Jock Jams: The Medley of Sport & Music

By Faith Peddycord & Dr. Thomas Orr

As you prepare to start an exercise routine, you pick a specific song that seems to give you energy. As a youth hockey team steps on the ice to the shrills of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck they feel the energy and possibly become more alert and focused on their game. Young people bouncing off the wall to music created well before they were born in timeless examples of stadium rock that appear to be timeless. A worn out professional athlete listens to classical music in order to find peace and solitude before going to bed. The combination of music and sport is common, yet not often thought about. There have been numerous studies done that demonstrate the importance of listening to music while exercising or performing a sport. The effects of music are endless and are helpful for people with all experiences with sport. In this paper, there is going to be an approach to the positive effects that listening to music has when listened both before and during exercise.

Jock Jams Album Cover

When thinking about how music can influence sport activities, it is important to think about how it relates to our feelings and interactions. In The Impact of Music on Sports Activities: A Scoping Review by Majid Akhshabi and Mohammad Rahimi, they look at how exactly music does this. They believe that there are four mechanisms used, “reducing the feeling of tiredness, increasing excitement levels, creating harmony, and finally increasing calmness and the sense of comfort” (Akhshabi, M., & Rahimi, M., 2021). If an athlete feels exhausted, playing music with more energy can transfer to them, allowing them to feel more energized and play better. Similarly, if music with more energy is played, there can be increased excitement both on the playing field, on the court, or on the ice, and in the stands. As far as creating harmony, music can help form a bond between people, especially when listening to the same music. Music can fairly easily bring out emotions in people, and the emotions will typically be similar between people. With this, if music is played during practice or a game, harmony can be formed bringing fans and players closer together. Finally, with increasing comfort and calmness, music can be used as a relaxation technique. If someone has performance anxiety, it might be beneficial to play soothing music for them prior to a game. This can allow the sympathetic nervous system to become less aroused and they can focus on what matters most. By looking at these four mechanisms, coaches can better prepare teams for games and build that relationship between fans and players.

Taking a more in-depth look at energy, professional athletes have their own experiences with how music can affect the energy on the field. A professional baseball player described an experience he has had in the article Sound Affects: How Music Transforms the Way We Consume Sport by Khalid Ballouli. He describes an experience of when the first batter walks to the plate with the song If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band) by Alabama, in which there was a high amount of energy (Ballouli, K., 2017). This energy translated into the stands where fans were on their feet and singing along with the song. However, when the next batter walked out to Neighborhood Superstar by the Hot Boys, fans stopped singing and the energy diminished. This observation is presumed to be affected by the amount of energy in the music as the second batter was a good player. During the first song, the music was upbeat, and fans were easily able to sing along with it, however, during the second song, the music had been slowed as if to represent being played on a record. By slowing the music down, there seemed to be less energy present, thus, influencing fans to calm down. This describes how easily music can form that bond between players and fans. When music is upbeat, it can feel as if there is more support coming from the fans while when music is slower and more rap like, if can end up not feeling as supportive.

Music not only can affect people’s emotions, but also their movement. In the article Music and Sport: Exploring the Intersections by Jonathan Long and Karl Spracklen, they compare music and sports with how similar these concepts can be. They mention that Erwin Strauss believes that music influences people’s movements like dancing and marching (Long, J., & Spracklen, K., 2020). This would mean that it is likely that our movements when playing a sport can be influenced by music in the background. Even thinking back to how music affects emotion and energy, if there is energetic music in the background, athletes are going to be more likely to move with more energy. The authors also mention how Strauss describes how sound influences movement more than vision. While visualization can be useful in some cases, it might be better to use music as a way to perform movements. These two methods, however, can be linked together by playing music in the background when using visualization. Sound being more linked to movement than vision is said to be due to “the same experiential perceptual space”. This being said, music can help encourage athletes to move in certain ways during practices and while performing.

Beyond what is mentioned above, music is also useful in other contexts other than sports. In the article The Sound of Success: Investigating Cognitive and Behavioral Effects of Motivational Music in Sports by Elvers and Steffens, the authors mention how music is helpful in improving the coordination of those with Parkinson’s Disease (Elvers, P., & Steffens, J., 2017). When listening to music during rehabilitation interventions, patients were able to have greater accuracy with movements and overall improved motor coordination. However, the study also showed this in a healthy control which can be related over to athletes as well. The authors of this article also mention how common it is for music to be used as pre-performance enhancement in sports involving balls. This most likely has something to do with the idea that music improves motor coordination. Overall, this has been difficult to prove exactly how music improves motor coordination, but there is some evidence around strong neural connections between the motor and auditory cortexes. With this, music is going to be helpful in preparing athletes for performances in games and competitions as well as practice.

There isn’t just one article that mentions the importance of music on motor coordination. In the article Relationship Between Music and Sport Performance: Toward a Complex and Dynamical Perspective by H. Chtourou et al, listening to music presents more positive effects than negative. These positive effects include improving motor coordination and motivation (Chtourou, H, et al., 2015). According to researchers, one potential reason for these positive effects might have something to do with the therapeutic nature of music. They also mention how widespread the use of music is among recreational activities as well as in motor rehabilitation programs. With music having a wide range of abilities, there is no surprise when it comes to believing how important music is in exercise and sport. Among these positive effects, there is also improvement seen in athletes’ agility and psychomotor capabilities. Balance and agility is extremely important in various sports, therefore, if music has the capability to help improve the agility of athletes, it is useful. By using music during practices and performances, games, and competitions, coaches are going to better be able to encourage the highest performance possible done by their athletes.

