| Ryan White |
 | 0 Comments |  | 47 Read | Dec 21, 2006 |
Hi all! Since I have been offered and accepted the opportunity to write a blog for fanzak it would probably be best to start with a bit of an introduction, and explanation for what this part of the site is going to be. My name is Ryan White and I am a PhD student in Kinesiology at the University of Maryland College Park. The focus of my PhD is on the cultural studies of sport. In other words, rather than merely take sport at face value, deem it meaningless play, or discuss it as a microcosm of societyâ?, I assert that sport, particularly college sport, is effected by wider societal issues as well as wielding its own power to shape the world in its own right. If you do not believe me think about this what do you spend more time doing?
1. Watching TV or surfing the internet to reading the world news and politics.
2. Watching TV or surfing the internet to learn more about sports.
My guess is that if you are on this site it is the latter. On that note, I have had the opportunity to teach courses at George Mason and Towson University, and my students, as well as myself, are amazed when we sit down and think about how much sport enters our lives rather than things like politics. Because it is so important to so many people, this blog is going to discuss why it is so important, not just in the game by game sense (though it is fun to digress on occasion), but also in the ways that our lives shape and are shaped by our connection with sports. As we progress through the summer leading up to the opening weekend of college football I will discuss several different issues ranging from my (some may say unfounded) hatred of Joe Pa, to the (mis)treatment of student athletes, money issues with the NCAA, an explanation of how the NCAA even started (shadier than you would think), and even a reasoned discussion on team mascots. Along the way I will be sprinkling in a few stories about myself and my friends most of whom come from my time spent at Ithaca College hopefully they will be a bit entertaining .see you soon.
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