more in love with the sport than I ever was. But sometimes it bothers me a lot because no matter where I go or who I come in contact with I get asked the same question; and that is what position do you play? I always laugh it off because I take it as a compliment in the sense that I must be doing something correctly in the weight room to even give that impression. But on the other hand it bothers me to think that just because I work out I have to play football. Why couldn't I play any other sport or just work out just to work out? Why is it that everyone thinks that because you lift weights and are a minority that you have to play football? Now for the people that know me I can understand where that comes from. They know that's all I talk about is the game of football and I have always had a notion in my head that I too could play the game. At times it does feel like I just seem to get along better with football players more than any other athletes, but for those that don't know me it's quite interesting.