Going back to the idea of emotions, music played while exercising can improve people’s happiness. In the article Music Enhances Performance and Perceived Enjoyment of Sprint Interval Exercise by Matthew J. Stork, Matthew Y. W. Kwan, Martin J. Gibala, and Kathleen A. Martin Ginis, researchers looked at how someone’s perceived feeling changed from the presence of music. Sure enough, people who had listened to their choosing of a playlist reported a higher feelings score throughout the entire exercise session (Stork, M. J., et al., 2014). When considering motivation, those who listened to music also reported a higher task motivation score for the entirety of the session than those not listening to music. Similarly, the overall perceived enjoyment among participants was consistently higher than those who listened to music. This was in support of the original hypothesis. The overall end statistics from this study was that 95% of participants said that exercise was more enjoyable with music, and 100% of participants said they would do sprint interval training again while listening to music. From this study, it becomes clearer that music can help encourage exercise and make the experience more enjoyable.

When thinking about music more specifically, it does matter what music is chosen. In the textbook Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology by Robert Weinberg and Daniel Gould, it has been suggested that athletes will choose their music prior to competition to fit various moods. Athletes will consciously make this selection by thinking about what they want their mood to be like and what kind of arousal level they would like as well (Weinber, R., & Gould, D., 2024). Typically, it is common for athletes to want a higher arousal, therefore, they might choose music to arouse them. In this textbook, researchers also discuss what music can do to an athlete’s perception. For example, the perception of effort can be lowered, thus reducing the perception of exertion. By allowing music to be played and reducing the perceived effort, athletes might have an easier time working out and doing their best because the activity can seem more fun while they are still giving their best. In studies mentioned in the textbook, music did not seem to depend on the intensity of the exercise. Instead, there seemed to be an enhanced effect regardless of the intensity.

After thinking about all the positive effects music can have when involved with exercise, it is important to understand if it matters when the music is played. In the article Music and Exercise: What Current Research Tells Us by Jeanette Bicknell, reflection on the dependency of music is discussed. She used the example of going to a cycling class and if there was no music, she would most likely pack up her things and go home (Bicknell, J., 2013). The use of music during exercise helps to make the environment more fun and for some people, take their mind off what they are doing. Again, she also touches on the importance of having music prior to exercise and during exercise with all the positive effects they come with. When music is played prior to exercise, it has been shown to “increase arousal, facilitate relevant imagery, and improve the performance of simple tasks”. Increased arousal is seen again to be a positive effect, but Bicknell also touches more specifically on the improved performance with simple tasks and imagery. Like discussed earlier, pairing music and imagery can improve an athlete’s performance as more neural connections will be made to better visualize the expected outcome. Bicknell also mentions the positive effects during exercise when music is played. This includes “delay fatigue and lessen the subjective perception of fatigue”. When people are listening to music, they can end up in a happier mood, thus allowing them to focus on the music and less on the perceived effort they are doing. From this article, the positive effects of music during exercise are emphasized more, demonstrating its importance in sport and exercise.

Furthermore, there are many articles that mention the positive effects of listening to music before and during exercise. To continue this idea, the article Effects of Music in Exercise and Sport: A Meta-Analytic Review by Peter Terry, Costas Karageorghis, Michelle Curran, Olwenn Matin, and Renee Parsons-Smith discuss another positive effect. They say that listening to music also improves physiological efficiency (Terry, P. C., 2020). When thinking about how music can increase efficiency, this can be applied to everyday activities like cleaning. Since music can increase enjoyment, this might explain how efficiency also improves. Going back to exercise though, if efficiency is higher, they can either learn more skills and get better at older ones faster or do more efficient strength training that can be beneficial in the long run. The authors also discuss the aspects of music that connect people together. Events that involve music include weddings, funerals, and initiation ceremonies. They also explain that “it rouses soldiers preparing to enter the fray and serves to coordinate their onward march”. Similarly to how it can help line soldiers up, coaches can use music to help connect athletes on the same team to better predict where a teammate might throw a ball for example. Therefore, music can be an essential communication method for teams while also being enjoyable.

Music, however, has been used since the 20th century during sporting events. In the article The Influence of Music Preference on Exercise Responses and Performance: A Review by Christopher Ballmann, it is discussed about how music showed up in the Olympics as early as the 20th century. Music would be played in between ceremonies and was even used during events like figure skating and gymnastics (Ballmann, C. G., 2021). Now, it is common to find music at most sporting events. This article also discusses the physiological importance of listening to music. One of those factors is the neural connections in the brain which increase awareness of emotion, perception, and arousal. This is the biological basis for why athletes and people who exercise perceive exercise as less difficult or demanding, have higher arousal levels, and are happy and enjoy exercising. There has also been research found around listening to music while cycling. When listening to music while cycling, there is a “prevention of a decreased heart rate variability (HRV) following exercise indicating the preservation of parasympathetic stimulation following physical stress”. This is better for the heart and physical health because the parasympathetic nervous system and sympathetic nervous system will have an easier time adapting to stress. Overall, while exercise is good for a person’s health, listening to music while exercising is even better.

There are several factors to consider when debating whether listening to music is the right thing while exercising. The most important thing is to think about all the positive effects that music can have on a person’s mental and physical health. When thinking about their mental health, music can improve mood, increase arousal, and perceive less effort. This can make athletes happier and more efficient during their exercise as well. As far as physical health goes, when listening to music during exercise, there is a prevention of decreased heart rate variability resulting in better communication between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. From all of this information, it can be concluded that there are several positive effects that listening to music before and during exercise has to make it worth playing music for athletes before and during practices and games or performances. When you need a lift, “pumping up the jam” may be just the right idea.

References

Akhshabi, M., & Rahimi, M. (2021). The impact of music on sports activities: A scoping review. Journal of New Studies in Sport Management.

Ballmann, C. G. (2021). The influence of music preference on exercise responses and performance. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 33.

Ballouli, K. (2017). Sound affects: How music transforms the way we consume sport. Journal of the Sport Entertainment & Venues Tomorrow Conference, 3-8.

Bicknell, J. (2013, January 30). Music and exercise: What current research tells us. Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/why-musci-moves-us/201301/music-and-exercise-what-current-research-tells-us?msockid=1d8be38981ab61c5379af788800660a0

Chtourou, H., Briki, W., Aloui, A., Driss, T., Souissi, N., & Chaouachi, A. (2015). Relationship between music and sport performance: Toward a complex and dynamical perspective. Science & Sports.

Elvers, P. & Steffens, J. (2017). The sound of success: Investigating cognitive and behavioral effects of motivational music in sports. Front Psychology, 8.

Long, J., & Spracklen, K. (2020). Music and sport: Exploring the intersections. Sport in Society, 1-7.

Stork, M. J., Kwan, M. Y., Gibala, M. J., & Martin Ginis, K. A. (2015). Music enhances performance and perceived enjoyment of sprint interval exercise. Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, 1052-1060.

Terry, P. C., Karageorghis, C. I., Martin, O. V., & Parsons-Smith, R. L. (2020). Effects of music in exercise and sport: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 91-117.

Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2024). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, Il: Human Kinetics.

Five Reasons to jump on the HOOSIER BANDWAGON!!!

The Mendoza Effect----Our quarterback is a really good guy! He gets fired up about things beyond football like studying and loves to hang out with priests. This is such a difference compared to the personality of so many ego driven quarterbacks. He is the third Heisman winner with Latin roots and is by all accounts the perfect prospect for turning around the Raiders as the first overall draft pick but right now he is only focused on the game tonight.

We are HOOSIERS-----What is a Hoosier? Several theories exist to explain the origins of the word. Did it come from the frontier greeting of “Who’s here” that people used in this area? Was it a strange English dialect of Hill Dweller? Samuel Hoosier allegedly hired many workers from Indiana to help with canals and projects in Kentucky and they became known as Hoosier’s men, and then that became Hoosiers. These and many stories are common on Indiana’s campus with no clear answer. To make this less confusing, Indiana now has a Buffalo as its logo, which has nothing to do with a Hoosier.

Coach Cig---Google him.

Mellencamp gave the hoosiers a training facility when no one believed this could happen.

Americas Team----With the Dallas Cowboys retiring from SuperBowls in 1996 there has been no clear consensus in football at the NFL level and with Notre Dame retiring from playoff participation in 2025, we are the logical team to beat the bad boys of Miami and be the NCAA version of Americas team. In a nod to the Catholics vs Convicts game, we will start a Catholic Quarterback who grew up in Miami, and he will bring a team of priests to support him as mentioned above. 

Win or Lose, we Reload. Indiana has been laser focused on winning this game, yet has managed to already sign a great transfer class for next season. With donations coming from the largest living alumni base in the United States led by the wealthy Mark Cuban and rocker John Mellencamp this will not be a one hit wonder.

What is happening with United States Sport Policy?

By Dr. Lynn M. Jamieson

Recent widely publicized sports issues have gained the attention of the highest echelons of the United States Government.  The White House reports have included the call for stronger public policy about compensation, safety, and regulatory capacity of sport development in the nation. In July 2025, specific areas in college athletics were announced through an executive order. These included a call for:

Bans on “pay-for play” payments

Allowance of fair-market NIL deals

Revenue sharing to protect women’s and non-revenue sports scholarships

Clarification of employment status of student-athletes (1).

This isessentially the first time that a call has come directly from the White House for specific areas involving sports; however, it is not the first time that some policies have been generated at the national level.

Since 1984, I have studied international sport policy by conducting in person interviews with 13 countries through structured interview process involving over 20 collaborators who either served as interviewers or facilitated the interviews of government officials, sport programmers, and other constituents involved in the delivery of sport programs at the national, regional and local levels. As a result, while most countries developed sport policy at the national level through ministries of sport and tourism, the United States had placed its sport policy development with the United States Olympic Committee and a multitude of national sport organizations represented specific sport interests. In 1909, Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern Olympic movement, envisioned a modern sport effort that included not only high-level sport competition, but also sport for all citizens. In 1958, Dwight Eisenhower, then President of the United States founded the President’s Council on Fitness which was run by Congress and included the development of fitness testing in schools.  This group grew to include sport and nutritional guidelines for schools as well. 

Examples from my studies of governmental policy affecting sports and recreation shows that countries were influenced by three distinct models: European, Latin, and Asian. One caveat is that there are many countries that were not studied and that future studies may yield additional categories, but for the purposes of general explanation, these models may be defined by the following:

1. European – sports ministry at the top governmental level with a club system at the local level. Funding for facilities, training, and other support is provided in part by this ministry. Additional support provided by sport-specific federations.

2. Latin – departments of sport and recreation at the top governmental level with a diverse local system of school, club, and private organizations that along with sport-specific federations provide support for facilities, training, and events.

3. Asian – sports ministry at the top governmental level, local systems like the Latin model along with support of government and sport federation levels.

It was found, however, that the United States has avoided developing centralized policies that govern sport, and because policy development has occurred through multiple organizations, the ability to develop sound sport programs has been somewhat fragmented and left to specific sport organizations and the states. This approach appears to be shifting somewhat as organizations as the National Collegiate Athletic Association have responded to the existence of issues with sport violence, player eligibility, and athlete pay scenarios.

The lightening rod of transgender athlete eligibility among other issues has caused the development of policy directions in the United States government.  Up until now, according to Project Play (Aspen Institute, 2025), the federal government has avoided direct policy development except for the development of President’s Council on Sport, Fitness and Nutrition (1958), Title IX (1972), the Amateur Sports Act (1978), and the recent development of the National Youth Sports Strategy (2019).  In terms of funding, the President’s Council on Sport, Fitness, and Nutrition has funded various campaigns throughout its lifecycle, to include an Awards Program in the Schools, fitness campaigns involving all ages, and specific demonstration projects. Other funding, however, has come from sporting organizations, and through the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1964.  According to Project Play of the Aspen Institute, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee has funded National Governing Boards (NGBs) over $100 million annually to train high-performance athletes. This collection of national, state and local organizations has been a complicated patchwork of efforts to provide a solid foundation for sport development, and a strong policy still does not exist to support early development of fitness efforts, sport-specific advisory programs, and alleviation of sport injury, violence, and fairness. According to Orr and Jamieson (2021), the United States sport policy network is described as a “2021loosely coupled, semiautonomous, autpoietic system”. This means that the many organizations that provide sport little connection with other sectors, are considered to govern themselves partially, and that the organizations remain stable over time.

This fragmentation is evident in comparing the United States levels of policy development with limited national government policy direction and a plethora of non-profit and profit organizations at the national, state, regional, and local levels.  These many organizations have limited coordination with each other except when there are competitions that are governed by intercollegiate, interscholastic, and Olympic levels. For example, national, sport-specific organizations govern that sport with rules and regulations involving participant eligibility, codes of conduct, sport rules, and other element of governance. These organizations are sources for specific sports at the local and regional levels.  Then, at the local level, a multitude of private, private, and commercial operations provide locations for participants to gain expertise in a variety of sports.  This presents the challenge of providing equity for all those who wish to participate in sport, where, cost prohibitive programs and facility deficits make it difficult for those without resources to be able to progress in skill and accomplishments.  Table 1 shows the variety of sport organizations at different levels in the United States.

What is needed to strengthen sport safety, involvement, and excellence?  In. general, there needs to be a national guiding principal for sport development, sport skill development, and sport safety. With new rules and regulations allowing for various forms of incentive pay for collegiate athletes of athletes at the collegiate level, and the blurring of lines between what comprises an amateur or professional athlete, guiding principles need to be rewritten and adhered to.  What national organization is most likely to succeed in influencing sport development at the local level – national policy, state policy, local policy?? Do federations of sport such as the International Olympic Committee, National College Athletic Administration, state high school activity associations, or other forms of governance need to address these changes?

Do we need a Ministry of Sport at the national government level, such as those in other countries?  Some form of centralized guidance that is provided to allow sporting organizations at the national, state, and local levels is needed to serve to create a certain amount of consistency in the following areas:

Health Factors

Fitness and exercise patterns

Longevity issues

 Stress factors

Facility needs

Program needs

Specific needs of target populations

Remote, rural access

Sports development needs

National and international visibility goals

Sport system regulatory issues (Orr and Jamieson, 2021)

Further, whether there is a national and/or decentralized policy encouraged for states, the following areas should be explored, and policies need to be developed (Orr and Jamieson, 2021, 179):

1. Standards and processes for sport program offerings at all levels.

2. A uniform code of conduct that ties behaviors to key consequences.

3. A policy framework that governs all operations relating to the physical, social, and emotional development of participants at appropriate age levels.

4. The development of sport coordinating councils at sporty participant levels to ensure program quality.

5. A framework of laws needs to be developed and be consistent with violence prevention.

6. Parental education processes need to occur at all levels of sport participation for all ages.

7. All organizations that provide the infrastructure of sport should be included into all planning mechanisms for sport programming.

A strong focus on a national approach to developing policies that sustain sport development and enjoyment at all levels of skill could be welcomed if fiscal support, training, and incentives for local support are included.  Current national efforts have lacked a comprehensive approach so evident in other countries.  While the United States succeeds in high level performance contest, there is still a very large portion of the population that cannot succeed without greater support, hence major inequities exist at the local and regional levels. It seems appropriate to consider improved coordination among the many sport organizations that provide sport-specific support with the goal of developing a more comprehensive approach to sport attainment in the nation.

References

1. Saving college sports (July 24, 2025). Retrieved 11/23/2025 at https://www.whitehoue.gov.

2. Aspen Institute: Project Play. (2025) Examining the world’s leading sport systems. (Retrieved 11/04/2025 at https://www.content/uploads.2025/07/world.com

3. Orr. T. J. and Jamieson, L. M. (2021). Sport and violence: a critical examination of sport. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Venture, 225 pp.

Bet on it; American Families will be Drowning in Gambling Promotions thanks to the NFL.

Football and Thanksgiving has been a beloved partnership that has been welcomed into the homes and intimate family time for many years. This year, the NFL is bringing someone else with them who might not have been otherwise invited over. If two is company, three is a crowd and your new guest is not the typical alcohol and sexual inuendo that others have warned you about from sports, this time the NFL is bringing “Gambling” over for some turkey and pie. If this is not welcome in your home, you will have to decide to kick the NFL out of your house because the NFL is not going to stay if their new best friend cannot stay.

Fanduel Ad.

Signage and messages once banned from being present or linked to the NFL will now encourage everyone in your family whether they are innocent kids or hardened gambling addicts to “bet now” on the game and they will use every psychological tactic that marketers have been perfecting over the years. Since the Supreme Court overturned the federal ban on sports betting in 2018 the NFL has become very close bedfellows with gambling that has left normal fans wondering if the league is selling out to the money. The integrity of the league has been tarnished as has MLB, NHL, NBA and NCAA sports as scandals and admissions of poor ethics have been more prevalent.

Even casual sport fans wonder if proxy gambling by Shohei Ohtani was covered up and blamed on his interpreter. Considering the treatment of Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose by previous commissioners one would have considered that it would not just be Ippei Mizuhara in trouble. With the Dodgers recovering their 10 year 700 million dollar investment back even before the World Series started according to a widely reported article by Joon Lee it makes sense financially for the MLB to turn the figurative blind eye and conduct a quick investigation clearing their star (1). Tourism from Japan to LA was up nearly 90 percent according to the Wall Street Journal and the World Series created a great deal more buzz world wide thanks to the heroics of Ohtani (2). If he is suspended or banned for life, this does not happen.

Less of a conspiracy thanks to an abundance of evidence, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Louis Ortiz have been indicted for conspiring with gamblers to allow for them to win bets. A ridiculously low pitch by Ortiz went viral this summer and money connected has left a clear trail to the players and gamblers. The NBA has also fallen victim to gambling issues as Chauncy Billups and several NBA players are making headlines for their own scandal (3). NCAA student athletes are receiving death threats from their fellow classmates for messing up their parlays. Fans are constantly wondering if the officials are just making bad calls because they are not good at their jobs, or they are in fact making money for themselves or others like Tim Donaghy and others have done?

Why does gambling need to be promoted on Thanksgiving Day when we are supposed to be thankful and happy together?

Billboards all over.

The American Gaming Association estimates the NFL's annual revenue will increase by approximately $2.3 billion because of the widely available legal, regulated sports betting market. Simply put, the NFL really likes the money and power their new friend has and they are going to hang out together on Thanksgiving whether you want them in your home or not (4).

*Full Disclosure, this article is not sponsored by Caesars Entertainment, Draft Kings, FanDuel, Bet MGM, FOX Bet, Points Bet, WynnBET and especially not ESPN Bet, like the NFL is.

Links

1. https://www.si.com/mlb/dodgers/onsi/news/dodgers-made-back-shohei-ohtani-s-entire-700-million-contract-in-his-first-season-report

2. https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/shohei-ohtani-la-dodgers-mlb-tourism-0b3194c6?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqc-TCaJ5G2ilyqB8tjcz6SRFvsHi-fxPrH0KSxZMtoCh2yVLuqk4nVIS1MDGsE%3D&gaa_ts=68f53d25&gaa_sig=2tMu4TfHqUY5UVJpr7JeTCie1OOsEvyhK0HZ5zAxI4kve4xQisn6xh34Wtyx-bo4tbyyeMr_5lKb8CguQN2gQQ%3D%3D

3. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6788069/2025/11/25/nba-players-coaches-gamblers-betting-investigation/

4. https://www.americangaming.org/nfl-could-reap-2-3-billion-annually-due-to-legalized-sports-betting/

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Carson Wentz and the Path to Success

by Dr. Joe Deutsch and Dr. Thomas Orr

The path to success is not a straight line to the top, in fact the path is usually full of peaks and valleys. Given his recent success coming back to his boyhood team has given Carson Wentz another peak, however if we look at his life we can see how his grit, faith and determination has been consistent. While discussing the importance of mentorship with current Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) President Joe Deutsch we were reminded of not only his story, but how his story has evolved since Dr. Deutsch shared his remarkable story in my textbook. Considering his next two games will be played in Dublin and London, the success he had can be parlayed into more success, or if the opposing teams have their way, they will frustrate Carson. Regardless, understanding the character of Carson is very important to see how he will carry on with his mission on and off the field even as he plays for his sixth team in six years. This short story has aged well because success for Carson comes from the impact he has made.

Here is the story that Joe shared with us;

“In 2010 Carson Wentz finished his high school career as a quarterback for Century High School in Bismarck, North Dakota with very little interest from most colleges. Determined to prove he belonged, Carson made a You Tube highlight video of his plays at quarterback and sent it to all the Division 1 schools in the region. Carson’s heart lied at North Dakota State University, as his brother Zach was a current baseball player at NDSU at the time. As soon as other schools started looking at Carson’s 6’ 5” frame and cannon of an arm, several schools including FBS programs began to make offers. Loyal to his roots, Carson chose North Dakota State, despite the fact that their starting quarterback, Brock Jensen, was only going to be a sophomore and went on to win three National Championships and is the winningest Quarterback in FCS history.

Carson bought his time and worked hard every day. He formed relationships and bonds with his coaches and teammates based on his immense work ethic and his constant pursuit for improvement, including constantly watching film. He would eventually get his opportunity to lead the Bison in his redshirt junior year and helped them to win their fourth consecutive FCS National Championship. In 2015, Carson’s senior year, he missed 8 consecutive games at the end of the season, due to injury. He refused to accept that his season was over and rehabbed as much and fast as he could, only to be cleared to return in the FCS National Championship game, where he led the Bison to their 5th consecutive title. His stock continued to rise and he went on to be chosen #2 over all in the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, only to have his MVP worthy rookie season end early with another injury. He came back his second season and again ended the season early with a different injury. Carson’s career in some ways, has been marred with roadblocks or what some might even call disappointments.

The true story of Carson Wentz is his sheer will to persevere and to never lose sight of his goals and aspirations. Serving as Carson’s Academic Advisor afforded me the opportunity to sit down with him and sometimes just talk about life. No matter what road blocks have been put in his way, he has persevered and used those challenges to inspire new goals and accomplishments. Carson possessed the ability to look at the positive and not even entertain the idea that something that happened may cause him to decide he cannot reach his goal, although it just might change his goal and desire. Carson’s work with the AO1 Foundation has defined him far beyond his skills and accomplishments on the football field. The “Audience of One’ reminds athletes that win, lose, or draw, with the lord in your presence, you seek to perform your best and enjoy the fruits of your labor, regardless of what the scoreboard or others have to say. I am very proud of the man Carson has become and regardless of how he performs on the football field, his positive impact on people cannot be measured.”  

Dr. Joe Deutsch, North Dakota State University Professor and College Adviser to Carson Wentz, (2019).

Excerpt from Page 45 of  Sport and Violence; A Critical Examination of Sport by Dr. Orr and Jamieson. Book available here; https://sagamorepub.com/products/sport-and-violence 

The Value of Money and the Consequences of Unrestricted Free Agency for College Student Athletes.

My seven year old daughter had a lemonade sale with her classmates to raise money for gas to take a bus on a short field trip to learn and have fun. They came up short a few dollars and received the opportunity to walk. Anyone who has donated 20 dollars or more to a child selling lemonade knows the feeling of pure joy in not only their smiles, but in your own heart as you feel good about what you did. This is assumed of the vast majority of our readers except for those whose hearts are two sizes too small. College student-athlete, Bryce Underwood received a 10 million dollar deal to commit to the University of Michigan, that primarily is paid through a donor/sponsor. Had that same donor or sponsor wanted, they could have handed out 500,000 twenty dollar bills to Michigan kids and created so many smiles across communities. Programs for Extended School programs like my daughters would absolutely thrive on a grant of 250,000 which would enable them to pay for gas and teacher salaries. Forty Michigan charities could have received 250,000 dollar grants to use for good to great purposes if that 10 million was given to them instead of to lure a LSU commit to Michigan. Prior to a judge deciding that college athletes needed to be paid rules forbid these types of payments for athletes and their were rules restricting student athletes from transferring for any reason, let alone for financial compensation. This is the new normal for big programs stuck in a new and more expensive arms race. 

As the NCAA attempts to fly a plane while building it; (see https://www.sportpolicycenter.com/news/2025/2/28/building-the-plane-while-flying-the-plane) schools, coaches, and athletes have been in a circus with limited assurance in anything they do. Athletes of high end talent seem to be making great money while lower ranking players on their teams are desperate to find new homes as they are told the roster restrictions require them to no longer have a locker or chance to play. Potential walk-ons are told they should go somewhere else as the paths at most schools appear to be closed creating scarce opportunities for seniors graduating high school, as seniors with three years of experience are a dime a dozen in the transfer portals of most sports. Non-revenue sports, Olympic and Women’s sports are feeling the stress on their schools as resources flow away from them so that the big sports for men can stay competitive. Even the biggest schools are dismissing tutors, coaches and services to prepare their future budgets while some smaller schools are moving down or opting out of agreements and settlements with concern for their ability to compete. What can you mortgage to stay competitive in the arms race? 

How much of our community dollars and our wealth as a nation should be invested in paying college athletes so much money? If not lemonade, how do we hope the people of our country choose to invest their money and how does our tax incentives encourage where money goes? Where is tax incentives given and most importantly what is our cultural norms towards philanthropy and what our country prioritizes as a collective group? Do we produce elite athletes or do we try to produce many healthy citizens who are pretty good at sports? Should money be spent on medical, fire or police services instead? Healthy communities should have sports and wellness opportunities but how does that balance with our investing in military defense, public parks or tax breaks to help lemonade stands? What is the cost to all other sectors and programs if spending continues to flow towards salaries for college athletes at the expense of these other community assets and affordances? 

Looking at the future, it is flat out scary to think of how ridiculous the level of salaries could get if NIL and school money both are on the table with limited restrictions. The idea that someone could be on a new team every season is not something welcome at the pro level. When a system is supposed to support people receiving education in a set time frame with classes that progress and scaffold, the idea of unrestricted movement runs contrary to the idea of having these time periods overlap in an efficient and effective manner. Stipends and athletic support networks added by universities years ago seemed like a middle ground with most agreeing that we do not want to go to a system that leaves athletes short of support as paying athletes as well as compensating them in other ways. Throwing out all the positive change could create new challenges and issues so now that the “Geni” has been let out of the bottle, we will have to be careful putting the “Geni” back. Promises have been made and people have made huge transfer decisions already. The situation has reached such a crossroads that President Donald Trump is now enacting policy to address the state of college athletics. The Circus appears to be just getting going. 

No More Rudy

Rudy Can’t Try out? No Room for Walk-ons as the NCAA settlement essentially ends the “Rudy” story for future generations starting now.

The American Dream woven in the minds of youth is the idea of playing college and pro sports. The potential for a young person, regardless of race, gender, or wealth to be successful through the pursuit of sport and academic excellence is important for the morale and culture of a nation.  Fables such as the Ragged Dick stories glorified the virtues that aligned with what was good for the United States in the same manner that children’s books in Europe reminded kids to avoid running in the woods for fear of being eaten by a wolf. From a national and caring perspective, equity and opportunity in sport matters and is taught both in physical education classes and scholastic athletic teams, even being regulated by standards and rules set forth by national associations. Recent changes to rules and regulations made to comply with judicial rulings have eliminated the idea of a walk on in order to reduce their liability by having less athletes and making those that are under scholarship the only ones eligible for these fewer spots on teams. Though current athletes may be allowed on exemptions, a future Rudy would not be cut. A future Rudy would be hauled out of the facility by security and not allowed to tryouts. If you do not have a scholarship, you are not on a roster.

https://www.sportpolicycenter.com/news/2025/2/28/building-the-plane-while-flying-the-plane

The bottom line is this makes college sports more elite. Perhaps some caring and bright administrators will find ways for someone to compete or “walk on” to qualify for a scholarship, however these actions make it clear that only players who qualify for one of the scholarship slots can be rostered. To play in practices or be part of any team function your chances of being a division one player just became more difficult for the average kid in America, just at a time when Womens Sports were growing and the NCAA is wrestling with the relatively new idea of making their student athletes professional athletes. In our earlier article we compared this rapid makeover to flying an airplane while building it. (Orr, 2025) From the perspective of both title nine and the Rudy loving parts of America, the analogy may be more like filling water into a swim pool after you already dove in, as athletes have already been told they are no longer welcome back.

The Caitlin Clark Experience

As we prepare to embark on another WNBA season, the hype is being amped up for the star power of Caitlin Clark. Will a record crowd return to watch her and her Indiana Fever teammates or will there be a sophomore slump in attendance? The entertainment value of watching a home game for her looks to build on last season’s success and should draw even more fans and curiosity seekers to an already crowded stadium. When on the road, she brings excitement like a visiting Michael Jordan could in the days before “load maintenance” when fans would flock to watch him play against their hometown team. In order to reach an accurate hypothesis it is important to experience the actual environment and be part of the real “Caitlin Clark Experience”.  This short first person story will describe the game itself as well as the feel of being in the presence of greatness and the cultural transformation in a basketball crazy state full of Hoosiers embracing Women’s Basketball. 

The most important tool and instrument used to conduct ethnographic research is the researcher themselves. As a text book author I was able to observe and write about big moments like Barry Bonds hitting a home run while being booed for presumed steroid usage, the Queen of England watching a horse race in Kentucky, Danica Patrick nearly winning the Indianapolis 500. I also wrote about all kinds of crazy stuff that is too strange to be fiction but filled a non-fiction book with real life examples. In each of these many cases I consider myself just like Jane Goodall as a scientist in the natural environment looking for phenomenon and interesting ideas. The opportunity to see such an exciting example of an athlete breaking stereotypes and overcoming what I and colleagues described as a very difficult marketing challenge (see this article for background on WNBA) provided a great research target. I combined my joy of being the father of girls, to bring my daughter which also allows me to draw on her experience and see a wider perspective. With no apologies to bias, I am certain that parents and especially fathers need to take pride in their daughters and like Kobe Bryant and many others who wear that badge with honor, I am glad to be a “Girl Dad”. When her older sister Jocelyn joined me at the Kentucky Derby in a baby stroller to see the Queen and ended up being carried over empty beer bottles and the reality of all social classes enjoying the derby, Juliette would have the chance to be part of the study, for better or worse. 

As soon as Juliette was told she could go to a game and see Caitlin Clark play, she was happy. This is no small feat, for so long, women did and do not support other women playing sports. Having someone happy to watch a team play is a very positive thing. When we got physically closer to the game I could see a beehive of girls wearing Caitlin Clark jerseys buzzing into the game, with huge smiles on their faces. This reminded me of going to watch my favorite athletes like Bo Jackson play where people are just thrilled to see them play in person and bask in their reflective glory. No doubt, many were here to see history and entertainment. As my daughter and I moved closer to the stadium we noticed that it was not just girls, many boys and men were arriving to the game not only to watch, but they also were wearing Caitlin Clark jerseys and memorabilia. 

I quickly thought of the many girls and women who wear jerseys with male athletes on them and how common that has been. Michael Jordan jerseys are worn often by females and have remained “cool” as both the shoes and vintage MJ gear continue to find its way into hip hop and fashion. Celebrity female influencers like Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus are often seen clad with the iconic Jordan logo.  No one really thinks twice about a female wearing a jersey that supports a male sports team or athlete, yet here I am thinking twice about this. It shows a great cultural growth in sport for all and many concepts that are critical for communities. Don Mcpherson, NFL player, Feminist and author of “You Throw like a Girl” encouraged me to use my voice for women when I had met him ironically, in Indianapolis, when we were speaking to the NCAA in the same city that now hosts the Caitlin Clark experience. Spending some of my professional career advocating for women in sport and having a son and four daughters as well as a wife who was an NCAA athlete I am all in on Women’s Sports and this was gratifying to see, simply put, little boys looking up to female athletes like they do male athletes. 

As we found our seats, we continued to observe what felt like an NBA game. There were side shows, too many advertisements, loud rap music, over priced hot dogs and everything people love and hate about the NBA, including a crowded facility full of people! The pregame build up was well scripted and the players were announced with the usual fanfare of a professional game. I overheard normal comments and those that have become more recent at professional games such as, “what is the spread on her hitting more than three, three-pointers, I have that for my parlay”. Yes, a man was investing his money and time on betting on this game as were many others. When she hit her first three-pointer later, I remembered this comment and imagined some people were very happy for this reason, while I was thrilled to say that I watch her hit a three with my own eyes. 

The game started with great emotion and noise. After that early three she received a huge applause and continued making solid plays with fans moving towards the edge of the seat every time she got the ball. Heads turned with eyes focused on her more than the ball at times. As the game progressed she cooled off on her shooting however her passes were jaw dropping and mystified many fans. Her fundamentals were congruent with the typical Indiana fans appreciation for such skills, making her a true fan favorite in a state that loves basketball. The only thing preventing perfection were the cold hard elbows flying, and there were plenty of them aiming for the hero of the day. 

As a hockey enthusiast my 13 year old daughter was not a stranger to cheap play and dirty elbows. We were both shocked at how rough the game was and particularly how rough the play around Caitlin was. Every hero needs a villain for a good story to form and with Angel Reese playing in Chicago, Brittney Griner, who had been detained abroad and was back on the Phoenix Mercury fit the bill perfectly. I was amazed at the physical stature and toughness that Brittney showed. Griner and her teammates played a very aggressive style and the referees went along with it. Like a fixed wrestling match it seemed that the refs were going to let our hero be taken down by the cheating and violent villains and it was just the complaining basketball fans like to do as the crowd turned on the refs and booed at the Mercury players. Griner and her teammates did their best impression of a heal, playing good enough for the show, but without legend Diana Taurasi in the lineup and Griner going down with an injury in the second they fell 95-86, to the delight of the home crowd. 

A delighted home crowd and good prospects of winning are precedents to having a good next season. Based on our experience there is no doubt fans and people looking for a good time will attend WNBA games, especially when Caitlin is in town. Without injury or scandal home games will be successful for the Fever and games in other towns who host the Fever will do well with attendance. The marketing challenge for the WNBA is how to leverage the Caitlin Clark Experience into something that is league wide and sustainable after she retires. Promoting additional players, building up the grassroots, adding exciting sideshows along with all the gimmicks of pro sports to continue growing the brand. WNBA and PWHL sport cards are selling out at stores nation wide, another sign of this growth resulting from a specific strategy to build youth fanbases. We are forecasting that sponsors and long term investors will reap benefits of partnerships with the WNBA and their growing fan base, and if these trends continue, Caitlin Clark can be the catalyst to the WNBA in the same manner that Michael Jordan was for the NBA and truly make the WNBA a great experience for fans. 

Additional Reading; 

Game Recap; https://www.espn.com/wnba/recap/_/gameId/401620352

Text Book on Sport Violence; https://sagamorepub.com/products/sport-and-violence 

You Throw Like a Girl by Don McPherson; https://www.amazon.com/You-Throw-Like-Girl-Masculinity/dp/1617757055